Melbury <1>
29 Decr
My dear Henry
I was to have sent you some specimens from Abb <2> but I found I could send nothing satisfactory but leaves & I did not know whether you were come home. The weather was like Nice.
The best thing out was a large spike of Morina longifolia a fine plant with flowers at once pink & white. Erica codonodis. Arum arisarum & tenuifolium. Crocus Imperati. Arbutus hybrida. Oxalis cernua. Lithospermum rosmarinifolium<.> Calceolaria integrifolia. Jasminum nudiflorum. Hellebores & Christmas roses. Allium fragrans & chamæmoly which is the reverse.
What a holy mess the country is getting into with religious disputes. <3> I long for something to happen somewhere to divert the public mind – which is yearly becoming more difficult of amusement.
There are some interesting articles on climate in the two last numbers of the Agricultural Journal.
I hope there are no more colds at Lacock. I had a good account from Mary <4> a few days ago – but I feel for poor Isabella <5> very much.
Your Affte
W F S
[envelope]
Henry F. Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Notes:
1. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
2. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
3. Related to the rise of Tractarianism. As a result of these disputes, a number of Anglican clergymen seceded to Rome in 1850/51. [See E. L. Woodward, The Age of Reform (Oxford History of England), 1938].
4. Mary Thereza Talbot (1795–1861), WHFT’s cousin.
5. Isabella Catherine Franklen, née Talbot (1804–1874). Her eldest son, Harry, was extremely ill: see Doc. No: 06362and Doc. No: 06384.