Single Letter

HAM/1/2/16

Journal-letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


2.

Sunday Evg -- 11 oClock 21 June 89

      I was quite ashamed of the Letter which I wrote to
you on Friday, for on looking it over, there appeared to be a
mistake or a word left out in every line -- it was written in haste
& there was not time to send you a better -- a thousand
things were omitted as I would not delay a post to inform
my dearest Mary of my arrival at this place -- That
Mr Wilmot told me that Lord W. had proposed to the town
of W—— two members in opposition to his brother and Mr. L——
Lord Arden & Mr. Gage nephew to Lord Gage & great interest was now
making to secure their election[1] -- As I told you before
I spent a most agreeable day with the More's[2] -- and my
astonishment was great to hear them make use
of so many vulgar expreʃsions in common conversa-
-tion
-- I shd. think their Reading & Hannah's observation
would have cleared that Rubish from such pleasure
grounds -- Sally has a lively imagination -- but she
rises into the third Heaven[3] too often -- she is an agree-
able
woman notwithstanding -- The Housekeeper Betty
has a notion of old English hospitality -- for she loaded
my plate so often that I was ready to fight rather
than burst -- They shewed me some drawings of a young
woman that they had educated
, which was very beautiful
She is now a Governeʃs or rather an Usher at a School -- She
came to them at first in the capacity of a Maid of all work
for 50s / a year wages[4] -- The young Ladies finding that
she was ingenious, set her copies & taught her to write
some instructed in one thing & some in another & She
made such wonderful improvements that Miʃs Mores
thought she deserved to have every advantage -- She was
therefore taught every thing that might be useful
to her -- She writes an uncommon fine hand, draws
well, dances, understands needle work &c. &c. & to crown
their generous intentions -- is very grateful --
      Mrs. Yearsley is universally despised -- there are only
three or 4 people who take any notice of her -- in speaking
of her, I said that in my opinion Miʃs H. M. ought to



have taken notice of that woman's justification of herself, as it was too
well written to be treated with contempt, however fallacious She might
know the subject to be -- Miʃs Mores said, they had always been of
my Opinion, but Hannah thought otherwise -- Sally was of opinion
that ten Lines would be sufficient (just of facts) to convince the
world of the injustice of the accusations, to clear up Hannah's character
to the World, & expose the notorious falsehoods in Mrs. Y.s publication --
They spoke with great affection of Dr. Stonehouse who now resides at the
Hot Wells,[5] his health is so indifferent that he has given up his Duty in ye-
Country -- he was vastly pleased with Hannah's Elegy on his excellent Wife[6]
Clara's Husband is dying of a loathsome lingering disease -- She all
Ease & Gaiety -- I am to spend a day or two with the Mores at Cowslip
Green[7] & shall pay a visit to Dr. Stonehouse -- Monday morng 6 oClock
I wrote the other page last Night & thanks to my Candle could go no
farther -- I have been reading for an hour and half a pamphlet called
The Royal Interview, a very masterly performance & very scarce
it supposes a Conversation paʃsed between the K & P of W in which
the K. points out the impropriety of the P's conduct & ye- glorious
oppy which he has lost of becoming the Idol of the British Nation
of attoneing for all his follies & being admired & respected by all
the World[8] -- I am now enjoying myself in the only way in wch. I
converse with my dear Mary -- you see I dont keep very
bad hours -- I meant to have bathed this morning but it
rains so hard that I shall defer it -- I will now go to the
Pump room & when the Water is comfortably settled in my
Stomach I will resume my Journal --
First I ought to tell you that Mrs Rundell &c made a thousand
friendly enquiries about you & Louisa -- Miʃs R. is very tall I am
afraid she will be 6 feet without her Shoes -- Fanny is grown thin & tall
Margaret at School -- I shall not go there too often -- & I hope they wont
force me to dine there -- tho I have been asked -- Sally Nicolls wished
me to live with her -- as she has room enough in a very good
house & in a pleasant situation -- She talks of leaving Bath in
ten days -- when I put ye- Letter for you in the Post Office
I found one there from Jacson -- very friendly -- expreʃsing a
concern for the neceʃsity of my coming to Bath, giving me a kind
invitation to Richmond if change of air was neceʃsary -- also a
literal answer to my questions -- disapproving of the Ton line
& speaking of Dear Nannys versatility in a manner that gives me
concern as I see he never will forgive her leaving us last summer
I have answered his Letter --
Friday -- I dined at my Lodgings -- Our dame Keeps an excellent Table
She is a Gentlewoman -- her Husband, a wine Merchant -- they are civil
obliging and attentive -- I give a Guinea a week for Breakfast & Dinner
& Supper & Tea in the afternoon if I choose it -- & 7/6 for my Bed Room, wch.
is a large one -- I drank tea at the Rundell's -- called on the Earle's who
are just returned from Cheltenham -- They seemed a little hurt that your
Ladyship
had not wrote to them -- I made a tolerable apology, aʃsuring



