Diplomatic Text
2
Burlington Street 31st March 1789.
Dear Sir,
I am very much obliged to you for your Letter, and I
should be happy to have it in my power to write often, but my
busineʃs retards my intentions, and after the fatigue of the
day & night as I seldom leave of until ten at night I
aʃsure you that I find myself as much tired as a day
Labourer -- I can send you no other account of Politicks than
what you can learn from the newspapers. His Majesty's
recovery is certainly a most fortunate circumstance for
this Country, as I really think if the Outs had once got
into poʃseʃsion, they would not have been got out again
without Force, and most likely Orange Capes[1] would
have had a serious struggle, as I have every reason to
think that the Gentry would instead of Bludgeons
thrust a few Bayonets into us. -- I hope as his Majesty
is now well, that for the sake of his own family and his
subjects, he will take care of ------ himself -- I hear that
he does not take quite so much as he ought to do.
The Children are all at home at present three of them having
had swelled Necks -- Katherine & Mary are almost well, but
Fannys (Higgins says) will be of some continuance
-- Henry is very well, grows a fine fellow & is one of the
best tempered Children in England -- Kath & Mary are
much improved -- Fanny has not health to continue at
School, but is very tractable -- I am advised to send
them to Brighthelmstone the beginning of June -- Jones
has certainly done Kath: much service -- I hear that
your friend Lady Wake is in Town.
I hope that Mrs. Dickenson has continued well all
this long Winter, which I hope will now be soon over
-- The Duke has completely Furnished his house at
Wimbledon and intends remaining in this Country
until the beginning of September -- I see him most
days, and dine with him at least three days in a
Week, sometimes oftener -- Sunday is mythe only day that
I have to myself & hitherto for these four last Sundays
Nanny & Mrs. B have dined with me -- I hear that
they intend being at Sunning hill[2] this Summer -- Nanny
has desired to go with the Children to the Sea -- I
shall certainly be very glad to have her, but after what
paʃsed last summer, I shall never think of relying
upon her -- It is most astonishing to think how much
she gives up her life to Madneʃs & folly
The Westminster Petition is to come on next friday[3] at the
House of Commons, and although I have declined acting as
the Agent yet I shall be under the neceʃsity of giving a
constant daily attendance and in the Evening at a
consultation. All I wish is to have the Right of Voting
established, and that we might know whether the Inhabts
of Westmr only have the right? or whether it is in
those residing in Derbyshire or any other County as well
as Westmr. If the house determine in favor of the
latter, we shall then give ourselves no further trouble
Nanny has very lately set up a blue meeting, which
I hear went of very well -- I am inclinable to think
that we shall have a diʃsolution of Parliament in
September -- I have no authority for saying so, yet
every thing wears that appearance -- I shall be always
very glad to see you in Town, and it will be leʃs expensive
for you to come up in the God permit[4] than on Horseback
Pray my best respects to Mrs. D. & believe me
Dear Sir
Your faithful
& obed Sert.
J. J.
P.S.[5]
The Pages were discharged for improper
behaviour[6]
Mr. Jackson
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. 'Orange Capes' were political supporters of the King during the regency crisis of 1788. For more information on the politics of dress in this period, see Elaine Chalus, 'Elite Women, Social Politics, and the Political World of Late Eighteenth-Century England' The Historical Journal, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Sep. 2000), 669-697, esp. 694 n.98.
2. The home of Eleanor and Mary Glover.
3. On Friday 3 April 1789, the petition entered by the Westminster Forum, 'Has the Administration of Mr. Pitt been more influenced by interest, ambition, or patriotism?', was debated in the House of Commons.
4. The 'God Permit' was slang for the stage coach 'from that affectation of piety, frequently to be met with in advertisements of stage coaches or wagons, where most of their undertakings are promised with if God permit, or God willing' (see Francis Grose, 'God permit', Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785.)
5. This postscript appears to the left of the salutation.
6. On 3 March 1789 the Morning Post referred to a rumour that four of the King's pages had been dismissed following disrespectful behaviour during his recent illness. The Morning Postclarifies that 'Mr Ramus only was dismissed' (see Stuart, The Daughters of George III, p.144).
Normalised Text
Burlington Street 31st March 1789.
