Gogerddan Arms Ponterwydd
Septr 14th 1835
My dear Mother
I received your letter <1> of the 3d this morning at six o'clock - You will say, there must have been Reform in my hours to hear of my being up and stirring at that time of day, but I was en route over the Cardiganshire hills - I am very glad to hear that the cordon is removed at last & that you are free to come away. I fear I cannot tell you of any new road that you have not hitherto travelled. If you go over the Col de Tende to Turin, thence to Milan is 90 miles excellent road by Vercelli and Novara, you may go it in 10 hours - Then to Lecco and along the new road the Austrians have made on the banks of the lake of Como which is a fine work; Leave your carriage for a day at Varenna, & take a boat to cross over to Bellaggio which is about an hour's row from Varenna. Sleep that evening at Mella's Hotel at Cadenabbia & visit once more the 3 villa's [sic] Melzi, Sommariva, & the other's name I have forgotten. Return next morning to Varenna and continue along the lake where you will pass thro' some most extraordinary tunnels or galéries. This road takes you over the Splugen I think which you will not regret seeing twice, especially the Via Mala. - As to the Cenis road you have seen it already, the Simplon is stated to be impassable in consequence of the Dent du Midi having fallen into the Rhone, and the season of the year is too late for the Col de Bormio or Wormserjoch - Remains the St Gothard road, which where it is practicable Caroline <2> will report to you. But this way you will have the désagrément of embarking your carriage on a stormy lake, which is expensive and not altogether without danger. Of all these ways Mt Cenis is much the nearest way home. At Turin you must see the new Egyptian Museum which is very magnificent. I have no map of Europe with me, and there is none at the Gogerddan Arms, therefore I only measure the distances on the map of my memory.
A wet day is like a blank leaf in the book of Nature.
Each mountain rears its dim and misty form,
Its sombre outline, shrouded in the storm,
Above, around, the driving raindrops pour,
Beneath is heard the torrent's ceaseless roar,
Such was the scene, o'er Morven's mountains cold,
When plaintive Ossian sang and sigh'd of old.
Anonymous. <3>
I wrote to you last by the common post, I hope it came safe, but if not I repeat that we shall be happy to receive Madlle Amélina <4> till Christmas. - This is to leave us at liberty to pay a visit in Dorsetshire at that time, if you are disposed to do so. I am very sorry to hear of Gwynne's <5> illness, but I hope she is much better ere now. I am not surprised at the nurse's mistaking her complaint for Cholera, but I never heard of such pusillanimity in the Physicians, as to wear pitch cloaks - How that contrasts with the French Physicians who volunteered to go and study the yellow fever at Barcelona. You may remember also that no sooner did the cholera appear in England at Sunderland than troops of medicalmen [sic] came from Paris to observe the novel phenomenon - they had an opportunity nearer home not long after. 3. P.M. The air is now so thick with rain that objects are undiscernable [sic].
Ah Morven! if thy clouds were such,
E'en Ossian's self had said, "Too much!"
In deep despair resign'd the Lyre,
And bid Cadwallon, light the fire.
Miladi
Miladi Feilding
Poste Restante
Nice
(par Antibes)
France
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 03128.
2. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister.
3. It was later established as having been written by James MacPherson (1736-1796), poet and translator.
4. Amélina Petit De Billier, 'Mamie', 'Amandier' (1798-1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
5. Mrs Gwynne (d. winter 1841/1842), lady's maid, cook and housekeeper to Lady Elisabeth.