Mrs E. that I knew you had a very great Esteem for her, but that you did not know
that she wished to keep up a constant correspondence -- that you have a great many cor-
respondents
wh. took up a great deal of yr- time & the attention you paid to Louisa
prevented your writing to many of yr- friends &c &c -- they seemed very glad
to see me & invited me to dine with them en famille on the 21st -- I call'd on
Mr. Herschell Frere du Philosophe,[9] & fixed with him about my learning
to play upon the violincello -- he is esteemed a good master -- I staid an
hour with him & he shewed me the Method of polishing Mirrors, he makes
Telescopes & is going to make one to look at the Georgium Sidus[10] his Bror.
is making one that will be 40 feet long & 5 feet in Diameter -- when the
mirror broke which the Philosopher had been polishing for 14 days
& nights -- he only said “well we must set about another -- but I will
have some tea first” --
20 -- Made my Coup d'eʃsai on the violincello & have some hopes -- he has
promised to be very honest with me & tell me if I am likely to succeed -- in
case of fair prospects -- the purchase of an Instrument will require
cash my sweet friend -- Called on the Rundells, & I am very sorry to
inform you that Mrs. R. says there are not the least hopes of Miʃs Foote --
I called on Miʃs Milnes when, to my great astonishment, I found
Sally Nicolls quite at home -- after paʃsing an hour a mon gré I
went to the Isted's where I had a very awkward reception -- I could
      not prevail upon a little black Boy to announce my
      Name -- two people stood staring at me in the paʃsage
      and as I entered the Room a Lady came out attended by Miʃs
      Isted
who took no Notice of me -- I was obliged to walk
      up to the end of the room to the old Lady who turned
up her Spectacles saying 'who is it! who is it' -- in a little time Miʃs
returned & was comfortably vulgar, sported a little Northamptonshire
wit on the fineneʃs of my complexion & concluded by a preʃsing invi-
tation
to dine there “which must be more agreeable to me than a Lodgg
house” -- tho' it might appear so to her -- I declined the Honor --
Good God! what a difference Manners make in a human
Being -- how bewitching is Elegance and an unaffected attention
& how disgusting is Vulgarity -- !
21 -- I did not bathe, but drank the Waters -- I shd. have conclud
ed
yesterday by saying that I left my home at the Vanbrugh's
are not you sorry for them? Mr. V. I hear bears his loʃs
with great composure -- Mrs. V——'s Nerves were more than
usually agitated -- you know she is always very figitty.
You will have seen Accts. of the fire at the Opera house,[11] from
they had 12,000 -- Pr. An. -- I went to the Abbey Church, and
called at S. Nicoll's -- Mr. Earle, Mr. Rundell, Mrs Holroyd's
Cards I found at my return -- at 4 I went to the Earles
where I dined en famille with very little additions and
spent a very agreeable day -- pray tell my Father it has
poured a deluge to day -- that it rains almost every
hour & setting aside climate I believe there falls as
much rain here as at Buxton -- the few fields of graʃs that
are cut look in a sad condition -- I have only seen two that
were cleared, which were in Worcester. All sorts of Garden



