HAM/1/8/2/13
Letter from Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
Dover Street July 20th
1792
After the flattering Encouragement given me by my dear
Mr & Mrs. Dickenson the Evening before they left London
I was in hopes I wd have heard long since of their
Safe Arrival with Miʃs dickenson & their sweet little
Girl at Taxall -- but having long expected, & ------ as
long bien disappointed, I am determined to Enquire
Why you have thus disappointed me & why I am
so soon forgotten. --
The Town if one may trust to the appearance in the
Streets is quite deserted, however I have been at
Several large Parties lately -- & have heard the famous
Cherubio ------ Sing -- it was not without some
difficulty that he was prevail'd upon to do so so
much more however it was a --- 'd better than most
things of the sort Usually turn out -- I have had the
pleasure of seeing yr Uncle & Aunt Hamilton from
yr. Uncle I had the pleasure of hearing that you
had a prosperous journey & that you were all well
for I was alarm'd about you fearing that you or Miʃs
Dickenson had relaps'd & yr old complaints return'd
Since you were at a distance from yr Physichin --
how delightful the Country must be this lovely Weather
we taste it as often as we can in the Environs of London
Dr & Mrs. de Salis are gone to Tring my Mother & I
leave London the .9th. of next Month -- you see that
all was quiet at Paris. ------ The Federation day I
find the Balls are Equal at the Clubs if the Nobility
will be restor'd or not. tell Mr dickenson, that in
Spite of his Loyalty, there are private meetings
of Levellers & there were Several commemorations
about England but no disturbance -- Lady Herries
is gone (to her Brother's or Cousins) into Kent -- she
still hopes to spend the next Winter in Italy -- where
I hope she will find all the Health & happineʃs
she Expects we had see take leave pleasant party
at her House. where I most Sincerely miʃs'd you both.
Mrs. Charlotte Smith has publish'd a Novel call'd
Desmond -- Her chief ------ object was to give her opinion
of the French revolution, which has caus'd such an
Universal indignation that the Booksellers cannot dispose
of their Copies -- my indignation arises from the Story
which is mix'd with her opinions -- for I think if
there is one Subject more dangerous than another,
it is that which makes a Woman Aimiable,
who married to one man, is to be in love with
another -- she has artfully made the Lover an Angel
& the Husband a devil. but my dear Mrs. dickenson
what Woman who Suffers her mind to go astray from
her duty will not find faults in her Husband, he
never poʃeʃs'd or perfections in her lover, to which
he never had Claims -- this is all very homespun
doctrines but I trust they are honest -- alth'o she
does not allow them to do any harm -- so the Paʃsion
is carried on with great delicacy -- yet there is a
diʃsimulation, ------ a good mind --
I have had a letter from Mrs. Carter very lately --
109 7 Guineas Sally 4.4 Cook 2s ½
she was with the Penningtons & writes in good Spirits --
Lord & Lady Palmerston Sir Charles Blagden & Mrs
Mary Carter are all by this time on their road to Dover
in their way to Paris -- they were to set out this morning
Lord Wycombes Match with Miʃs Raat is certainly off
the Story is that he desir'd her Six thousand a year
might be settled on the Title -- if she had no Children,
such an instance of Avarice in so Young a Man
givesleaves a Woman little reason to regret him --
Adieu my dear Mrs. Dickenson, I beg you will
Accept yr self & present to Mr Dickenson my Humble
& my United Compliments & best wishes -- Embrace
Cordially yr sweet Child & may she be the Comfort
of yr old Age -- & allow me to Subscribe my self
yr most faithful
& Affect Servt.
