Diplomatic Text
[1]
Copied in manuscript EGA X
Edinburgh Abbey Septr: 22d 1771
My Dear Madam
Though for a long time my Letters have
either been Unsucceʃsful in finding their way or
in prevailing with You to answer them -- bellieve
me my friendship & Anxiety for all yr Welfare's
remain ever the same -- a Paragraph in last
Nights Pappers roused our attention too much &
too disagreeably to admitt of a moment longer
Sillence as it tells me yr Mamma & You have
made the greatest of all Loʃses be asured of
the very sincearest Sympathie of Mr Napier &
me as well as of that of yr Young friends on
this very Mellancholy occaʃsion & indulge us
with a speedy Act. of yourself & Mrs Hamilton
who we hope you are both Supported from Mottives
of Raison & Relligion to bear this Misfortune --
as well as the Nature of it can admitt -- excuse
me if Anxiety about you both both gets the better
of Polliteneʃs so far as to ask a question that
from one leʃs sincearly yr friend might appear
Impertinent but excuse it to my regard I hope
every thing is Setled to the best for both yr Interests
as far as a Strict Entaill will admitt of --
do give me the Satisfaction to know if it is
So; as well as to tell me by wt cause yr late
Misfortune was brought about. If ever it should
be in my power to be of any Use to you be asured
you may ever command me -- Mr Napier & yr
Cousins join me in most Affect. compts & Condollences
to yourself & Mrs Hamilton -- & I remain Ever
My Dear Miʃs Hamilton's Most Affect. Cousin
& Faithful Humble Sert.
M A Napier
By a Letter of ye
19th Augst all friends
in Ruʃsia were Well
I take it for granted
you have wrote to them[2]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Edinburgh Abbey September 22d 1771
My Dear Madam
Though for a long time my Letters have
either been Unsuccessful in finding their way or
in prevailing with You to answer them -- believe
me my friendship & Anxiety for all your Welfare's
remain ever the same -- a Paragraph in last
Nights Papers roused our attention too much &
too disagreeably to admit of a moment longer
Silence as it tells me your Mamma & You have
made the greatest of all Losses be assured of
the very sincerest Sympathy of Mr Napier &
me as well as of that of your Young friends on
this very Melancholy occasion & indulge us
with a speedy Account of yourself & Mrs Hamilton
we hope you are both Supported from Motives
of Raison & Religion to bear this Misfortune --
as well as the Nature of it can admit -- excuse
me if Anxiety about you both both gets the better
of Politeness so far as to ask a question that
from one less sincerely your friend might appear
Impertinent but excuse it to my regard I hope
every thing is Settled to the best for both your Interests
as far as a Strict Entail will admit of --
do give me the Satisfaction to know if it is
So; as well as to tell me by what cause your late
Misfortune was brought about. If ever it should
be in my power to be of any Use to you be assured
you may ever command me -- Mr Napier & your
Cousins join me in most Affectionate compliments & Condolences
to yourself & Mrs Hamilton -- & I remain Ever
My Dear Miss Hamilton's Most Affectionate Cousin
& Faithful Humble Servant
Mary Anne Napier
By a Letter of the
19th August all friends
in Russia were Well
I take it for granted
you have written to them
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 Anne Napier to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/19/10
Correspondence Details
Sender: Lady Mary Anne Napier (née Cathcart)
Place sent: Edinburgh
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 22 September 1771
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Anne Napier [later Lady Napier] to Mary Hamilton, relating
to the death of Hamilton’s father, Charles Hamilton, which she read in the
newspapers. She writes of the sympathy of her family and of her hopes that
‘everything is settled to the best for both your interests as far as a
strict entail will admit of’. [Charles Hamilton’s will left interest from
invested capital to his wife and all his other possessions to his daughter.]
Napier asks that Hamilton write to her with news of the will and with
information about his death and asks her to let her know if she can help her
in any way.
Dated at Abbey [Edinburgh].
Length: 1 sheet, 309 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 4 January 2021)
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