[written on the same sheet as a note by Lady Elisabeth - see Doc. No: 01702 ]
Laycock Abbey
19th August
My dear Henry
I was very glad to hear of your having got safe on your journey as far as Chaumont & hope to hear soon of your arrival at Geneva with more favourable weather. We have had two very fine days one of which we spent at Bowood; <1> the garden was quite charming, & we were glad to shelter ourselves from the heat of the sun in the grottos near the cascade – I suppose you have heard that the Duke of Clarence <2> has resigned, that Ld Grey <3> is to be first lord of the Admiralty, that Mr Pal. is going to resign, that Mr Dawson has publicly renounced his opposition to the Catholics, that we have acknowledged the blockade of Madeira, <4> & that Ld Shrewsbury <5> has been franking letters?
Ld & Lady Lansdowne & my cousins <6> set off Monday for a tour through Germany by Francfort, Munich, the Splugen & Como to Florence – they mean to return to Bowood <7> by Christmas, but I think the temptation to go on to Rome will be too strong – Mama <8> has given up the idea of going to Cowes, but we are going instead to Blandford races, then through Devonshire to Sir C. Lemon’s <9> & Ld Morley’s, & end with Moreton & Melbury. <10> This fine weather has done Horatia’s <11> cough a great deal of good & I hope the change of air will cure it entirely. – Mama had a letter from Uncle William <12> the other day from Pic di Monte, some where in Samnium I believe, in which he appeared delighted with the country & every thing belonging to it – & well he might, at least to judg[e]<13> from his description of it – How I envy him! he appears to be in the heart of the mountains, & saw the sun rise on the Abruzzi & Adriatic from the [illegible] of Monte Miletto; it is the very country I always wished to explore – the Valle d’Inferno must be a most romantic situation; I should like to go & pass next summer there – He found Rhinanthus Elephas somewhere in those environs – Horatia forgot to tell you that Comellina Cœlestis was in blow in the kitchen garden, planted by you – & we have also lovely Dahlias, Tiger lilies & Lobelias. –
We have been reading lately Hajji Baba in England, <14> which amused us all excessively; I found in it two capital derivations from the Persian, which you know is so like the English language; Almacks, from al mags, the pith, cream or essence of society, & humbug, from chum wa hum which in my opinion has a most expressive sound.– J’espère que tu m<’> écriras une bien longue lettre au plustôt, avec bien des détails sur tes aventures &c. – Addio carissimo fratello, je t’embrasse bien et souhaite que ton absence ne soit pas de longue durée – <15>
ta sœur affectionée <16>
Caroline
P.S. Ld Grey’s appointment is only a rumour yet, & will not take place unless emancipation is made a cabinet question. – Let us both make a journal of the weather as we did at Rome; I should like to compare the climate of Laycock with that of Switzerland – Don’t forget. Lebe wohl. <17> –you cannot think how pretty the Dungeon door looks now the great nails are in
Monsr
Monsieur Henry Fox Talbot
Poste Restante
Genève
en Suisse
Notes:
1. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
2. Subsequently [1830] William IV (1765–1837).
3. Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845), statesman.
4. See Doc. No: 01714.
5. John Talbot, 16th Earl Shrewsbury (1791–1852).
6. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle; and his wife, Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.
7. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
8. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
9. Sir Charles Lemon (1784–1868), politician & scientist; WHFT’s uncle.
10. Moreton, Dorset: home of the Frampton family, and Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there
11. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
12. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
13. Text torn away under seal.
14. James Justinian Morier, The adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England (London: John Murray, 1828).
15. I hope that you will write me a good long letter at the very least with plenty of details of your adventures etc. Goodbye, dearest brother, I embrace you warmly and hope that your abscence will not last long.
16. Your affectionate sister.
17. Farewell.