[12]
stuff is in the highest perfection here -- We have
in this house several officers -- a Mr. Cox an Irishman
a very gentlemanlike man -- we have also two West --
-- Indians
-- the wildest of human beings -- indiscreet
thoughtless, good humoured, inexhaustible Spirits
hard drinkers, irreligious, &c &c &c &c's -- without End --
you would be exceʃsively grieved to hear all that is said
of yr- friend Ton. p——[13] Ah my dearest Love, what will
become of this unfortunate Country -- at Bootles[14] a
certain person
said he wd. be drunk that night, on acct. of
York's safety[15] upon wch. great numbers followed into a room
set apart for royal topers[16] -- some climbed on benches, some on tables
to see & hear what paʃsed. -- when the P. said he w. give a Toast a
solemn silence prevailed -- & the followg words were uttered by the
Heir to the Throne
-- “Here's to all our Friends, and Damnation
to those Relations who dont love their families” this was a dutiful
compliment to his Mother -- as to the meʃsage alluded in the Letter
wch. we read together in the papers -- it was too unmanly, too infamous
& too obscene for me to write to you -- the basest mind, & the most
corrupted heart must combine to invent any thing so horrible



to one's feelings -- & without any provocation but the Gentm. being a Friend
of Mr. Pitt -- it is the general wish of the army that the Ball had gone thrō
the D—— of Y——['s] head or his heart --
22. I called upon Miʃs Nicholls & Mrs.. Hockiss who resides in Bath -- and
drank the Water, but did not bathe as the morning was so wet -- Spent the
day at home -- our Madcaps who have been at Bristol for a few days are
returned & keep us all alive. --
23 -- Bathed this morning -- we have a very high wind, but is fair -- at one I
drank the Waters & am going out to make visits -- Scraping goes on
very well[17] -- My bleʃsing to Louisa, Duty & love &c where proper --
Adieu ma inestimable femme -- Je suis toujours le Même J. D.

[18]Mrs. Dickenson
      Taxal
      Chapel le frith
Derbyshire
X post[19]
[20]
[21]
7/8[22]

(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. This worked: Charles Perceval, Lord Arden, and Henry Gage were returned to parliament for Warwick in 1790.
 2. HAM/1/2/15 makes clear that only three of the sisters were at home, Hannah and Martha (‘Patty’) being absent.
 3. The figurative sense ‘a place or state of supreme bliss’ (OED s.v. third adj. and n., draft additions December 2007. Accessed 14-01-2021).
 4. 50 shillings (£2.5) per year is broadly in line with maid-of-all work wages in the 18th century, if on the low side.
 5. Stonhouse moved there to take up permanent residence in 1788.
 6. Sarah Stonhouse died on 10 December 1788. For Hannah More's words on her death, see The Works of Hannah More, Vol. 1 (Harper: 1872), p.44.
 7. The name of both a historic Hamlet in Wrington, Somerset, as well as a house situated there. Hannah More and her sisters moved there in 1785. The house is now known as Brook Lodge (cf. Charlotte Mary Yonge (1888), Hannah More, p.82; and Hahn & Robins (2008), Cowslip Green. The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain & Ireland. Accessed 07-03-2021).
 8. See particularly p.49 of the pamphlet, which is available here.
 9. Alexander Herschel, one of three Herschel siblings who resided for a long time in Bath, of whom Caroline and especially William are now much better known. Alexander, a gifted musician and highly talented mechanical engineer, was apparently remembered in his family as 'a most simple-minded creature, with a warm heart, but a contracted mind, and very taciturn' (Hoskin 2004: 392).
 10. Literally, 'George's Star'. This is the name proposed by William Herschel for the planet Uranus following his discovery of it in 1781, in honour of George III. The international astronomy community did not agree, however, preferring to follow the convention of naming planets after classical gods.
 11. The opera house referred to here is the King's Theatre on Haymarket in London (initially established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh and called 'the Queen's Theatre'), which burnt down in the evening of 17 June 1789 during rehearsals. The current building (built in 1897) on that location is nowadays known as Her Majesty's Theatre.
 12. We have inverted p.3 of the image for ease of presentation. The image therefore differs from that in the University of Manchester LUNA catalogue.
 13. Ton. p——, if that is indeed the reading, is unexplained. It is unlikely to be a French phrase meaning ‘your prince’, given both the point after Ton and Dickenson's use elsewhere of the polite votre.
 14. This is probably a reference to Boodles, a London gentlemen's club established 1762.
 15. Prince Frederick, the Duke of York, had come unscathed through a duel on 26 May 1789 (see HAM/1/10/2/3).
 16. That is, drunkards (a toper is one who topes or drinks).
 17. Dickenson's progress on the cello.
 18. The address has been moved here from the middle of the page, written vertically.
 19. This instruction appears to the left of 'Derbyshire'.
 20. The address is crossed to indicate postage paid and postmarked 'BATH'.
 21. Remains of a seal, in red wax, below the address.
 22. This number is written vertically in the left margin of the envelope.

