Thomas’s Hotel <1>
Thursday night Septr 8th 1842
My dear Henry
I cannot go to bed without writing you word of our safe arrival this morning, particularly as I know I shall have no time tomorrow to do so – I did write to Mamma <2> this morning, thinking the same intelligence would serve for you – but found to my sorrow that she had been in town, & only left it today about the very time I arrived – I gather from Wright <3> that she never received a long letter fm Mayence written on Sunday, in wh I told her to expect me today – nor even one fm Teplitz <4> written abt the 27th or 28th We had a most prosperous passage on board the Wilberforce of 19½ hours from Antwerp to Blackwall, where we arrived this morning at ¼ before 9. – The Custom House there, altho’ very civil, kept us 1h & ½, & 1h & 20 m more brought us with 4 horses to this door – where we arrived in a starving condition, having been up before 6, & had nothing since our early breakfast – They made me pay duty on a box of Eau de Cologne, but kindly let pass 6 or 7 unmade silk gowns without perceiving them – Our journey on the whole was prosperous & speedy – We left Teplitz on Tuesday week at 12 o’clock & slept at Dresden – Wednesday at Weissenfels; (where Gustavus Adolphus <5> slept the night before the Battle of Lutzen <6> –) Thursday at Gotha, Friday at Fulda, Saturday at Mayence, a good day’s journey; Sunday staid there to repose – Monday to Cologne, where we had some difficulty in finding a gite, on acct of not the three Kings only, but 4 or 5 Kings with their suites who are either expected or arrived there – Tuesday we got on to Brussels, & Wednesday by the 6 10 o’clock train to Antwerp, where we arrived only ½ hour [sic] before the Wilberforce weighed anchor. The evening was charmingly warm & calm; but about 9 o’clock the wind began to rise – The children & maids were asleep in the cabin, but I preferred the carriage, where I was exceedingly comfortable, & not in the least sick – there was only just sufficient motion to rock me to sleep, & I was beginning to dose, when the Steward roused me to know if I wd not go below, as it was blowing fresh & the carriage might move – I preferred staying where I was however, as the Mate & 2 or 3 others assured me I was perfectly safe – but still as the carriage did rock in the gale, I cd not help being haunted with the notion that a very little more might upset me into the sea – & this idea prevented me sleeping as comfortably as I might otherwise have done – To get out wd have been very uncomfortable too; for all the berths were full & the deck was completely drenched with spray, which fell upon the carriage like heavy rain – The sea was smooth & we cut rapidly through the waves, with the help of several sails in addition to steam – At one moment there seemed to be more stir than usual – several orders were given in a loud tone – the wind roared, the sails & ropes flapped, & a loud crash followed, wh we discovered in the morning to be the bowsprit giving way – I saw it afterwds lying on the deck, snapt in two. This happened at 12 o’clock just as we came in sight of the North Foreland light – Some time after we passed the Camperdown, 120 guns, & the brilliant floating light at the Nore – As we came up the river the wind increased, & by the time we reached Blackwall it was quite a gale – It was fortunate I did not wait for the Ostend Boat wh set off at 2 this morning, & must have arrived probably late tonight – It was a beautiful traversée <7> however & nobody was sick – Our old friend Pierre at Antwerp informed me that Sir C. Lemon <8> embarked there last Sunday – I enquired for him in town, but find he left it only this morning; so there is not a creature here I know – In 2 or 3 days I shall take Val. <9> to school – I have no time to lose, as my waiting begins on the 13th but if the Qn <10> is not back by that day, I shall have so much the more to spare – He likes the thoughts of School, but is dismal at leaving home. – I left Ernest <11> only tolerably – he had had some gout brought on by the Baths – but up to that time had been particularly well. –
Give my tender love to dear Constance <12> – Wright told me all about her, & that she also left town today – I wish I had had a glimpse of her before she went – He says the Children <13> are beautiful – I long to see them, little dears – Goodbye my dear Henry –
Yr affte Sister
Caroline
I understand my two letters fm Teplitz & Mayence arrived in S. St this morning – Is this Hexameter correct? Valletort concocted it while we were driving very slowly between Eisenach & Fulda –
Nox veniet, sed non erimus si lente domo imus. <14>
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 04610.
2. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
3. James Wright, footman to the Talbots & Constable for Lacock.
4. See Doc. No: 04535.
5. Gustavus Adolphus II (1594–1632), King of Sweden.
6. A decisive battle in the midst of the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), in which King Gustavus Adolphus II was killed.
7. Passage, crossing (by sea).
8. Sir Charles Lemon (1784–1868), politician & scientist; WHFT’s uncle.
9. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.
10. Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837–1901), Empress of India (1876–1901).
11. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
12. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
13. Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1st daughter; Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), 'Rose'; 'Monie'; artist & WHFT's 2nd daughter; died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, née Talbot (25 Feb 1839-1927), 'Tilly', WHFT's 3rd daughter; Charles Henry Talbot, (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), 'Charlie'; 'Tally'; antiquary & WHFT's only son.
14. Let the night come, but we shall cease to exist (we shall not be) if we go home slowly.[schoolboy Latin].