Diplomatic Text
What shall I say to you My friend in excuse for having
so long delay'd writing -- indeed I have none to offer but that I
was indolent & stupid, yet was I unreasonable enough every
Morning to be expecting letters from You & to feel disappointed
that I did not receive any -- You are very good to me --
I acknowledge it, & yet I know not how it is, but I
do feel, & have done so for some time past, that I am
no longer the first upon your list of friends -- this
idea of mine does not proceed from any mean jealousy
of disposition -- but from the affection I bear towards you
& wch: I want to feel, has an adequate return. The
whole ------ winter, I was unhappy -- I endeavour'd not-
withstanding to conceal my apprehension as I was not
willing to lose the share I still [re]tain'd of your Affection
by tormenting you with my [co]njectures -- and my
Dear friend pardon me for having now mention'd any
thing about it -- I have so long endulged myself in laying
my heart open to you that I could not resist the present
impulse. You will have the pleasure of seeing Lady W——
next week -- I recd. a few lines from her yesterday, she told
me Sr. Wm. was better & had taken two or three airings on
Horseback -- that Sr. R. Jebb had taken leave of him, but
had strongly recommended him to try Buxton;
She fears he will not go there
if he finds himself better when
he gets into the Country -- I beg
you & Sr. R. will use all your
influence in persuading him to go thither
for I think his a very precarious life and that
every precaution is necessary ------ for its preservation.
I hope my love all your anxieties about yor. F have
long been over & that he is quite well again. how
long are you to stay at Horton? and when are you to
pay your Visit to Hero? Mr: Thursby has been
here to see his Daughter, I saw him twice & had
two delightful rides wth. Miʃs T—— as he brought Horses
with him -- he promised to call & tell you about our
little excursions. -- We have not accompanied their
M—— to Kew & London either this week or the last -- my
time has been equally occupied asfor during their
absence ------------ Thursday -- I do not take my Eveg out
of waiting viz. the Thursday. I have not yet seen
Hero & I do not think she is come -- I shall enquire
to day. Adieu Ever tenderly yours
[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This line appears to the left of the address.
2. Horton House (often referred to simply as 'Horton', Sir Robert Gunning's Northamptonshire home purchased in 1782, was roughly 8 miles north of Newport Pagnell.
3. Bishop mark reads '29 IV', indicating that the letter went through the post on 29 June 1782.
Normalised Text
What shall I say to you My friend in excuse for having
so long delayed writing -- indeed I have none to offer but that I
was indolent & stupid, yet was I unreasonable enough every
Morning to be expecting letters from You & to feel disappointed
that I did not receive any -- You are very good to me --
I acknowledge it, & yet I know not how it is, but I
do feel, & have done so for some time past, that I am
no longer the first upon your list of friends -- this
idea of mine does not proceed from any mean jealousy
of disposition -- but from the affection I bear towards you
& which I want to feel, has an adequate return. The
whole winter, I was unhappy -- I endeavoured notwithstanding
to conceal my apprehension as I was not
willing to lose the share I still retained of your Affection
by tormenting you with my conjectures -- and my
Dear friend pardon me for having now mentioned any
thing about it -- I have so long indulged myself in laying
my heart open to you that I could not resist the present
impulse. You will have the pleasure of seeing Lady Wake
next week -- I received a few lines from her yesterday, she told
me Sir William was better & had taken two or three airings on
Horseback -- that Sir Richard Jebb had taken leave of him, but
had strongly recommended him to try Buxton;
She fears he will not go there
if he finds himself better when
he gets into the Country -- I beg
you & Sir Robert will use all your
influence in persuading him to go thither
for I think his a very precarious life and that
every precaution is necessary for its preservation.
I hope my love all your anxieties about your Father have
long been over & that he is quite well again. how
long are you to stay at Horton? and when are you to
pay your Visit to Hero? Mr: Thursby has been
here to see his Daughter, I saw him twice & had
two delightful rides with Miss T—— as he brought Horses
with him -- he promised to call & tell you about our
little excursions. -- We have not accompanied their
Majesties to Kew & London either this week or the last -- my
time has been equally occupied for during their
absence -- I do not take my Evening out
of waiting viz. the Thursday. I have not yet seen
Hero & I do not think she is come -- I shall enquire
to day. Adieu Ever tenderly yours
Free
Wake
Horton
Newport Pagnel
Buckinghamshire
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/1/15/2/21
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Charlotte Margaret Digby (née Gunning)
Place received: Horton, Northamptonshire
Date sent: 29 June 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to Charlotte Gunning. The letter relates to
Hamilton's concern that Gunning no longer considers her such a friend has
she once did, and also contains news of friends and court. She writes of
Sir William and Lady Wake and of Lady Wake's wish to visit Buxton for the
sake of her husband's health and with her fear that if he feels better
when he gets back to the country then he may not be persuaded to travel
to Buxton. She asks Gunning to do try to persuade him to go to Buxton
when she sees him. Hamilton also writes of Court and notes that she has
not accompanied 'their Majesty's' to Kew or London this week or last but
her time has still been occupied during their absence.
Original reference No. 18.
Length: 1 sheet, 447 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: Tino Oudesluijs, editorial team (completed 8 October 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