Diplomatic Text
1778[1]
Sept—— 11th -- ▼
My dearest Miranda,
Remember that you desired
to hear from me, & this you know will fur-
nish me with an excuse for sending you
a dull Letter, indeed I have nothing new or
agreeable[2] to relate nothing worthy of Miranda's
attention; but as there is scarcely any Bagatelle
which I could not relate with pleasure to
you may I not presume to hope that
a trifle from me may be acceptable to you for my
sake, & that pretty motto -- C'est l'Amitie qui donne
le prix -- is more intelligible to you than
to any one --
We are deeply engaged in musical En-
-tertainments -- we have had heard two
Concerts -- which I cannot greatly commend,
yesterday morning -- the Meʃsiah was
performed in the ------ Cathedral -- but not in
the Choir -- the performers were attentive &
in a degree did justice to this sublime
Composition -- I imagine it has never
been heard in perfection -- since Handel
conducted the Band -- I think you have
not heard it -- I can aʃsure you -- that you
then have a pleasure of a superiour kind
to experience, as I think I never heard
any music which so elevates the mind -- there are
in particular two of the Choruʃses -- which
have an astonishing effect -- & really
seem to correspond with the idea of Milton,[3]
who was as sensible of the power of
music as any - --
There let the pealing Organ blow
To the full voiced choir below
In service high & in anthems clear,
As may with sweetneʃs thro' mine ear
Diʃsolve me into extacies
And bring all Heav'n before my eyes.[4]
the echo aʃsisted the effect of the music --
Mrs Parnel gained credit by singing one
of the finest songs -- in a word the amateurs[5]
were pleased -- & if you are not an
one of these I shall have tired you.
Today we are to have an Oratorio in
a room -- we were to have been this
morn at eight at the Camp -- to see
the 1 line drawn out, but unfor-
-tunately rain prevented us -- I think I
ought not to regret it since it gives
me leisure to write to you -- one --
& by this means I enjoy one of the sweetest
pleasures of my life --
I recollect with pleasure the morning we
spent at Kew. & which your society made
as agreeable as short --
I wish to hear from you -- there was a
Letter begun -- I hope you will not do
me the injustice to deprive me of it, we
shall stay here untill Wednesday -- when I
am certain I shall leave this family with
regret -- the more I become acquainted
with the Dr: & Mrs: W—— -- the better I am
pleased with them -- he is a most ------
agreeable companion, & has those winning
& unaffected manners -- which recommend
& adorn good sense & learning -- while they
seem to conceal these excellencies -- in
the person I have named good temper seems
predominant over every other qualification --
Mrs. W—— has many amiable qualities. & is
I dare say a good friend -- as well as an amiable
wife & mother.
I hear have asked Dr: W to let me see his
Ode to fancy with which I am much
pleased -- I dare sayshould think you must have read it
in Dodsley's miscellanies -- it was performed
with music the first Evening & I think
it ais a fine Ode --
If I should be able to procure any thing
in the literary way for you I shall have
pleasure in doing it -- hitherto these
subjects have not been talked of --
We saw yesterday some drawings in Crayon[6]
of a young Lady who has never been taught,
Sr: Joshua Reynolds was struck with them
& said that she ought by no means to
have a master -- I think she has copied
a picture of Guido -- I believe finely, --
& a head of our Saviour -- in which the
Expreʃsion is very characteristic -- if
I may say so -- she is a very pretty
woman -- looks sensible & agreeable & is
much admired here -- her name is Collins,
A
Leonidas & Mrs. Glover are both well
& unite in Love to you -- I am certain
I may say that we should all form a
mutual wish -- to have you with us could
it poʃsibly be accomplished --
Adieu my dear Miranda -- You can
never doubt -- nor never - need the aʃsurance
of my Affection -- tell me that you
do not Your -- Anna-Maria
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Moved year here from level with rest of date.
2. After the word agreeable, Clarke has a very short horizontal stroke. If intended as punctuation, it is clearly smaller in both size and significance than her normal dash. Some of these marks are provisionally omitted from the transcription.
3. John Milton (1605-1674), poet.
4. These six lines do not retain the original orthography.
5. ‘One who loves or is fond of; one who has a taste for anything’ (OED s.v. amateur 1).
