<= previous itemnext item =>
HAM/1/10/1/20
Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton, and a note from Annabella Walker to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
[1]
To Mr: Dickenson on the Birthday of a certain Lady
5th. of February 1807 I use the Latin Maria for Mary
Rejoice; my Friend Rejoice the Sun appears
Which marks the progreʃs of Maria's years,
When virtuous minds attain an age mature
Sweet is the pleasure & the joy is pure
Should we look backward on her early life,
Great is the merit of thy charming Wife
Endu'd with powr's to fascinate mankind
Her stedfast aim was to improve her mind
Virtue & Piety adorn'd her youth --
And led her safely in the path of Truth
Each duty she perform'd with zeal and love,
Her Parents bleʃsings did her acts approve,
Nor yet confin d[2] within a circle small
Her warm benevolence extends to all, --
If one she knows is wounded by distreʃs
She by her kindneʃs makes the sorrow leʃs,
In noble friendship none can her excell
I speak who feel for I have prov'dknown it well,
By fire the worth of gold wewe fully prove
And adverse fortune is the test of love
She pour'd the balm of comfort on my bed
And chac'd misfortune from my menae'dmenac'd head
Happy the Husband of so dear a Wife
Whose smiles can diʃsipate the clouds of life,
Whose cheerful converse cheats the tedious hours
And strews the thorny way with fragrant flowers
Oh; well-deserving long mayst Thou poʃseʃs
In dearThy Maria human happineʃs --
Long may She live exempt ------------ from care & pain
And in Louisa may you live again
Accept the cordial wishes of a friend
whose zeal and love with Life alone can end.
[3]
To Mrs. Dickenʃon
My dearest Friend
as you desire me not to criticize your elegant
& most acceptable presents so I trust you
will allow for my inability in humbly
endeavouring to celebrate your Birth-day
but my desire to shew you my unfeigned
affection & esteem dictated the Lines on this
sheet -- Mrs Glover gave me the agreeable intelli
gence of your health & invited Isabella & me
to partake of the Hare in honour of the day
they were much pleased with the kind attention
a-propos[4] I have often asked Mrs. G respecting
the Letters which she acknowledges but declines
all writing as much as poʃsible nor could I
get her to lend an ear to your kind invitation
but she loves & esteems you & speaks of you
with pleasure I was prevented the pleasure of
dining with her by an appointment I had
made to take a Leʃson of Mr Moellor in
music & as he was to come from Windsor at 6
in the evening I could not find the means of putting
him off which I was very sorry for -- I had the
pleasure of your very kind Letter anticipat
-ing the Box which was left almost at our
door as Cheney paʃsed through & came in perfect
safety -- I unpacked it with great delight
but was forced to postpone it until the next
morning so agitable are my spirits -- What
shall I say to expreʃs the sence I have of so
many pleasing instances of kindneʃs so very
pretty & so valuable to me -- I am extremely
pleased with all particularly with dear dear
Louisa's exertions to ------ please Mamma's old friend
give my kind Love & aʃsure her of the pleasure
inexpreʃsible & gratitude with which I shall
use the eligant Gifts -- my Love to Mr Dickenson
I admire the Gown it is the prettiest & at once
the liveliest and gravest thing I have seen I
do intend to wear it on the 5th & to spend that
day with Mrs. Glover & remember you all
return my sincere thanks to him, I was just
thinking I wanted a Gown by way of a better
one than common but as I am spending
my money in learning Handel's Concertoes
accompanied by Mr M I could not have
for a long time have afforded one at
present I am rich in Gowns the Bo[dyce]
also came safe the 2 Shirt Hank are extremely
pretty & the 2 Frills Stocks -- many thanks to you for
these the stick came which is very useful
the 6 Pocket Hank are remarkably pretty
& neat -- the 2 Hand Screws are beautifully
made light & elegant -- tell Louisa I shall
always look on ------ them with pleasure
the Netting Case I am charmed with & it suits
me so well because my Playwork is Netting
Garters & I shall hope to nett two pair
for you two for dear Louisa & two for
Mrs. Morrison[5] to whom my kind remembrance
