TALBOT1234

Melbury ¹
Dec^r 30^th 1824

My Dear Mother,

You write very seldom, I have had only one letter from you with a line in it from Horatia, ² and one from M^r Feilding ³ - I am much obliged to him for his advice about my cold but I am now perfectly well & have been so a long while, ever since I left Town. You have doubtless heard of the melancholy accident that has happened to Paulet Mildmay ⁴ his gun burst & carried away his thumb. The papers give a story from Naples which wears the appearance of authenticity. As M^r & M^rs Hunt of Northamptonshire were returning from a visit to Paestum they were fired at, & the shot killed them both. Tell Mr Feilding there is an advertisement in the Courier, for India the Steam Vessel Enterprize of 500 tons to sail in March, touch at the Cape & Madras, Lieut. Johnstone RN commander. If she reaches Calcutta within 70 days which they are confident of, the crew gain a prize of a lac of rupees, for the first steam voyage.⁵ - I shall part with my servant, I wish you could engage Baptiste for me, he would suit me very well. - I sent Monty ⁶ a new novel of great repute to amuse him "The Inheritance". ⁷ - There are a quantity of new books just published more than any mortal can read - L^d I., Sir Christopher, my Aunt, Isabella & Emma, for Charry ⁸ alas! is left at Bath. M^rs Campbell, Lady Ilchester, Lady George and Emily. William and Kit ⁹ -

January 4^th 1825

W^m is gone to Brussels. Co^l Strangways and Henry Murray ¹⁰ arrived. Everybody busy in making fancy articles for an auction. It seems that Lemon ¹¹ is not to succeed his father as member for Cornwall. Sir R. Vyvyan ¹² has started & I am told he will be returned without opposition. The Glamorganshire Election ¹³ is coming round next autumn with all its troubles. Kit declines to offer himself. There is no doubt of Sir C's return, but it is uncertain how great the opposition (& consequently the expense) may be. The Boroughs will also be keenly contested between the [illegible deletion] M. of Bute's interest & the sitting member Mr Wyndham Lewis. ¹⁴ Kit has 200 votes, enough to turn the scale, but is not decided at present ¹⁵ what to do. Lord Lansdowne ¹⁶ has been ill with an attack of the gout. My Uncle Harry is very cheerful. On leaving Town I went first to Abbotsbury where the late storm has changed the face of nature. The bank of pebbles is greatly lowered & will remain so in future for centuries to come. I saw a boat in the middle of a ploughed field far from the sea. The swans were dispersed far & wide up & down the country Fleet church which had stood 500 years was washed away. In the village of Chesil 36 houses were washed away. The sea reached Wyck wood far inland (out of sight of the sea in the usual state of things) They are going to erect stones to mark to future generations the points the sea reached. The boathouse at Abbotsbury ¹⁷ was the only building on the beach that survived the storm from Weymouth to Sidmouth. Lord Russell came over & shot one day at Abb^y. From there I went to Moreton ¹⁸ a right merry Christmas party, like those of yore, when Christmas was yclept Yule tide.

We had lambswool, Wassail bowl, Yule clog, and all other things meet and convenient. - I have received your second letter. Monty appeared to me quite clear - His mother told me there was not the least chance of a relapse, his illness having been occasioned by the laudanum. I think your letters would amuse him. I wrote to him yesterday. - Car. ¹⁹ & Hor. will meet in Town next spring their cousins H^t and Louisa Frampton; ²⁰ all my uncle Harry's children but I am afraid none of the Penrice ²¹ party, as London disagrees with my Aunt. ²²

Lady Elisabeth Feilding
Hotel de la Terrasse
Rue Rivoli
Paris