TALBOT1444

[written on the same sheet as a letter from Caroline - see ]

London
June 13th 1826

My dear Henry

It is a very long time since I wrote you a letter, & the last one I am afraid you never received, but I hope this one will have a better fate, as you are now in a civilized country, and not so far off. I thank you very much for all your letters, particularly one from Zante with a very interesting description of a battle between the Greeks & Turks. I wish I had been there with you, enjoying the beautiful view of the mountains of Arcadia! how happy we should have been. You must excuse me if I do not write amusing letters like yours, we have not such interesting subjects here; the only one at this moment is the election. Sir F. Burdett ¹ & M^r Hobhouse ² have been elected without any opposition, which is very dull indeed. We went the other day to Southwark, & heard Sir Robert Wilson ³ speak on the hustings. As for poor M^r Polhill ⁴, the 3^d candidate, the people will hardly let him speak at all. M^r Fasakerly ⁵ is elected for Lincoln. Sir Richard Vivian ⁶ is one of the candidates in Cornwall – I hope you like Florence very much in this fine hot weather, as we did. – I wonder Uncle William ⁷ is so impatient to leave it. I believe Lord Burghersh ⁸ is going away next Saturday, but I dare say it will be put off again. I suppose you know that Nanny ⁹ has been with Lady Burghersh ¹⁰ for some time, and is going with them to Florence, which I am very glad of, as it is a very good place. I suppose you will be gone before she gets there. Do you intend to come back by Paris? – Colonel Strangways ¹¹ is in town & dined here yesterday – he is remarkably well. In the evening we went to Drury Lane with Susan Strangways ¹² in Prince Leopold’s ¹³ box. We saw der Freyschütze & Abou Hassan, which I suppose you remember in the Arabian Nights. I wonder you had no letters from us for such a long time – I suppose that they got to Corfu by the time you got to Zante, & when they arrived at Zante you had gone to Ancona, but still they must have been very long on the road. Now your letters are only a fortnight coming, which is very pleasant, it was quite dismal, to see them dated a month ago, as those we received from the Ionian Islands were. I am afraid the poor Greeks are in a bad way, I wish England would do something for them. I was quite shocked of at the account in your letter of the inhumanity of refusing medicines to the wounded Greeks – I should think even had they been Turks, it would have been most barbarous & unworthy conduct. – I think you must be suffocated at Florence, for here it is too hot almost to write or do anything, to day at least. I must make haste to finish this letter, as it is near 5 o’clock, and I believe Cal ¹⁴ wants to add a few lines. Goodbye, carissimo fratello, I hope soon to have your answer en personne ¹⁵.

Addio – la tua affettuosissima sorella ¹⁶

Orazia ¹⁷

Monsieur
Monsieur W. H. F. Talbot

au soins de M. W. Strangways
&c &c &c
Florence
Basle ¹⁸

inconnu ¹⁹