Diplomatic Text
8
17th- July 1780
[My Dear Dear] ------
I charge you, as you love me tell me ye. causes
of your uneasineʃs's -- for my busy imagination perhaps
magnifies your distreʃs -- & thus you are not
only nursing up grief, but making me unhappy,
Oh how I wish I had you with me -- last nights
view was picturesque beyond description -- I cld-
hardly prevail upon myself to quit my Window
to retire to rest -- the Eveg. was perfectly calm,
hardly a Breeze to move the surface of the
Water -- at 11 the Moon was shining in full
splendor -- a broad column of light lay upon
ye. ocean -- a Veʃsel of some size approaching
through it to ye. Shore & ye. light was so unclouded
that we plainly distinguish'd every object upon the
Deck -- at other distances there were other little
Veʃsels sailing along, --- nothing cld. be more
tranquil & beautiful than the scenery --
I took a delightful ride in ye. afternoon, attendinged
by Mr. F & Mr. J—— I rode near ten miles.
tThis Morng. I went into the water & walk'd a
great way into the Sea -- I begin to enjoy bathin
17th. July 80[1]
I have just heard [in confidence] ------------------------
a report of our being to be sent for for ye. 12th-
of August -- ------ -- A ------------------------------ -- ------
------------------------------ a Ball I hear
at St James'sLouvre[2] &c do try & find out -- Adieu
my Dear Dear AstreaFriend ye. post is going
Mr. Fisher brought a sweet pretty poem from
Town -- pray get it immediately & tell me
how yo. like it “Epistle to a friend of
on ye. Death of John Thorton -- by Mr. Hayley[3]
read too his Ode to John Howard[4] -- this
latter is well written & a Noble Theme -- but
the other is more touching -- more immediately
from the Heart -- we will sometime or other
read it together -- have You ever read the
Lusiad.[5] Adieu Adieu “my beloved”.
send me the ------ character of the Court female
there can be no danger of discovery, our
Dict: secures us -- send it next post.
pray for ye. future date your letters
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This date is written vertically in the right-hand margin, crossing the main text.
2. A place at court, probably St. James.
3. Epistle to a Friend on the Death of John Thornton Esq, by the Author of “An Epistle to an Eminent Painter” (London: J. Dodsley, 1780).
4. Ode inscribed to John Howard: Esq. F.R.S. Author of “The Atate of English and Foreign Prisons” By William Hayley, Esq. (London: J Dodsley, 1780).
5. The Lusiad: Or, the Discovery Of India. An Epic Poem. Translated From the Original Portuguese Of Luis De Camoëns. By William Julius Mickle, Oxford (1776).
Normalised Text
17th- July 1780
My Dear Dear ------
I charge you, as you love me tell me the causes
of your uneasiness's -- for my busy imagination perhaps
magnifies your distress -- & thus you are not
only nursing up grief, but making me unhappy,
Oh how I wish I had you with me -- last nights
view was picturesque beyond description -- I could
hardly prevail upon myself to quit my Window
to retire to rest -- the Evening was perfectly calm,
hardly a Breeze to move the surface of the
Water -- at 11 the Moon was shining in full
splendour -- a broad column of light lay upon
the ocean -- a Vessel of some size approaching
through it to the Shore & the light was so unclouded
that we plainly distinguished every object upon the
Deck -- at distances there were other little
Vessels sailing along, nothing could be more
tranquil & beautiful than the scenery --
I took a delightful ride in the afternoon, attended
by Mr. Fisher & Mr. J—— I rode near ten miles.
This Morning I went into the water & walked a
great way into the Sea -- I begin to enjoy bathing
I have just heard in confidence ------------------------
a report of our being to be sent for for the 12th-
of August -- -- A --
a Ball I hear
at Louvre &c do try & find out -- Adieu
my Dear Dear Friend the post is going
Mr. Fisher brought a sweet pretty poem from
Town -- pray get it immediately & tell me
how you like it “Epistle to a friend
on the Death of John Thorton -- by Mr. Hayley
read too his Ode to John Howard -- this
latter is well written & a Noble Theme -- but
the other is more touching -- more immediately
from the Heart -- we will sometime or other
read it together -- have You ever read the
Lusiad. Adieu Adieu “my beloved”.
send me the character of the Court female
there can be no danger of discovery, our
Dictum secures us -- send it next post.
pray for the future date your letters
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 Mary Hamilton to Charlotte Margaret Gunning
Shelfmark: HAM/1/15/2/9
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Charlotte Margaret Digby (née Gunning)
Place received: Eastbourne (certainty: high)
Date sent: 17 July 1780
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to Charlotte Gunning. She writes with general
news on how she has been spending her time and with news of friends and
acquaintances including, Mr Fisher who brought a her a poem from town.
She entreats Gunning to get a copy as soon as she is able and let her
know her thoughts on it. it is an Epistle to a Friend on the Death of John
Thornton, written by Mr Hayley. Hamilton continues with her
feelings on the writing.
Original reference No. 8.
Length: 1 sheet, 339 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 22 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: 22 December 2021