Harrow <1>
le 4 de Fevrier 1812
Ma chere Maman,
J'ai reçu deux lettres de vous, <2> ce qui fait le nombre Egal; à present je vais repondre à vos questions; j'ai cru le gentilhomme avec qui je voyageai bien orgueilleux, et Richard <3> m'a dit le même; il le poussa rudement de la porte de la voiture, quand il vînt demander (comme il fait toujours) comment je me portai- J'ai acheté une chanson à Bath " The tidy one <4>" je vais l'apprendre par cœur, je ne sais pas ce que faire pour l'accord. Je garde mes billets de banque dans mon livre de poche, et ainsi je crois quils sont bien saufs.
Je ne crois pas que Betty <5> avoit a besoin immediatement d'argent; mais elle m'a dit qu'elle n'avoit pas six sous dans sa poche quand elle recut les cinq livres de son frère. J'ai reçu mon dictionnaire de Lansdowne House, <6> mais je n'ai point de grammaire. Who was Mr Cavendish? <7> voici les lignes numerotées.<8>
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | notes | |
| O | mihi | post | ullos | nunquam | numerande | solades | mihi - by me | |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | |
| O | cui | præciprie | sors | mea | visa | sua | est | visa est. appeared |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Attonitum | qui | me | memini | charissime | primus | |||
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 | |||||
| Aususes | alloquio | sustinuisse | tuo | |||||
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Qui | mihi | consilium | vivendi | mite | dedisti | |||
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Cum | foret | in | misero | pectore | mortis | amor | foret - was | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | |
| Qui? | bene | cui | dicam | positis | pro | nomine | signis | I do not know the [illegible] two last lines |
| 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Officium | nec | te | fallit | amici | tuum |
Mes Engelures sont beaucoup moins désagreables que quand je vous ecrivai la derniere fois, je les ai frotté avec l'Opodeldoc de Dr Steer <9> parce que l'essence de moutarde avoit un odeur desagreable: mais je ne savois pas que cetoit si bon pour les engelures avant que vous m'ecrivates, quoique je me ressouvenis [sic] du nom - J'ai à preparer pour lepreuve à la fin de ce temps ci si nous sommes dignes d'entrer dans le Shell,<10> et dans quel ordre; elle consiste des Epigrammes Grecques, et des Metamorphoses d'Ovide dans lesquelles se trouve Pyramus et Thisbe <11> - Voulez vous me donner permission d'avoir les planches qui sont sous mon lit emportées. Si je le veux: un peu parceque vous savez quoi, et parceque c'est coucher comme sur la table; si vous me donnez permission, je ferai application à Dr Butler <12> pour cela, si je le crois bon. Je ne tousse pas du moins, et je ne suis que très peu enrhumé - Voilà les livres amusants que j'ai à lire ici.
| Telemaque | |
| Recueil Choisi de traits historiques | |
| Paul & Virginia | Tout ces livres sont à moi |
| Lives of the ancient philosophers | |
| Spectator in miniature | |
| Adams's anecdotes |
| Gullivers Travels | |
| Modern Travellers | Tout ces-ci me sont prétés |
| Museum of Natural History | |
| Elegant Extracts abridged |
Lady Elisabeth Feilding
Penrice Castle
Swansea
Glamorgan
Translation:
Harrow
4th February 1812
My dear Mama,
I have received two letters from you, which makes the number even I am now going to reply to your questions; I found the gentleman with whom I was travelling to be very proud, and Richard has said the same thing to me. He pushed him rudely from the door of the coach when he came to ask (as he always does) how I was. I have bought a song in Bath called "The tidy one" I am going to learn it off by heart, I do not know what to do for the harmony. I am keeping my banknotes in my pocket book, and so I think that they are quite safe.
I do not think that Betty needs money immediately, but she has told me that she did not have sixpence in her pocket when she received the five pounds from her brother. I have received my dictionary from Landsdowne House but I do not have a grammar book. Who was Mr Cavendish? Here are the numbered lines.
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | notes | |
| O | mihi | post | ullos | nunquam | numerande | solades | mihi - by me | |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | |
| O | cui | præciprie | sors | mea | visa | sua | est | visa est. appeared |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Attonitum | qui | me | memini | charissime | primus | |||
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 | |||||
| Aususes | alloquio | sustinuisse | tuo | |||||
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Qui | mihi | consilium | vivendi | mite | dedisti | |||
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Cum | foret | in | misero | pectore | mortis | amor | foret - was | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | |
| Qui? | bene | cui | dicam | positis | pro | nomine | signis | I do not know the two last lines |
| 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Officium | nec | te | fallit | amici | tuum |
My chilblains are much less disagreable than they where when I last wrote to you. I have rubbed them with Opodeldoc from Dr Steer because the mustard essence had a disagreable smell: but I did not know that it was so good for chilblains until you told me in your letter, although I remembered the name - I have to prepare for the test at the end of this term, if we are worthy of entering the Shell, and in which order. It consists of Greek Epigrams and of Ovid's Metamorphosis which includes Pyramus and Thisbe - Would you give me your permission to have the planks beneath my bed removed if I want it. It is partly because of you know what and because it is like sleeping on a table; if you give your permission, I will apply to Dr Butler about it if I think it is appropriate. At least I do not have a cough and I only have a very slight cold - These are the amusing books which I have to read here.
| Telemachus | |
| Anthology of historical [treaties] | |
| Paul & Virginia | All of these books belong to me |
| Lives of the ancient philosophers | |
| Spectator in miniature | |
| Adam's anecdotes |
| Gullivers Travels | |
| Modern Travellers | All of these have been lent to me |
| Museum of Natural History | |
| Elegant Extracts abridged |
Lady Elisabeth Feilding
Penrice Castle
Swansea
Glamorgan
Notes:
1. Harrow School: WHFT attended from 1811-1815 and his son Charles from 1855-1859.
2. This letter is a reply to Doc. No: 00556.
3. Richard, a servant.
4. Probably 'The Tidy One' with lyrics by Sammy Sugar Plum and Polly Spriggens.
5. Elizabeth Vickery ‘Betty’, WHFT’s governess. When she died in autumn 1835, WHFT paid to have a gravestone placed at Cutcombe, Somerset, inscribed: 'Erected to the Memory of Elizbth Vickery his kind & faithful nurse by Henry Fox Talbot of Lacock Abbey in the country of Wilts Esqre'; the stone's inscription is still readable - See Doc. No: 03205.
6. Lansdowne House, London: home of the Marquis of Lansdowne, WHFT's uncle and cousins.
7. Possibly a relative of Sir William George Spencer Cavendish (1790-1858), who became the 6th Duke of Devonshire in 1811.
8. With the words in each line numbered in the order in which they are to be understood.
9. Paracelsus invented opodeldoc, a liniment based on soap and alcohol with herbal additions. Dr. Steer (d. 1781) added ammonia to his version and made a fortune from it; after his death, it was manufactured by Francis Newberry in London under the name of Dr. Steer's Opeldedoc and exported heavily to the United States. In the literary world, opodeldoc was a stock comic figure and Edgar Alan Poe employed the term as a pseudonym.
10. The Shell was the class year group at Harrow - the exam was to determine if and how quickly WHFT could move into the Shell.
11. See Doc. No: 00510.
12. Rev George Butler (1774-1853), Headmaster at Harrow.