Penrice <1>
June 20th
My dear Henry,
I cannot bare [sic] to think that a correspondence that was once so pleasant and instructive to me should have come to such a dead stop; I flatter myself that your Friendship for this part of the world has not diminished so much as to be the sole cause, but I rather attribute it to such an immoderate love for Euclid <2> as to pretty nearly fill up the all the all the gaps you used to have for Botany &ca &ca which naturally led you to Penrice & your Cousins, let me beg of you not to so entirely neglect us as you have of late, I heard of you the other day from Mrs Campbell <3> you was [sic] then in Town how did that come about? You [sic] Cambridge Vacation time has not begun so early surely? I beg of you to cut and contrive and strive and twist and turn your time in such a way as to come here some time this summer or autumn; I am very much afraid you will quite forget what Penrice looks like; Christopher <4> will come down in August why not come with him?
We are in a dreadful fuss here in a Contested Election, what an evil at a General election is! who, who, sees what it is would ever talk of Annual parliaments – but to be sure sure it is only those [illegible deletion] talk of it wish for it that [illegible deletion] that think riot and drunkenness a blessing, because because it is a cover for their [illegible deletion] wicked actions. We spent one very pleasant day at Oxford in our way from Town which only served to make one regret it was not more; We did as much as we could considering it was Sunday; one delight in Mr Buckland’s <5> character is that you may get ten times as much information out of him in one day as you would in a week from any body else. He has given me all the Plants &ca, &ca, he collected during his Tour tho’ [sic] Germany, Prussia, Switzerland, [illegible] France, to arrange d and name – it is an undertaking which perhaps you may think I am unfit to accomplish, but with Mama’s help I shall name the greater part. Mr Buckland knows nothing about Plants Botany and only collected everything he saw in Flower and dried it them rather [illegible deletion] badly, he has given me some. Remember to collect what you can for me for I still continue to be very greedy of every thing of the sort. I wish I knew your friend Trevelyan <6> for there are many plants growing in the neighborhood of Oxford which I shd like to have very much – Uncle William <7> has promised to get what he can in Russia for me – oh! that he may keep his promise –
your affcte Cousin
Jane H Talbot
Do not wonder at any scratchings-out on this [illegible deletion] for my head is full of anything but what I am writing about –
[address panel:]
Wm Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Trinity College
Cambridge
[verso]<8> W H Fox Talbot Esqr
Captain Feilding R.N
No 31 Sackville Street
London
Notes:
1. Penrice Castle and Penrice House, Gower, Glamorgan, 10 mi SW of Swansea: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
2. Euclid, mathematician of Alexandria, Egypt, fl.ca.300.
3. Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829).
4. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
5. Probably William Buckland (1784–1856), Dean of Westminster & scientist.
6. Walter Calverley Trevelyan, 6th Baronet (1797–1879), naturalist & antiquary.
7. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
8. Written in another hand.