Normalised Text



Sunday Evening -- 11 o'Clock 21 June 89

      I was quite ashamed of the Letter which I wrote to
you on Friday, for on looking it over, there appeared to be a
mistake or a word left out in every line -- it was written in haste
& there was not time to send you a better -- a thousand
things were omitted as I would not delay a post to inform
my dearest Mary of my arrival at this place -- That
Mr Wilmot told me that Lord Warwick had proposed to the town
of Warwick two members in opposition to his brother and Mr. Ladbroke
Lord Arden & Mr. Gage nephew to Lord Gage & great interest was now
making to secure their election -- As I told you before
I spent a most agreeable day with the More's -- and my
astonishment was great to hear them make use
of so many vulgar expressions in common conversation
-- I should think their Reading & Hannah's observation
would have cleared that Rubbish from such pleasure
grounds -- Sally has a lively imagination -- but she
rises into the third Heaven too often -- she is an agreeable
woman notwithstanding -- The Housekeeper Betty
has a notion of old English hospitality -- for she loaded
my plate so often that I was ready to fight rather
than burst -- They showed me some drawings of a young
woman that they had educated, which was very beautiful
She is now a Governess or rather an Usher at a School -- She
came to them at first in the capacity of a Maid of all work
for 50s / a year wages -- The young Ladies finding that
she was ingenious, set her copies & taught her to write
some instructed in one thing & some in another & She
made such wonderful improvements that Miss Mores
thought she deserved to have every advantage -- She was
therefore taught every thing that might be useful
to her -- She writes an uncommon fine hand, draws
well, dances, understands needle work &c. &c. & to crown
their generous intentions -- is very grateful --
      Mrs. Yearsley is universally despised -- there are only
three or 4 people who take any notice of her -- in speaking
of her, I said that in my opinion Miss Hannah More ought to