remembrance -- tell Louisa I think it the prettiest
Netting Case I have seen -- the Pincushion is
also very pretty my Sisters Comp to dear
Louisa & many thanks for the Pincushion
which she thinks extremely pretty
in general for all accept my warmest thanks &
be aʃsur'd the kind intention is delightful to me
I was surprised & shocked to hear of poor Mrs
Hamilton's decease I esteemed her & was gratifie
-ed in her society her manner was attentive
agreeable & obliging -- she was a very fine Woman
What is Beauty all is as the flower of the field
&c. I feel for her Husband & poor Mrs. Holman
▼
▼
▼
You will I know be truly glad to hear I am
eʃsentially amended as to my nervous dejection
& disquietude my head is clearer tho though
at times confused I now employ at my Needle
my Book & at the Piano Forte from 5 to 6 hours
every day & last year I could not compose mysef
myself to do any thing but go to the Post Office
I went to Church on Xmas day & received the
[6]Sacrament after two years
omiʃsion of both a great comfort
it will alway[s ma]ke me happy
to hear from y[ou.] [Your]s most affectly:
A C
[7]
Dear Madam -- My Aunts have requested me just to add
their Sincere thanks to Miʃs Dickenson for her kind remem-
-brance which they have this moment recieved -- from the hands
of Miʃs Clarke -- Mrs Glover desires her Love & hopes you have rec'd
her Letr Mrs Lenton also adds her best Compts.. -- -- It is the intention of
the Party present to meet at this house[8] on the 5th.. Inst. to drink your health
I am Dear Madam, your Obet humble Sert. Annabella Walker -- [9]
single[10]
Mrs: Dickenson
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire[11]
(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This sheet is addressed to John Dickenson.
2. Clear space before d but no apostrophe.
3. The remainder of the letter is addressed to Mary Hamilton.
4. Possible apostrophe or dot at end of word, unless very misplaced grave accent for à.
5. Clarke's use of Mrs. rather than Miss is explained as follows by OED: ‘A title prefixed to the name of an unmarried lady or girl [...]. Now rare except as a title of courtesy applied, with or without inclusion of the first name, to elderly unmarried ladies (this use seems to have arisen in the late 18th cent.)’ (OED s.v. Mrs. n. 1, 1b).
6. Moved section (sec1, the last 4 lines of the paragraph + signature) here from the right side of the address panel in the centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
7. The following section is in the hand of Annabella Walker.
8. Probably the Glovers' villa at Sunning Hill.
9. Moved section by Annabella Walker here from the middle of p.3, below the address when unfolded.
10. Moved address panel here from the centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
11. Postmark 'STAINES 19' to the right of address (above panel when unfolded).
Normalised Text
To Mr: Dickenson on the Birthday of a certain Lady
5th. of February 1807 I use the Latin Maria for Mary
Rejoice; my Friend Rejoice the Sun appears
Which marks the progress of Maria's years,
When virtuous minds attain an age mature
Sweet is the pleasure & the joy is pure
Should we look backward on her early life,
Great is the merit of thy charming Wife
Endued with pow'rs to fascinate mankind
Her steadfast aim was to improve her mind
Virtue & Piety adorned her youth --
And led her safely in the path of Truth
Each duty she performed with zeal and love,
Her Parents blessings did her acts approve,
Nor yet confin d within a circle small
Her warm benevolence extends to all, --
If one she knows is wounded by distress
She by her kindness makes the sorrow less,
In noble friendship none can her excel
I speak who feel for I have known it well,
By fire the worth of gold we fully prove
And adverse fortune is the test of love
She poured the balm of comfort on my bed
And chased misfortune from my menaced head
Happy the Husband of so dear a Wife
Whose smiles can dissipate the clouds of life,
Whose cheerful converse cheats the tedious hours
And strews the thorny way with fragrant flowers
Oh; well-deserving long mayst Thou possess
In Thy Maria human happiness --
Long may She live exempt from care & pain
And in Louisa may you live again
Accept the cordial wishes of a friend
whose zeal and love with Life alone can end.
