TALBOT6087

H. M. S. Bulldog
Palermo harbour
Jan^y 18^th 1848

My dear Henry

I don’t know if you will be surprised at the date of this, or if you have been prepared for something of the sort, as I daresay you will have had an account of our revolution in the newspapers & will I fear have been troubled about us. Captⁿ Lyon is here, in his yacht & has offered to take a letter to Naples & send it by L^d Napier’s ¹ bag, for there is no communication allowed by post, & I thought you would be anxious. The curious thing was that the row actually began on the 12^th the very day on which it was announced to take place long before – there was some fighting in the streets that day, but the next it grew a deal more serious & a great many of the young nobles joined the people. We went up to the top of the house but could not see much tho’ it was very near us – but presumably they began to fire shells from the Fort some of which went over the house. The Bulldog arrived Wednesday, & L^d M^t E. ² asked Captⁿ Key ³ for a guard of sailors & marines w^ch he sent, & they bivouacked in our antichamber luckily a very spacious one. Friday it grew more & more desperate – Captⁿ Key went to the Governor to remonstrate on the iniquity of bombarding a town in that unheard of manner but it had no effect. We were not at all frightened, but some of the English were very much indeed one lady had a shell come into her room & another whole family took refuge in the cellar & escaped at last all thro’ the firing to a house near ours. The people seemed certainly to have the best of it tho they had only 2 guns & very few [sic] had muskets & few of them we saw them rushing by our windows with swords long knives &c such wildlooking [sic] creatures calling out Viva la libertà & viva Sa Rosalia it was very exciting. They did not offer to molest any strangers, on the contrary they came & embraced some of the English – the fact is they hoped all along that we sh^d help them & when they saw the Bulldog arrive they were still more confirmed in the idea – but when they found it was not the case they began to grow angry, & the last time Captⁿ Key went to the governor it was quite at the risk of his life from both parties. [illegible deletion] The soldiers were quite beat out of the town except the Bank & the Palace & the forts, & we really hoped the people w^d carry the day when suddenly 4 war steamers appeared in sight Saturday afternoon & were followed by 5 others laden with troops – & then we thought it was all over. Captⁿ Key now advised us so strongly to embark that we did very much against our inclinations, for I don’t think the people would have touched us – & they do not seem to have thought of pillage or robbing of any sort just Before we came away, a young man was killed by a cannonball on the top of our house, who had just gone up to look out – he was a Swiss – All the ladies in the apartment over us who were great friends of his came rushing down to us all in tears – you never saw such a confusion everybody coming into our drawingroom & we packing up in a hurry – & we set off in the dark & pouring rain to an American ship as the Bulldog was too full to hold us. Sunday however they got rid of some & we came on board, where we are most hospitably entertained by Captⁿ Key who is really most aimable [sic]& so cool & courageous quite a pattern English sailor

Sunday & Yesterday the people actually still held out fighting against 10 or 11000 soldiers – & they beat them back more than once – but I fear it cannot go on long. They have behaved gallantly & deserve to be free. I only wish we could help them. Yesterday a shocking thing occurred – a M^rs Backhouse who had taken refuge on board⁺ with many other English & we had remarked as looking ill, was suddenly taken with a sort of convulsion & actually died on the deck where she was laid down in less than ½ an hour⁺. There were several doctors on board but they could not save her they said it was a heart complaint. She had a little child 3 years old – it was really too dreadful to see her poor husband sitting by her left alone in a foreign land. She was buried this morning in a little English cemetery near the [Lazzarette?]. Really so many horrors succeed one another that we shall not be surprised at anything.

Most luckily Charlie ⁴ was very well recovered from his long illness & Milord pretty well – & he has borne all this wonderfully. The rest all well. We don’t know yet what is to become of us – whether we shall be taken off to Malta, or be allowed to go back to our comfortable quarters here, where we had settled ourselves very well at last & were beginning to like the place much better.

Please to continue writing as we hope to stay here Will you let Aunt Louisa ⁵ know we are alive & safe under British colours – & give my love to C & Amandier. ⁶ I hope she is better now. Poor Price! I was so sorry for her Would you be so kind as to ask C. to ask Rachel to write a line to Ellen’s sister to let her know she is alive Adieu dear Henry

Y^r very aff^te sister
Horatia