have taken notice of that woman's justification of herself, as it was too
well written to be treated with contempt, however fallacious She might
know the subject to be -- Miss Mores said, they had always been of
my Opinion, but Hannah thought otherwise -- Sally was of opinion
that ten Lines would be sufficient (just of facts) to convince the
world of the injustice of the accusations, to clear up Hannah's character
to the World, & expose the notorious falsehoods in Mrs. Yearsleys publication --
They spoke with great affection of Dr. Stonehouse who now resides at the
Hot Wells, his health is so indifferent that he has given up his Duty in the
Country -- he was vastly pleased with Hannah's Elegy on his excellent Wife
Clara's Husband is dying of a loathsome lingering disease -- She all
Ease & Gaiety -- I am to spend a day or two with the Mores at Cowslip
Green & shall pay a visit to Dr. Stonehouse -- Monday morning 6 o'Clock
I wrote the other page last Night & thanks to my Candle could go no
farther -- I have been reading for an hour and half a pamphlet called
The Royal Interview, a very masterly performance & very scarce
it supposes a Conversation passed between the King & Prince of Wales in which
the King points out the impropriety of the Prince's conduct & the glorious
opportunity which he has lost of becoming the Idol of the British Nation
of atoning for all his follies & being admired & respected by all
the World -- I am now enjoying myself in the only way in which I
converse with my dear Mary -- you see I don't keep very
bad hours -- I meant to have bathed this morning but it
rains so hard that I shall defer it -- I will now go to the
Pump room & when the Water is comfortably settled in my
Stomach I will resume my Journal --
First I ought to tell you that Mrs Rundell &c made a thousand
friendly enquiries about you & Louisa -- Miss Rundell is very tall I am
afraid she will be 6 feet without her Shoes -- Fanny is grown thin & tall
Margaret at School -- I shall not go there too often -- & I hope they won't
force me to dine there -- though I have been asked -- Sally Nicolls wished
me to live with her -- as she has room enough in a very good
house & in a pleasant situation -- She talks of leaving Bath in
ten days -- when I put the Letter for you in the Post Office
I found one there from Jacson -- very friendly -- expressing a
concern for the necessity of my coming to Bath, giving me a kind
invitation to Richmond if change of air was necessary -- also a
literal answer to my questions -- disapproving of the Ton line
& speaking of Dear Nannys versatility in a manner that gives me
concern as I see he never will forgive her leaving us last summer
I have answered his Letter --
Friday -- I dined at my Lodgings -- Our dame Keeps an excellent Table
She is a Gentlewoman -- her Husband, a wine Merchant -- they are civil
obliging and attentive -- I give a Guinea a week for Breakfast & Dinner
& Supper & Tea in the afternoon if I choose it -- & 7/6 for my Bed Room, which
is a large one -- I drank tea at the Rundell's -- called on the Earle's who
are just returned from Cheltenham -- They seemed a little hurt that your
Ladyship had not written to them -- I made a tolerable apology, assuring



Mrs Earle that I knew you had a very great Esteem for her, but that you did not know
that she wished to keep up a constant correspondence -- that you have a great many correspondents
which took up a great deal of your time & the attention you paid to Louisa
prevented your writing to many of your friends &c &c -- they seemed very glad
to see me & invited me to dine with them en famille on the 21st -- I called on
Mr. Herschell Frere du Philosophe, & fixed with him about my learning
to play upon the violoncello -- he is esteemed a good master -- I stayed an
hour with him & he showed me the Method of polishing Mirrors, he makes
Telescopes & is going to make one to look at the Georgium Sidus his Brother
is making one that will be 40 feet long & 5 feet in Diameter -- when the
mirror broke which the Philosopher had been polishing for 14 days
& nights -- he only said “well we must set about another -- but I will
have some tea first” --
20 -- Made my Coup d'essai on the violoncello & have some hopes -- he has
promised to be very honest with me & tell me if I am likely to succeed -- in
case of fair prospects -- the purchase of an Instrument will require
cash my sweet friend -- Called on the Rundells, & I am very sorry to
inform you that Mrs. Rundell says there are not the least hopes of Miss Foote --
I called on Miss Milnes when, to my great astonishment, I found
Sally Nicolls quite at home -- after passing an hour a mon gré I
went to the Isted's where I had a very awkward reception -- I could
      not prevail upon a little black Boy to announce my
      Name -- two people stood staring at me in the passage
      and as I entered the Room a Lady came out attended by Miss
      Isted who took no Notice of me -- I was obliged to walk
      up to the end of the room to the old Lady who turned
up her Spectacles saying 'who is it! who is it' -- in a little time Miss
returned & was comfortably vulgar, sported a little Northamptonshire
wit on the fineness of my complexion & concluded by a pressing invitation
to dine there “which must be more agreeable to me than a Lodging
house” -- though it might appear so to her -- I declined the Honour --
Good God! what a difference Manners make in a human
Being -- how bewitching is Elegance and an unaffected attention
& how disgusting is Vulgarity -- !
21 -- I did not bathe, but drank the Waters -- I should have concluded
yesterday by saying that I left my home at the Vanbrugh's
are not you sorry for them? Mr. Vanbrugh I hear bears his loss
with great composure -- Mrs. Vanbrugh's Nerves were more than
usually agitated -- you know she is always very fidgety.
You will have seen Accounts of the fire at the Opera house, from
they had 12,000 -- Pr. An. -- I went to the Abbey Church, and
called at Sarah Nicoll's -- Mr. Earle, Mr. Rundell, Mrs Holroyd's
Cards I found at my return -- at 4 I went to the Earles
where I dined en famille with very little additions and
spent a very agreeable day -- pray tell my Father it has
poured a deluge to day -- that it rains almost every
hour & setting aside climate I believe there falls as
much rain here as at Buxton -- the few fields of grass that
are cut look in a sad condition -- I have only seen two that
were cleared, which were in Worcester. All sorts of Garden




