Rome
Feby 24th 1849
My dear Henry
I am anxiously expecting your answer to my letter which went by the Via di mare of the 4th & which I think I might have received by this time. I hope the little sketch it contained arrived safe, & that you liked the idea for the monument in the Church at Laycock <1> – The size I think is very suitable to be placed by the side of the Tablet which is already put up – any inscription might be placed below. It is sufficiently suitable, compared to the one already there, & yet in reality the day I wrote, that I omitted to say that if you wd undertake to pay half the price, Horatia <2> & I would be answerable for the other half. I think I told you the Artist’s price was 150 Scudi, abt £30 – half what it was last year – But times are hard now – & you are not likely to meet ever again with anything so pretty or so cheap. Therefore, if I find by your letter that you like it, & are only deterred by the price, I will order it at once. Most rilievi, particularly in England, I always think frightful. I wish you would shew the sketch to Amandier <3> – I think she will agree with me as to it’s merits. Nothing very new has happened here since we wrote – But in Tuscany a revolution has taken place because the Gd Duke <4> would not sanction the Costituente Italiana. We got a letter from Captn Key <5> one day fm Civita Vecchia saying he was ordered off at a monent’s notice to protect the Gd Duke at San Stefano, a little port in the Southern part of the Maremma. He did not know where he was going to, or anything farther. Two Officers of the Bulldog had arrived at Rome for the Carnival only the day before, & were thus suddenly left without a ship! They cd not take advantage of their leave however, but were obliged to set off next morning, to try & rejoin her, or else go to Naples & report themselves to the Admiral. We have heard again since from S. Stefano, where the poor Gd Duke & his family were living in some poor little rooms, under the protection of the Bulldog & Thetis ( Captn Codrington <6>). Nobody knows what is going to happen next. I think he does [illegible deletion] well not to leave his own dominions, as poor Pio IX <7> unwisely did – & it was expected the Piedmontese were coming to restore him to his throne. But everything is now certain – we saw a most abominable printed hand-bill, signed by Montanelli & Guerrazzi; <8> in wh they declare that Leopoldo d’Austria (as they will call him,) is unworthy to remount the throne, that he is decaduto <9> – that the Republic &c is to be proclaimed fm the pulpits & altars, & that any refractory Priests are to “ mandati legati a Firenze”. All this is a great deal too bad – The Gd Duke has spent the whole of his reign in endeavouring to secure the welfare & happiness of his subjects – & the Gd Dss <10> is an angel of goodness & charity. From the little we have seen & heard, we think the Tuscans disposed to be much more savage than the Romans. You have no idea how well & quietly these people behave. – The Carnival was very merry – out of doors, I mean – For Balls & receptions there have been none. The masking & Confetti went off with great éclat <11> – & we had a good deal of fun – particularly Val & Charlie, <12> as you may suppose – We duly drove in the Corso, & had a balcony besides from wh to pelt our friends. The Moccoletti however was the best off [sic] all – the effect was (as I remember of old,) quite beautiful – & the sort of madness among the people as great as ever – yet the utmost order & harmony prevailed. There were numbers of military abt the streets to keep order – the greatest part of which were Civici – & very well they did it – tho’ really no interference was required. I shd have enjoyed the Carnival more if Baby had not been ill – but a fortnight ago she was attacked with a bad cold, which produced some inflammation in her chest, & for three or four days she was really ill – I was obliged however to continue nursing her, as Mrs Palmer <13> fell ill next, & is still keeping her bed, tho’ with nothing serious – Ernestine <14> has still got the remains of her cough & is very thin – But I hope to take her out in a day or two; wh will restore her strength & colour. Milord <15> is pretty well, & in excellent spirits. Our principal fear now is that they will seize our horses for the Artillery – as we have heard such a compulsory measure rumoured wh wd be a great bore. The paper money is another extreme inconvenience – the silver & gold must have been all buried somewhere – One can get nothing but 20 Scudi notes – & must pay a heavy aggio at the Bankers for silver – wh even they possess, I believe, in very limited quantities. The Austrians, it is said, have crossed the Po & taken possession of Ferrera. Horatia rode my little Barbero yesterday to the Torre de’ shiari Schiari & Acqueducts Does not that make you long to be here? I went in the mean time to the top of the Palace of the Cæsars, & sketched S. Giovanni e Paolo & San Stefano rotondo.
Give my love to Constance & the Chicks <16> I hope she is better, now the bad weather is over – It was a pity you did not see Aunt Louisa <17> when she went to take leave of you before going to Town – The weather here has been beautiful for a long time – & now quite warm – The Almond trees are in bloom violets, narcissus &c – Anemone hortensis, crocus, ixias &c – There is a French man here, who keeps a drawing shop, who has taught himself to make Tabotypes, [sic] really extremely well – I intend to send you a specimen or two by Lord Morton, if I can – You can order some more if you like – He first of all called them Daguerreotypes sur papier but when I told him their right name, & explained that the inventor was my brother, he looked at me with an immense encrease of respect – His views of Titus’ Arch, Colosseum & Cloister of S. John Lateran are excellent – Addio my dear Henry – Pray write soon an answer to my suggestion – Love to Amandier –
Yr afte Sister
Caroline
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 06216.
2. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
3. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
4. Leopold II, Duke of Tuscany (1797–1870). In February 1849, Leopold left Tuscany and returned several months later.
5. Sir Astley Cooper Key (1821–1888), admiral; commanded the Bulldog steamer in the Mediterranean, 1847–1850.
6. Sir Henry John Codrington (1808–1877), admiral. On 10 February 1849, he wrote from San Stefano: ‘Here I am in attendance of the grand duke, his duchess and family, with every prospect of being their head chamberlain this very night on board Thetis. Oh dear me! I’m not made for chamberlain to grand dukes and duchesses and six children and seventeen attendants’.
7. Giovanni Maria Mastai–Ferretti (1792–1878), Pope Pius IX from 1846 to 1878.
8. Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, (1804–1873).
9. Decayed.
10. Louise of Orleans, daughter of Louis Philippe, King of the French.
11. Glamour, brilliance.
12. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’, and Charles Earnest Edgcumbe (1838–1915), JP, WHFT’s nephew.
13. Servant.
14. Ernestine Emma Horatia Edgcumbe (1843-1925), WHFT’s niece.
15. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
16. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife; 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.
17. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.
18. Charles Hayard, who sold Daguerreotype materials through his art supply shop. In 1842, his daughter Caroline married Comte Jean François Charles André Flachéron, who by 1847 was an accomplished calotypist.