Dear Talbot
We were glad to hear of your safe arrival at home. You must have had a terribly cold journey, & today though fine is as cold as ever. I hope Constance <1> has not suffered from it, nor the children, but it was an unlucky moment for your journey & I wished you had remained a few days longer. I shall be obliged to you to let the £100 be paid into Smith Payne & Co’s bank, Lombard street, to be placed to my acct. with Crompton & Co Derby. – I hope we shall not be forced into a war with America but the Governor of Maine <2> seems much more pugnacious than the President <3> – the principal advantage of our possessing the disputed territory <4> seems to be that it ensures a direct communication between Canada & New Brunswick. With love to Constance believe me
Ever yours truly
W. Mundy
Weymouth
April 7th –
Notes:
1. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
2. Robert Pinckney Dunlap (1794–1859), Governor of Maine (1834–1838).
3. Martin Van Buren (1782–1862), 8th president of the United States (1837–1841).
4. The Aroostook War, begun in 1838 between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, over Maine’s northeast boundary on the Aroostook River. In 1839, Van Buren settled the dispute by Britain and the United States.