TALBOT9804

Wallington
Newcastle on Tyne
12^th Sep^tr 1871

My Dear Talbot

Many thanks for your letter & offer of specimens of your photographic engravings: which I should be glad to have, as I suppose you have made great advances since you, a few years ago, gave me some which promised well – I was much interested, a few years ago, in seeing the valuable applications of Photography in the ordnance Survey works at Southampton.¹

You ask me about Botany. I still keep up my interest in it, tho’ I have given my British Collection of dried plants to the Museum at Newcastle; where, united with Winchs, it forms a tolerable very complete collection, & is of more use than in private hands – I have given collections, at various times, to Kew herbarium; amongst others a tolerably complete one of the Faroe Islands, & many collected in Greece & Italy, Portugal &^c. I have often thought of our working together in botany at Harrow, where now natural history may be pursued with less difficulty & risk, than when we were there, & where they now have a flourishing “Scientific Society,” to which I am going to send an interesting record of our work there, half a century ago; a catalogue of the plants you & I made, of the plants we collected² – among which I find one which is not in the Flora published there in 1864 – Triglochin maritimum, which I well remember gathering in an old Brick field, now probably covered with buildings.

I wish you would come and renew your acquaintance with this place, which I think you would find improved. – Draining had not commenced to any extent, when you were here, & there were few parts of England where it was more needed. –

The enclosed etching by W. B. Scott, for a book plate, is a correct view, excepting the ruined arch, which is ideal.³ –

You speak of my philanthropic labors: The two vices which I attack, if not banished from our land, will I believe eventually accomplish its ruin, physically, morally & socially, & so insidious are they in their advance, that in many cases the ruin of the individual, & deterioration & ultimate extinction, of his descendants, may be accomplished, before the true cause is suspected = & unfortunately, a short sighted Goverment [sic] has too long, for the sake of an immediate influx of gold to the Exchequer, directly or indirectly, encouraged the use both of alchoholic [sic] & tobacco poisons –

With all kind remembrances, I remain, Yours most truly
W. C. Trevelyan

[enclosed bookplate:
[distant view of house through arch; SIR WALTER CALVERLEY TREVELYAN BAR^T around opening; arms with bearers and motto above: TIME TRYETH TROTH]