HAM/1/4/5/7
Letter from Lady Catherine Hamilton (née Barlow) to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
typed Mannheim
are stop'd for a days rest --
1777 -- ▼
I hope My Dr Miʃs Hamilton
that you received the letter[1] I wrote you from Spa
not for the entertainment it contain'd (for in
that respect it was not worth reading) but
to shew you my affection & that I did not
forget my promise -- from the time I wrote that
------------ letter I was so taken in airing & trying to
get up a little strength for my journey that
I had no time to write -- I liked Spa better to=
=wards the latter part of my time than the
first, Mrs Graham & I lived very much together &
the Spencers took to her verywhich gave me great
satisfaction -- I saw a good deal likewise of Ly
Drogheda Ly Hertfords daughter who is a sweet
amiable woman & two or three other good sort
of people wch. made me paʃs my time very
agreably & I really was sorry to come away --
one circumstance however damp'd every en=
=joyment, wch. was the melancholy situation of
the poor Delewarr family -- I told you in my last
that there were great hopes of him,[2] but those
hopes became so fluctuating that when we came
away there seem'd to be little hopes of ever getting
him away -- I never saw any thing so touching
as the Scenes, every day amongin that family,
they are all amiable, & suffering, & suffer so
mildly,[3] that one wishes to remain with them to
comfort them, tho' at the same time it breaks
ones heart. I am sure you will comprehend that
feel. -- From Spa we came to Bonn & from
thence embarkd on the Rhine & were four days
getting to Mayence[4] from whence we came by
land to Manheim. Sr Wm. went the next day to the
Theatre at Manheim, where the Elector happen'd to be,
& (tho' in a frock in the Pit) he did him the honor to
send his first Minister to him to desire that both
he & I, would dine with him the next day at
Ogersheim where the Electreʃs is at present, & the day
after at Swezinghe[5] when he is in the Country --
Sr Wm. accepted for himself, but said I was so
tired with my journey that I could not dreʃs,
by which I got two days rest, but by order
of the Elector we had a great Concert given
us at Count Savioli's[6] the Directeur des Specta
cles, & the last Night (as I did not chuse to
go out) they gave me another concert at my
own lodging -- in short nothing could be more
Polite & attentive -- from Manheim we set out
in pursuance of our Plan of being at Naples by
the 4th- of Novr. -- & the day before Yesterday were
stop'd at a place calld Goppingen by meeting
the D. of Gloucester who upon hearing we were
changing horses sent to desire to see us -- we
obey'd his R Hʃs-s commands & found him at
dinner -- but I own to you I was shock'd, his
legs are as big as my waist, his face that of
a Corpse, his hair almost totally fallen off,
& what remains quite red, he sent for his Chil=
=dren to shew us & look'd at them with tears
in his eyes, I see he is hopeleʃs, & I fear with
reason, for I cannot think he ever will
get the better of his illneʃs -- nature is worn
out, & I suppose the Winter will finish all
he has no use of his legs & is carried from place
to place -- What is birth?
What is greatneʃs? all
All, a prey to Death, &
Subject to every pain & distreʃs but why do I
moralize with you? -- I should not forget to tell you
there is a Marqse Trotti & her daughters at Bonn
who love you & I liked them for it -- I felt I liked
them, & that that, was the reason, for I know
little of them -- when you have an proper Oppertunity
My Dr Miʃs Hamilton -- expreʃs my respectfull Duty
to our Charming & Valuable Queen -- the more I see
& hear of Sovereigns & princes the more I admire & love
her & think you happy in your situation, let
me know how you go on, You know how
much you interest me -- My kind love attends
Mrs Hamilton -- Sr Wm. joins in his to you both & I am
ever Yr truly Affecte Aunt C Hamilton
To[7] fxiv Colle,
Miʃs Hamilton
at The Right Honble. Ly Charlotte Finches
Lodgings at St James's
Angleterre London [8] [9]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. See HAM/1/4/5/4.
2. De La Warr died in London 22 November 1777.
3. Perhaps in sense ‘without complaint’.
4. French name for Mainz.
5. Modern Schwetzingen.
6. In November 1777 Count Savioli is mentioned in letters between Mozart, then at Mannheim, and his father.
7. Postmark 'OC 17' above address panel when unfolded, indicating that the letter arrived in the post in England on 17 October 1777.