stuff is in the highest perfection here -- We have
in this house several officers -- a Mr. Cox an Irishman
a very gentlemanlike man -- we have also two West --
-- Indians -- the wildest of human beings -- indiscreet
thoughtless, good humoured, inexhaustible Spirits
hard drinkers, irreligious, &c &c &c &c's -- without End --
you would be excessively grieved to hear all that is said
of your friend Ton. p—— Ah my dearest Love, what will
become of this unfortunate Country -- at Bootles a
certain person said he would be drunk that night, on account of
York's safety upon which great numbers followed into a room
set apart for royal topers -- some climbed on benches, some on tables
to see & hear what passed. -- when the Prince said he would give a Toast a
solemn silence prevailed -- & the following words were uttered by the
Heir to the Throne -- “Here's to all our Friends, and Damnation
to those Relations who don't love their families” this was a dutiful
compliment to his Mother -- as to the message alluded in the Letter
which we read together in the papers -- it was too unmanly, too infamous
& too obscene for me to write to you -- the basest mind, & the most
corrupted heart must combine to invent any thing so horrible



to one's feelings -- & without any provocation but the Gentleman being a Friend
of Mr. Pitt -- it is the general wish of the army that the Ball had gone through
the Duke of York's head or his heart --
22. I called upon Miss Nicholls & Mrs.. Hockiss who resides in Bath -- and
drank the Water, but did not bathe as the morning was so wet -- Spent the
day at home -- our Madcaps who have been at Bristol for a few days are
returned & keep us all alive. --
23 -- Bathed this morning -- we have a very high wind, but is fair -- at one I
drank the Waters & am going out to make visits -- Scraping goes on
very well -- My blessing to Louisa, Duty & love &c where proper --
Adieu ma inestimable femme -- Je suis toujours le Même John Dickenson

