Item 145 - Letter from Henry Sidgwick to his mother

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Writes from 'a miserable inn at Friedrichshafen, on the Lake of Constance very much out of humour.' Reports that his ailment [the corn under his big toe] worsened, and prevented him from walking at all, and after 'a delightful day at Innsbruck... [he] gave up the idea of mountaineering and went to Venice, Verona and Milan'. Describes his three-day stay in Venice. From Milan he went to Bellaggio, and then over the Maloja to Pontresina, which he reached on 22 August, and found his mother's two letters, but none from William or Arthur. He then decided to 'take a taste of the Alps at Pontresina and then leave Switzerland; was unsure whether to return via Germany or France and was told at Chur that he could get through to Stuttgart in a day, but this has proved not to be the case and he finds himself detained for six hours in Friedrichshafen. Predicts that he shall 'no doubt come out at Cologne after a day or two, and then it will be comparatively plain sailing.

Asks her to thank his uncle for his kind invitation, which he would have accepted were it not for the pressures of work. Asks her to send any letters of his to Cambridge, and would like to know the names of the authors of the two letters she sent to Göttingen. Asks her to remember him to friends.

Part transcription in Sidgwick, Arthur, and Sidgwick, E. M, 'Henry Sidgwick'. London: Macmillan, 1906, p 236-237.