TALBOT3254

Turin
April 10

My dear Henry –

I was much shocked at the intelligence your Letter contained, the calamity being so unexpected must have made the blow more severe for poor Constance ¹ to bear; give her my kindest love & say how much I felt for her – you see by the date that we are at last under wiegh [sic], but when we shall arrive at our Anchorage in Sackville S^{t 2} is more than I can venture to prognosticate – at the moment owing to the extraordinary weather we have had, & have, the M^t Cenis is almost impassable, & we wait for a few days of clear dry weather before we start – we were detained some time at Nice from the same cause. I would willingly have taken the shortest road, by France, but your mother ³ wished so much to come this way that I gave in – We find here M Boyl & de Candia – ⁴ & Sir Augustus Forster who is as kind as possible – I dine with him today to meet Plana ⁵ & the savans of Turin to whom I shall listen with great respect. – had [sic] you so exalted an Idea of the gullibility of the existing generation as to have supposed d’avance ⁶ that such a mystification as les decouvertes dans la Lune ⁷ should have succeeded as it has all over the continent, being translated into all languages – I think it to the credit of Galignani ⁸ that he never mentioned the subject – here Plana was obliged to put in the paper a translation of a letter he had lately rec^d from Herschell ⁹ [sic] saying, of course, nothing about the discoveries, by way of a negative contradiction – Your mother expected to find a letter here from you, & I hope to be more fortunate at Chambery. – I wish we were there – it will be a troublesome Job getting over – the sun has again appeared, & we are going to the Gallery –

God bless you
C. F.

I saw M. de Sala [illegible] yesterday he is at the head of the topographical department & he tells me they are making a beautiful map of the Terra firma dominions of the King of Sardinia ¹⁰ – the first sheet is to appear soon & he has promised me an exemplaire ¹¹

W. H. F. Talbot Eq^re [sic]
Angleterre
31 Sackville S^t
London