7 Clifford St
W.
Friday August 25th 1871
My dear Henry
I am not quite sure of being able to leave London tomorrow, tho’ I hope I may do so – but my teeth are so very uncomfortable, that it is very likely I shall have to stay till Monday. If I cannot come I will telegraph.
Charlie <1> has been making a pleasant trip in a friend’s Yacht, to the Channel Islands – then to Plymouth where he took his host to see Mt E. <2> & Cotehele <3> – then to the Scilly Isles, where King Smith <4> entertained them for 2 days – & lastly back to Dartmouth, whence he writes – in 22 hours from Scilly – very quick I think.
How shamefully & absurdly the Irish are behaving! hissing the toast to the Queen! <5>
I wonder why Monsieur Richard, alias Mr Wallace, <6> is to be made a Baronet – simply because he has become a rich man? My love to all –
Yr affte Sister
Caroline
Notes:
1. Charles Earnest Edgcumbe (1838–1915), JP, WHFT’s nephew.
2. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
3. Cotehele, Cornwall: ancient house, seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe, now a National Trust Property.
4. Augustus John Smith (1804–1872), lessee of the Scilly Isles, where his despotism earned him the nickname ‘King’.
5. Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837–1901), Empress of India (1876–1901).
6. Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890), art collector. He was created a baronet because of his philanthropy during the siege of Paris. The Wallace Collection was bequeathed by his widow to the nation.