DBloʃset
NB: th'o I had a fair opportunity of a Cover for
this & have all the year round -- yet I am not
Mrs. C——r -- I never pay money with more pleasure
than when the Post office is the gainer --
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Dover Street July 20th
1792
After the flattering Encouragement given me by my dear
Mr & Mrs. Dickenson the Evening before they left London
I was in hopes I would have heard long since of their
Safe Arrival with Miss dickenson & their sweet little
Girl at Taxall -- but having long expected, & as
long been disappointed, I am determined to Enquire
Why you have thus disappointed me & why I am
so soon forgotten. --
The Town if one may trust to the appearance in the
Streets is quite deserted, however I have been at
Several large Parties lately -- & have heard the famous
Cherubio ------ Sing -- it was not without some
difficulty that he was prevailed upon to do so so
much more however it was a --- 'd better than most
things of the sort Usually turn out -- I have had the
pleasure of seeing your Uncle & Aunt Hamilton from
your Uncle I had the pleasure of hearing that you
had a prosperous journey & that you were all well
for I was alarmed about you fearing that you or Miss
Dickenson had relapsed & your old complaints returned
Since you were at a distance from your Physician --
how delightful the Country must be this lovely Weather
we taste it as often as we can in the Environs of London
Dr & Mrs. de Salis are gone to Tring my Mother & I
leave London the .9th. of next Month -- you see that
all was quiet at Paris. The Federation day I
find the Balls are Equal at the Clubs if the Nobility
will be restored or not. tell Mr dickenson, that in
Spite of his Loyalty, there are private meetings
of Levellers & there were Several commemorations
about England but no disturbance -- Lady Herries
is gone (to her Brother's or Cousins) into Kent -- she
still hopes to spend the next Winter in Italy -- where
I hope she will find all the Health & happiness
she Expects we had see take leave pleasant party
at her House. where I most Sincerely missed you both.
Mrs. Charlotte Smith has published a Novel called
Desmond -- Her chief object was to give her opinion
of the French revolution, which has caused such an
Universal indignation that the Booksellers cannot dispose
of their Copies -- my indignation arises from the Story
which is mixed with her opinions -- for I think if
there is one Subject more dangerous than another,
it is that which makes a Woman Amiable,
who married to one man, is to be in love with
another -- she has artfully made the Lover an Angel
& the Husband a devil. but my dear Mrs. dickenson
what Woman who Suffers her mind to go astray from
her duty will not find faults in her Husband, he
never posessed or perfections in her lover, to which
he never had Claims -- this is all very homespun
doctrines but I trust they are honest -- although she
does not allow them to do any harm -- so the Passion
is carried on with great delicacy -- yet there is a
dissimulation, ------ a good mind --
I have had a letter from Mrs. Carter very lately --
she was with the Penningtons & writes in good Spirits --
Lord & Lady Palmerston Sir Charles Blagden & Mrs
Mary Carter are all by this time on their road to Dover
in their way to Paris -- they were to set out this morning
Lord Wycombes Match with Miss Raat is certainly off
the Story is that he desired her Six thousand a year
might be settled on the Title -- if she had no Children,
such an instance of Avarice in so Young a Man
leaves a Woman little reason to regret him --
Adieu my dear Mrs. Dickenson, I beg you will
Accept your self & present to Mr Dickenson my Humble
& my United Compliments & best wishes -- Embrace
Cordially your sweet Child & may she be the Comfort
of your old Age -- & allow me to Subscribe my self
your most faithful
& Affectionate Servant
Dorothy Blosset
NB: though I had a fair opportunity of a Cover for
this & have all the year round -- yet I am not
Mrs. Carter -- I never pay money with more pleasure
than when the Post office is the gainer --
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 Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/8/2/13
Correspondence Details
Sender: Dorothy Blosset
Place sent: London
Addressee: John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 20 July 1792
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton, concerning news of friends,
the publication of a book by Charlotte Smith, and Hamilton's health. She
reports that Lady Herries and her mother-in-law hope to spend the next
winter in Italy. She writes that Charlotte Smith [née Turner, author
(1749-1806)] has published a book called Desmond,
the main purpose of which was to give her opinion on the French Revolution.
The book has caused such an outcry of indignation that the book sellers
are unable 'to dispose of their copies'. Blosset notes that her own indignation
'arises from the story which is mix[e]d with her opinions'. Blosset continues
in to give her opinion on the subject matter of the book.
Length: 1 sheet, 712 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 9 November 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