To Mrs. Dickenson
My dearest Friend
as you desire me not to criticize your elegant
& most acceptable presents so I trust you
will allow for my inability in humbly
endeavouring to celebrate your Birthday
but my desire to show you my unfeigned
affection & esteem dictated the Lines on this
sheet -- Mrs Glover gave me the agreeable intelligence
of your health & invited Isabella & me
to partake of the Hare in honour of the day
they were much pleased with the kind attention
a-propos I have often asked Mrs. Glover respecting
the Letters which she acknowledges but declines
all writing as much as possible nor could I
get her to lend an ear to your kind invitation
but she loves & esteems you & speaks of you
with pleasure I was prevented the pleasure of
dining with her by an appointment I had
made to take a Lesson of Mr Moellor in
music & as he was to come from Windsor at 6
in the evening I could not find the means of putting
him off which I was very sorry for -- I had the
pleasure of your very kind Letter anticipating
the Box which was left almost at our
door as Cheney passed through & came in perfect
safety -- I unpacked it with great delight
but was forced to postpone it until the next
morning so agitable are my spirits -- What
shall I say to express the sense I have of so
many pleasing instances of kindness so very
pretty & so valuable to me -- I am extremely
pleased with all particularly with dear dear
Louisa's exertions to please Mamma's old friend
give my kind Love & assure her of the pleasure
inexpressible & gratitude with which I shall
use the elegant Gifts -- my Love to Mr Dickenson
I admire the Gown it is the prettiest & at once
the liveliest and gravest thing I have seen I
do intend to wear it on the 5th & to spend that
day with Mrs. Glover & remember you all
, I was just
thinking I wanted a Gown by way of a better
one than common but as I am spending
my money in learning Handel's Concertoes
accompanied by Mr Moellor I could not have
for a long time afforded one at
present I am rich in Gowns the bodice
also came safe the 2 Shirt Hank are extremely
pretty & the 2 Frill Stocks -- many thanks to you for
these the stick came which is very useful
the 6 Pocket Hank are remarkably pretty
& neat -- the 2 Hand Screws are beautifully
made light & elegant -- tell Louisa I shall
always look on them with pleasure
the Netting Case I am charmed with & it suits
me so well because my Playwork is Netting
Garters & I shall hope to net two pair
for you two for dear Louisa & two for
Mrs. Morrison to whom my kind
remembrance -- tell Louisa I think it the prettiest
Netting Case I have seen -- the Pincushion is
also very pretty my Sisters Compliments to dear
Louisa & many thanks for the Pincushion
which she thinks extremely pretty
in general for all accept my warmest thanks &
be assured the kind intention is delightful to me
I was surprised & shocked to hear of poor Mrs
Hamilton's decease I esteemed her & was gratified
in her society her manner was attentive
agreeable & obliging -- she was a very fine Woman
What is Beauty all is as the flower of the field
&c. I feel for her Husband & poor Mrs. Holman
▼
▼
▼
You will I know be truly glad to hear I am
essentially amended as to my nervous dejection
& disquietude my head is clearer though
at times confused I now employ at my Needle
my Book & at the Piano Forte from 5 to 6 hours
every day & last year I could not compose
myself to do any thing but go to the Post Office
I went to Church on Christmas day & received the
Sacrament after two years
omission of both a great comfort
it will always make me happy
to hear from you. Yours most affectionately
Anna Clarke
Dear Madam -- My Aunts have requested me just to add
their Sincere thanks to Miss Dickenson for her kind remembrance
which they have this moment received -- from the hands
of Miss Clarke -- Mrs Glover desires her Love & hopes you have received
her Letter Mrs Lenton also adds her best Compliments -- -- It is the intention of
the Party present to meet at this house on the 5th.. Instant to drink your health
I am Dear Madam, your Obedient humble Servant Annabella Walker --
single
Mrs: Dickenson
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
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 John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton, and a note from Annabella Walker to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/10/1/20
Correspondence Details
Sender: Anna Maria Clarke and Annabella Walker
Place sent: Staines (certainty: low)
Addressee: Mary Hamilton and John Dickenson
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: not after 4 February 1807
notAfter 4 February 1807 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to John Dickenson. She sends him a poem for Mary Hamilton for her birthday [on 5 February]. She also writes to Hamilton on the subject of her birthday, gives general news of friends including Mrs Glover, and sends thanks to Hamilton and Louisa Dickenson for their presents to her.
A paragraph has been added by Annabella Walker [daughter of Frances Walker (née Lenton) and niece of Mrs Glover].
Length: 1 sheet, 1054 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 2014/15 and 2015/16 provided by the Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Manchester.
Research assistant: Donald Alasdair Morrison, undergraduate student, University of Manchester
Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo
Transliterator: Amy Brenndorfer, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted November 2014)
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: 21 August 2023