Diplomatic Text
Written in 1782
to Pʃs ——[1]
[2]
Adieu -- perhaps for ever! Though I leave
you, never will I forget you -- I will only
endeavour to forget yr. unkindneʃs; age and
experience will teach yo. to prize a sincere
friend as ye. most inestimable treasure
you can poʃseʃs -- Adieu may Heaven pre-
serve you! I have, & ever will be
your truest & attach'd friend. I act and
speak from ye. strictest principle of honor,
it has hitherto supported me, & I trust
will support me through life. Let me
live in yr. remembrance and wish me
happineʃs. suffer yourself for a moment
to imagine yo. are taking leave of an affte-
friend, think of me as one yt. is dead
& who merited when living yr. esteem.
My plans for ye. future are now settled --
you can no longer wish to influence my
actions -- I forgive you the unkind --
ungenerous part you have acted towards
me -- I forgive you all the exquisite
anxiety of mind I have suffer'd -- for still
I am too much yr. friend to allow myself
to think yo. deliberately endeavour'd to
wound its peace. May yo. meet wth. a
friend true, sincere, and disinterested
as I have ever been to you, & when you
do never betray or desert them.
Whilste I live my prayers for your
happineʃs will be duly offer'd -- for,
Mon amitié est indiʃsoluble!
[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Adieu -- perhaps for ever! Though I leave
you, never will I forget you -- I will only
endeavour to forget your unkindness; age and
experience will teach you to prize a sincere
friend as the most inestimable treasure
you can possess -- Adieu may Heaven preserve
you! I have, & ever will be
your true attached friend. I act and
speak from the strictest principle of honour,
it has hitherto supported me, & I trust
will support me through life. Let me
live in your remembrance and wish me
happiness. suffer yourself for a moment
to imagine you are taking leave of an affectionate
friend, think of me as one that is dead
& who merited when living your esteem.
My plans for the future are now settled --
you can no longer wish to influence my
actions -- I forgive you the unkind --
ungenerous part you have acted towards
me -- I forgive you all the exquisite
anxiety of mind I have suffered -- for still
I am too much your friend to allow myself
to think you deliberately endeavoured to
wound its peace. May you meet with a
friend true, sincere, and disinterested
as I have ever been to you, & when you
do never betray or desert them.
While I live my prayers for your
happiness will be duly offered -- for,
Mon amitié est indissoluble!
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester
Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers
Item title: Letter from Mary Hamilton to one of the princesses
Shelfmark: HAM/1/1/1/11
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee:
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 1782
Letter Description
Summary: From Hamilton to one of the princesses and relates to her resignation
from Court. Hamilton writes 'Adieu & perhaps for ever'. Hamilton will
not forget her but will endeavour to forget her 'wickedness' and advises
that age and experience will teach the princess to 'prize a sincere
friend'. She asks the Princess to remember her 'as one t[ha]t is dead
& who merited when living y[ou]r esteem'. [The Queen accepted
Hamilton's resignation as governess in November 1782.]
Original reference No. 18.
Length: 1 sheet, 222 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).
All quotation marks are retained in the text and are represented by appropriate Unicode characters. Words split across two lines may have a hyphen on the first, the second or both fragments (reco-|ver, imperfect|-ly, satisfacti-|-on); or a double hyphen (pur=|port, dan|=ger, qua=|=litys); or none (respect|ing). Any point in abbreviations with superscripted letter(s) is placed last, regardless of relative left-right orientation in the original. Thus, Mrs. or Mrs may occur, but M.rs or Mr.s do not.
Acknowledgements: Transcription and XML version created as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1.
Transliterator: Christine Wallis, editorial team (completed 8 February 2021)
Cataloguer: Lisa Crawley, Archivist, The John Rylands Library
Cataloguer: John Hodgson, Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 10 December 2021