Nice
Thursday January 9th 1834
My dear Henry
I suppose que tu m’en veux <1> for having been so long answering your two letters, which amused me extremely, particularly the last; & I have no doubt you are anxiously expecting an account of the Eclipse. <2> We saw it in perfection – the night was magnificent, without a soupçon <3> of a cloud, & we descended to the terrace, where we examined it through one of the best telescopes I ever saw, lent us by Mr Lacroix. <4> We could see distinctly, even with the naked eye, the mountains & craters through the shadow, which was of a dingy red colour, deeper towards the side whence it came, & getting gradually lighter, till the edge towards close to the light was of a bright blue colour – when the Moon was totally eclipsed, she had the appearance of a dark yellowish red paper lantern, or perhaps more <illegible deletion> that of one of those thin indian-rubber balls Bimbo <5> plays with, with a candle behind it. This is a very unscientific description, but it is exact, & I think will give you a clear idea of it. Pray tell me in return whether you saw it, & if there was any resemblance between the moons of Paris & Nice –
I have not time today to tell you the secret of the grafts, which I shall reserve for a future occasion; but I must tell you I gave Mr Lacroix your message, who seemed rather hurt at it, & said that not only had he answered your letter by return of post & sent it to Paris, Poste Restante, but that at the same time he wrote upon the subject to Ld Granville <6> also – so you see you have accused him à tort <7> – Pray tell me whether his letter ever reached you –
We have been bothered lately by the Governor stopping all Galignani’s, <8> on account of some articles quoted from the Times, <9> I think, against the Sardinian government – he gave them up however upon remonstrances being made, but stopped them again without any fresh motive – Mr Lacroix again interfered, & they have been again restored – but His Excellency does not seem to be a steady cha< mpion. <10>?> Anemone Hortensis has been in blow ev<er> since y<ou> went, in one spot going up the <text missing> to Villafranca – & on the 30th Decr we found under the olivetrees <sic> at Cimiers, a double Scarlet Anemone Coronaria, I think – the outside petals were broad – like a double English garden Anemone –
Addio caro fratello <11> – let me hear again soon – I received Horatia’s <12> of the 29th yesterday.
Yrs affly
Caroline
Angleterre
Henry Fox Talbot Esqr M.P.
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts.
Notes:
1. That you hold it against me.
2. There was a total lunar eclipse on the night of 26th December 1833.
3. Suspicion.
4. P Lacroix, British Consulate, Nice.
5. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.
6. Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl of Granville (1815–1891), MP & diplomat.
7. Wrongly.
8. Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757–1821). With his English wife Anne Parsons, he set up an English bookshop and circulating library in Paris, ca.1799, and in 1814 founded a newspaper, Galignani’s Messenger, which had a wide circulation among English speaking residents on the Continent.
9. The Times (London).
10. Text obscured by seal.
11. Goodbye dear brother.
12. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.