Mrs. Dickenson
      Taxal
      Chapel le frith
Derbyshire
X post


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quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. This worked: Charles Perceval, Lord Arden, and Henry Gage were returned to parliament for Warwick in 1790.
 2. HAM/1/2/15 makes clear that only three of the sisters were at home, Hannah and Martha (‘Patty’) being absent.
 3. The figurative sense ‘a place or state of supreme bliss’ (OED s.v. third adj. and n., draft additions December 2007. Accessed 14-01-2021).
 4. 50 shillings (£2.5) per year is broadly in line with maid-of-all work wages in the 18th century, if on the low side.
 5. Stonhouse moved there to take up permanent residence in 1788.
 6. Sarah Stonhouse died on 10 December 1788. For Hannah More's words on her death, see The Works of Hannah More, Vol. 1 (Harper: 1872), p.44.
 7. The name of both a historic Hamlet in Wrington, Somerset, as well as a house situated there. Hannah More and her sisters moved there in 1785. The house is now known as Brook Lodge (cf. Charlotte Mary Yonge (1888), Hannah More, p.82; and Hahn & Robins (2008), Cowslip Green. The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain & Ireland. Accessed 07-03-2021).
 8. See particularly p.49 of the pamphlet, which is available here.
 9. Alexander Herschel, one of three Herschel siblings who resided for a long time in Bath, of whom Caroline and especially William are now much better known. Alexander, a gifted musician and highly talented mechanical engineer, was apparently remembered in his family as 'a most simple-minded creature, with a warm heart, but a contracted mind, and very taciturn' (Hoskin 2004: 392).
 10. Literally, 'George's Star'. This is the name proposed by William Herschel for the planet Uranus following his discovery of it in 1781, in honour of George III. The international astronomy community did not agree, however, preferring to follow the convention of naming planets after classical gods.
 11. The opera house referred to here is the King's Theatre on Haymarket in London (initially established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh and called 'the Queen's Theatre'), which burnt down in the evening of 17 June 1789 during rehearsals. The current building (built in 1897) on that location is nowadays known as Her Majesty's Theatre.
 12. We have inverted p.3 of the image for ease of presentation. The image therefore differs from that in the University of Manchester LUNA catalogue.
 13. Ton. p——, if that is indeed the reading, is unexplained. It is unlikely to be a French phrase meaning ‘your prince’, given both the point after Ton and Dickenson's use elsewhere of the polite votre.
 14. This is probably a reference to Boodles, a London gentlemen's club established 1762.
 15. Prince Frederick, the Duke of York, had come unscathed through a duel on 26 May 1789 (see HAM/1/10/2/3).
 16. That is, drunkards (a toper is one who topes or drinks).
 17. Dickenson's progress on the cello.
 18. The address has been moved here from the middle of the page, written vertically.
 19. This instruction appears to the left of 'Derbyshire'.
 20. The address is crossed to indicate postage paid and postmarked 'BATH'.
 21. Remains of a seal, in red wax, below the address.
 22. This number is written vertically in the left margin of the envelope.

Metadata

Library References

Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/2/16

Correspondence Details

Sender: John Dickenson

Place sent: Bath (certainty: medium)

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith

Date sent: 23 June 1789

Letter Description

Summary: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to his wife Mary née Hamilton. He discusses visiting three of Hannah More's sisters [cf. HAM/1/2/15: 'Hannah & Patty were absent'] and offers news of other friends and acquaintances in Bath. Dickenson writes of his astonishment to hear whilst at the Miss Mores' 'so many vulgar expressions in common conversation'. 'Sally has a lively imagination but she rises into the third Heaven too often – She is an agreeable woman notwithstanding'. Dickenson notes that Mrs Yearsley is 'universally despised' and that there are only three or four 'people who take any notice of her' and he believes that Hannah More 'ought to have taken notice of that woman's justification of herself as it was too well written to be treated as with contempt, however fallacious she might know the subject to be – Miss More said they had always been of my opinion, but Hannah thought otherwise'. Sarah More [known as Sally (1743-1819)] believed that 'ten lines would be sufficiently full of faults to convince the world of the injustice of the assertions, to clear up Hannah's character to the world, & expose the notorious falsehoods in Mrs Y[earseley]s publication'.
    The sisters spoke of their affection for a Dr Stonehouse and of his being pleased by Hannah More's eulogy for his wife. Dickenson notes that he will spend a day or two with the Mores at Cowslip Green [Somerset] and will also visit Dr Stonehouse.
    In the letter Dickenson writes to Hamilton on the subject of what he has been reading. He spent part of the morning reading a pamphlet on the Royal Interviews, which is concerned with a discussion that had supposedly taken place between the King and the Prince of Wales concerning the conduct of the Prince. He also writes of his visits to the Pump room to take the waters and of his social life whilst at Bath.
    Original reference No. 2.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 1951 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 1 July 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

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