Dear Sir,
I am very much obliged to you for your Letter, and I
should be happy to have it in my power to write often, but my
business retards my intentions, and after the fatigue of the
day & night as I seldom leave off until ten I
assure you that I find myself as much tired as a day
Labourer -- I can send you no other account of Politics than
what you can learn from the newspapers. His Majesty's
recovery is certainly a most fortunate circumstance for
this Country, as I really think if the Outs had once got
into possession, they would not have been got out again
without Force, and most likely Orange Capes would
have had a serious struggle, as I have every reason to
think that the Gentry would instead of Bludgeons
thrust a few Bayonets into us. -- I hope as his Majesty
is now well, that for the sake of his own family and his
subjects, he will take care of himself -- I hear that
he does not take quite so much as he ought to do.
The Children are all at home at present three of them having
had swelled Necks -- Katherine & Mary are almost well, but
Fannys (Higgins says) will be of some continuance
-- Henry is very well, grows a fine fellow & is one of the
best tempered Children in England -- Kath & Mary are
much improved -- Fanny has not health to continue at
School, but is very tractable -- I am advised to send
them to Brighthelmstone the beginning of June -- Jones
has certainly done Katherine much service -- I hear that
your friend Lady Wake is in Town.
I hope that Mrs. Dickenson has continued well all
this long Winter, which I hope will now be soon over
-- The Duke has completely Furnished his house at
Wimbledon and intends remaining in this Country
until the beginning of September -- I see him most
days, and dine with him at least three days in a
Week, sometimes oftener -- Sunday is the only day that
I have to myself & hitherto for these four last Sundays
Nanny & Mrs. Barnard have dined with me -- I hear that
they intend being at Sunning hill this Summer -- Nanny
has desired to go with the Children to the Sea -- I
shall certainly be very glad to have her, but after what
passed last summer, I shall never think of relying
upon her -- It is most astonishing to think how much
she gives up her life to Madness & folly
The Westminster Petition is to come on next friday at the
House of Commons, and although I have declined acting as
the Agent yet I shall be under the necessity of giving a
constant daily attendance and in the Evening at a
consultation. All I wish is to have the Right of Voting
established, and that we might know whether the Inhabitants
of Westminster only have the right? or whether it is in
those residing in Derbyshire or any other County as well
as Westminster. If the house determine in favour of the
latter, we shall then give ourselves no further trouble
Nanny has very lately set up a blue meeting, which
I hear went off very well -- I am inclinable to think
that we shall have a dissolution of Parliament in
September -- I have no authority for saying so, yet
every thing wears that appearance -- I shall be always
very glad to see you in Town, and it will be less expensive
for you to come up in the God permit than on Horseback
Pray my best respects to Mrs. Dickenson & believe me
Dear Sir
Your faithful
& obedient Servant
John Jackson
P.S.
The Pages were discharged for improper
behaviour
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 John Jackson to John Dickenson
Shelfmark: HAM/1/10/2/2
Correspondence Details
Sender: John Jackson
Place sent: London
Addressee: John Dickenson
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 31 March 1789
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from John Jackson to John Dickenson, on the subject of politics
and family news. Jackson writes that he wishes he could write more often
but that he is as tired as if her were a 'labourer' after a day working
at his business. He is unable to forward Dickenson any further
information on the subject of politics that it is not already in the
newspapers but does write that the King's recovery to health would be
good for the country. If the 'Outs had once got into possession, they
would not have been got out again without Force, and most likely Orange
Capes would have had a serious struggle' as Jackson believed that the
'Gentry would instead of Bludgeons thrust a few Bayonets into us'. He
notes that the 'Westminster Petition' is to come before the House of
Commons the following Friday but that he has refused to act as an agent
for it as he would have been obliged to attend daily and continues to
discuss what he wishes to establish from the petition, that is he wants
the 'right of voting established, and that we might know whether the
inhab[itan]ts of Westm[inste]r only have the right or whether it is in those
residing in Derbyshire or any other county as well as Westm[inste]r'.
The letter continues with news on Jackson's family. Three of his children
are at home ill with 'swollen necks'. He reports that Katherine and Mary
are almost well but Fanny is not. His son his growing into a 'fine
fellow' and believes him to be one of the best tempered children in the
country. Jackson notes that he has been advised to send them to Brighton
in early June.
The letter is also concerned with general news of society and friends.
The Duke [unnamed] has finished his house in Wimbledon. The Duke intends
to stay in this country until September. Jackson writes that he sees him
most days and that he dines with him about three days a week.
Dated at Burlington Street [London].
Original reference No. 2.
Length: 1 sheet, 631 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 8 September 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