8. Large figure ‘1/’ (one shilling) over address, indicating postage due.
9. Remains of a seal in red wax.
Normalised Text
are stopped for a days rest --
▼
I hope My Dear Miss Hamilton
that you received the letter I wrote you from Spa
not for the entertainment it contained (for in
that respect it was not worth reading) but
to show you my affection & that I did not
forget my promise -- from the time I wrote that
letter I was so taken in airing & trying to
get up a little strength for my journey that
I had no time to write -- I liked Spa better towards
the latter part of my time than the
first, Mrs Graham & I lived very much together &
the Spencers took to her which gave me great
satisfaction -- I saw a good deal likewise of Lady
Drogheda Lady Hertfords daughter who is a sweet
amiable woman & two or three other good sort
of people which made me pass my time very
agreeably & I really was sorry to come away --
one circumstance however damped every enjoyment
, which was the melancholy situation of
the poor De La Warr family -- I told you in my last
that there were great hopes of him, but those
hopes became so fluctuating that when we came
away there seemed to be little hopes of ever getting
him away -- I never saw any thing so touching
as the Scenes, every day in that family,
they are all amiable, & suffering, & suffer so
mildly, that one wishes to remain with them to
comfort them, though at the same time it breaks
ones heart. I am sure you will comprehend that
feel. -- From Spa we came to Bonn & from
thence embarked on the Rhine & were four days
getting to Mayence from whence we came by
land to Manheim. Sir William went the next day to the
Theatre at Manheim, where the Elector happened to be,
& (though in a frock in the Pit) he did him the honour to
send his first Minister to him to desire that both
he & I, would dine with him the next day at
Ogersheim where the Electress is at present, & the day
after at Swezinghe when he is in the Country --
Sir William accepted for himself, but said I was so
tired with my journey that I could not dress,
by which I got two days rest, but by order
of the Elector we had a great Concert given
us at Count Savioli's the Directeur des Spectacles
, & the last Night (as I did not choose to
go out) they gave me another concert at my
own lodging -- in short nothing could be more
Polite & attentive -- from Manheim we set out
in pursuance of our Plan of being at Naples by
the 4th- of November -- & the day before Yesterday were
stopped at a place called Goppingen by meeting
the Duke of Gloucester who upon hearing we were
changing horses sent to desire to see us -- we
obeyed his Royal Highnesss commands & found him at
dinner -- but I own to you I was shocked, his
legs are as big as my waist, his face that of
a Corpse, his hair almost totally fallen off,
& what remains quite red, he sent for his Children
to show us & looked at them with tears
in his eyes, I see he is hopeless, & I fear with
reason, for I cannot think he ever will
get the better of his illness -- nature is worn
out, & I suppose the Winter will finish all
he has no use of his legs & is carried from place
to place -- What is birth?
What is greatness? all
All, a prey to Death, &
Subject to every pain & distress but why do I
moralize with you? -- I should not forget to tell you
there is a Marquise Trotti & her daughters at Bonn
who love you & I liked them for it -- I felt I liked
them, & that that, was the reason, for I know
little of them -- when you have a proper Opportunity
My Dear Miss Hamilton -- express my respectful Duty
to our Charming & Valuable Queen -- the more I see
& hear of Sovereigns & princes the more I admire & love
her & think you happy in your situation, let
me know how you go on, You know how
much you interest me -- My kind love attends
Mrs Hamilton -- Sir William joins in his to you both & I am
ever Your truly Affectionate Aunt Catherine Hamilton
To
Miss Hamilton
at The Right Honourable Lady Charlotte Finches
Lodgings at St James's
Angleterre London
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 Lady Catherine Hamilton (née Barlow) to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/5/7
Correspondence Details
Sender: Lady Catherine Hamilton (née Barlow)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: London
Date sent: 8 October 1777
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Lady Catherine Hamilton to Mary Hamilton. She writes on her journey back to Naples and on society and friends. While stopping for a change of horses, they met with the Duke of Gloucester [William Henry, Prince, First Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805)], who seemed to be very ill. She records her shock when she saw him: 'his legs are as big as my waist, his face that of a Corpse, his hair almost totally fallen off'.
Original reference No. 6.
Length: 3 sheets, 770 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Image to Text' (David Denison & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2013-2019), now incorporated 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: XML version: Research Assistant funding in 2016/17 provided by The John Rylands Research Institute.
Research assistant: Sarah Connor, undergraduate student, University of Manchester
Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo
Transliterator: Sonia Mills, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted May 2017)
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: 12 August 2023