Diplomatic Text
Wherwell -- Nov -- 29 --
I do really think I am authorised to indulge myself in pronouncing to
our good Friends in Derbyshire, that Mr- Dickinson's Prescription
has done some good, where He so much wished it to succeed. I
cannot help attributing to it, the removal & ceʃsation of Pain; but my
Father who is always disappointed on every new Tryal, that does not
restore him to some more perceptible use of his Leg, is not
inclined to allow that it has done much for him, tho He is
very grateful for your earnest endevors. He is come down-stairs
amongst us, & has a small Bed fixed up in the Library, where
his horizontal Posture, which is most irksome to him, but most
neceʃsary, is continued, except when He is at his Meals. The
Swelling of the Thigh is rather leʃsened, his appetite is extraor-
-dinarily good, & He begins to look as well as ever, & would be
as chearful, if He could banish that sad reflection which
is perpetually recurring, that He shall never have the use of
his Leg. This perswasion keeps him dejected. He has been
out twice in the Coach, without any great inconvenience, but
in getting in & out, & being cramped by sitting above two
hours. -- I really at present think poor Mrs- Iremonger the
Worst of the two, She suffers so much from her Eyes. She has
at last submitted to a perpetual Blister on her arm, & I am
in hopes she will recieve benefit for this ais a melancholy & sore
aggravation to her other affliction which was quite enough
for her. On her account I wish we were in Town, that
she might be in a warmer House, & have the support of
more chearing & advising friends. But we can so little judge
how equal my Father is to a journey, that I do not see
much prospect of our removal. -- Little Catharine is quite
lively & well, & improves in every respect. -- You will have
seen in the Papers the death of Mrs- William Shipley, the Dean
of St- Asaph's wife, they were remarkably attached to each other
& happy together, & therefore it is a very severe stroke to him.
She died of a low Fever, & has left him 8 Children.
You need not return the verses I enclose. We all unite
in affectionate Compliments to You & Mr Dickinson, &
I remain Your Much Obliged Friend
E. Iremonger
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Wherwell -- November -- 29 --
I do really think I am authorised to indulge myself in pronouncing to
our good Friends in Derbyshire, that Mr- Dickinson's Prescription
has done some good, where He so much wished it to succeed. I
cannot help attributing to it, the removal & cessation of Pain; but my
Father who is always disappointed on every new Trial, that does not
restore him to some more perceptible use of his Leg, is not
inclined to allow that it has done much for him, though He is
very grateful for your earnest endeavours. He is come down-stairs
amongst us, & has a small Bed fixed up in the Library, where
his horizontal Posture, which is most irksome to him, but most
necessary, is continued, except when He is at his Meals. The
Swelling of the Thigh is rather lessened, his appetite is extraordinarily
good, & He begins to look as well as ever, & would be
as cheerful, if He could banish that sad reflection which
is perpetually recurring, that He shall never have the use of
his Leg. This persuasion keeps him dejected. He has been
out twice in the Coach, without any great inconvenience, but
in getting in & out, & being cramped by sitting above two
hours. -- I really at present think poor Mrs- Iremonger the
Worst of the two, She suffers so much from her Eyes. She has
at last submitted to a perpetual Blister on her arm, & I am
in hopes she will receive benefit for this is a melancholy & sore
aggravation to her other affliction which was quite enough
for her. On her account I wish we were in Town, that
she might be in a warmer House, & have the support of
more cheering & advising friends. But we can so little judge
how equal my Father is to a journey, that I do not see
much prospect of our removal. -- Little Catharine is quite
lively & well, & improves in every respect. -- You will have
seen in the Papers the death of Mrs- William Shipley, the Dean
of St- Asaph's wife, they were remarkably attached to each other
& happy together, & therefore it is a very severe stroke to him.
She died of a low Fever, & has left him 8 Children.
You need not return the verses I enclose. We all unite
in affectionate Compliments to You & Mr Dickinson, &
I remain Your Much Obliged Friend
Elizabeth Iremonger
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Metadata
Library References
Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester
Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers
Item title: Letter from Elizabeth Iremonger to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/8/1/7
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Iremonger
Place sent: Wherwell
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 29 November 1789
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Iremonger to Mary Hamilton, relating to her father and Mrs
Iremonger's health. Iremonger is pleased that Dickenson's 'prescription'
has done him good and notes that her father declares that he has not felt
the benefit from the same prescription. He is still suffering from his
fall from his horse (HAM/1/8/1/4). A bed has been made for him in the
Library so that he can now spend some time downstairs. The swelling of
his thigh has improved somewhat and he has a good appetite. He is looking
almost as good as he was before his accident and 'would be cheerful if He
could banish that sad reflection which is perpetually recurring, that He
shall never have the use of his leg'.
Mrs Iremonger's health is also poor and she suffers greatly with her eyes
and is being treated with a blister on her arm.
Dated at Wherwell [Andover].
Length: 1 sheet, 412 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: Cassandra Ulph, editorial team (completed 11 March 2020)
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: 2 November 2021