6. Crayons of the time were black and made with oil only.
Normalised Text
September 11th -- ▼
My dearest Miranda,
Remember that you desired
to hear from me, & this you know will furnish
me with an excuse for sending you
a dull Letter, indeed I have nothing new or
agreeable to relate nothing worthy of Miranda's
attention; but as there is scarcely any Bagatelle
which I could not relate with pleasure to
you may I not presume to hope that
a trifle from me may be acceptable for my
sake, & that pretty motto -- C'est l'Amitie qui donne
le prix -- is more intelligible to you than
to any one --
We are deeply engaged in musical Entertainments
-- we have heard two
Concerts -- which I cannot greatly commend,
yesterday morning -- the Messiah was
performed in the Cathedral -- but not in
the Choir -- the performers were attentive &
in a degree did justice to this sublime
Composition -- I imagine it has never
been heard in perfection -- since Handel
conducted the Band -- I think you have
not heard it -- I can assure you -- that you
then have a pleasure of a superior kind
to experience, as I think I never heard
any music which so elevates the mind -- there are
in particular two of the Choruses -- which
have an astonishing effect -- & really
seem to correspond with the idea of Milton,
who was sensible of the power of
music --
There let the pealing Organ blow
To the full voiced choir below
In service high & in anthems clear,
As may with sweetness through mine ear
Dissolve me into extacies
And bring all Heav'n before my eyes.
the echo assisted the effect of the music --
Mrs Parnel gained credit by singing one
of the finest songs -- in a word the amateurs
were pleased -- & if you are not
one of these I shall have tired you.
Today we are to have an Oratorio in
a room -- we were to have been this
morn at eight at the Camp -- to see
the 1 line drawn out, but unfortunately
rain prevented us -- I think I
ought not to regret it since it gives
me leisure to write to you -- --
& by this means I enjoy one of the sweetest
pleasures of my life --
I recollect with pleasure the morning we
spent at Kew. & which your society made
as agreeable as short --
I wish to hear from you -- there was a
Letter begun -- I hope you will not do
me the injustice to deprive me of it, we
shall stay here until Wednesday -- when I
am certain I shall leave this family with
regret -- the more I become acquainted
with Dr: & Mrs: Walton -- the better I am
pleased with them -- he is a most
agreeable companion, & has those winning
& unaffected manners -- which recommend
& adorn good sense & learning -- while they
seem to conceal these excellencies -- in
the person I have named good temper seems
predominant over every other qualification --
Mrs. Walton has many amiable qualities. & is
I dare say a good friend -- as well as an amiable
wife & mother.
I have asked Dr: Walton to let me see his
Ode to fancy with which I am much
pleased -- I should think you must have read it
in Dodsley's miscellanies -- it was performed
with music the first Evening & I think
it is a fine Ode --
If I should be able to procure any thing
in the literary way for you I shall have
pleasure in doing it -- hitherto these
subjects have not been talked of --
We saw yesterday some drawings in Crayon
of a young Lady who has never been taught,
Sir Joshua Reynolds was struck with them
& said that she ought by no means to
have a master -- she has copied
a picture of Guido -- I believe finely, --
& a head of our Saviour -- in which the
Expression is very characteristic -- if
I may say so -- she is a very pretty
woman -- looks sensible & agreeable & is
much admired here -- her name is Collins,
Leonidas & Mrs. Glover are both well
& unite in Love to you -- I am certain
I may say that we should all form a
mutual wish -- to have you with us could
it possibly be accomplished --
Adieu my dear Miranda -- You can
never doubt -- nor never need the assurance
of my Affection -- tell me that you
do not Your -- Anna-Maria
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 Anna Maria Clarke to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/10/1/5
Correspondence Details
Sender: Anna Maria Clarke
Place sent: Winchester
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Kew (certainty: low)
Date sent: 11 September 1778
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to Mary Hamilton. She reminds Hamilton that she 'desired to hear from me'. She claims that she has 'nothing new or agreeable to relate nothing worthy of Miranda's attention'. Clarke then writes of two concerts which she 'cannot greatly commend'. One was the Messiah, performed at the Cathedral. She imagines that this 'sublime composition' has 'never been heard in perfection since Handel conducted the Band'. She continues to write of music and of the society that she has been engaged in, and of mutual acquaintances including a Dr W (Walton), whom she finds to be a very agreeable companion. She regrets that rain prevented them going early that morning to 'the Camp – to see the 1 line drawn out', and she mentions some drawings by a Miss Collins that were praised by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Dated at Winchester.
Original reference No. 2.
Length: 3 sheets, 724 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
Transliterator: Michael Cameron, 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: 2 November 2021