Diplomatic Text
16.
16
J Dickenson to his wife
30th. August 1791 London
Tuesday -- After dinner we all went to Romneys & saw
8 or 9 Portraits of Emma, not one of which satisfied me --
we drank tea with her -- & then the Cr. & I went to Sr. Rt.
Herries's to get the matters adjusted respecting the
Money, we did not return till past 9 -- AMaria went
home when we separated from Emma -- Sr Robert
told me that he had just recd. a letter from Ly H.
who had altered her plans & meant to go to Taxal
when She quitted Buxton -- therefore I hope to be
at home now when She is there --
Wedn: At 9 I went to Lincolns Inn fields on the Cr-s.
Acct. -- from thence to Sir Rt. Herriess for Some Cash
for him & to other places -- in my Way I called
upon Mrs. Johnstone who seems very well -- She
has two Girls -- both She & her Husband look old -- last
night when the Cr. was gone to bed I took an Oppy
of talking to her Eliza & recommended to her a
Line of Conduct that I wished her to persue --
at 11 Emma's Mother came here & repeating her
profeʃsions of kind Offices (which I have no doubt
will be realized if neceʃsary) took a very friendly
leave of her -- As soon as Sir Wm. went to Court &
Ld. & Lady Malmsbury left Emma, She came thrō a very
heavy rain to take leave of Eliza -- I was so much
affected after our conversation last Night, tho I
had only answers of Monosyllables, that I could not
sleep -- & to day I felt a great deal at the thoughts
of parting with a Sister, probably for ever -- Eliza
drank a Glaʃs or two of Wine & without saying one
Affecte. Word to me -- without mentioning Father
Sister or Niece or friend She went into her Carriage
& with the utmost Sang froid adjusted the
Blinds &c -- This was too much for me -- Emma
came back to me & exclaimed -- “My God! Mr. D. -- is this
poʃsible -- I am glad & I am sorry to see with what Philo
-sophy She bears this Separation -- how She must love
this Man to leave all her dearest Relations with so
much composure” -- She left a little Dab[1] of a Letter
for you sealed -- Yours my dear friend of the 27th
arrived a few minutes before they went, I read to
E. what related to her Father & Sister -- She talked
cheerfully of them, but left no endearing meʃsage
for them -- Can this Creature have feelings
or of what Nature are they? She never mentioned
Louisa since we left Taxal -- Adieu to Elizabeth --
The Cr. sent you many Compts- he seemed glad
to get away & poor Samuel will have a bad beginning
as it has never ceased raining since morng --
Lady Wake will write to you very soon She is gone
to Tonbridge -- I have just recollected that I
am to dine with Devaynes to day to meet Lord Cre
morne -- I was very near forgetting it as my head is so
confused -- I am afraid Mr. H——s aversion to Robert
is too well founded & I fear he poʃseʃses great duplicity
& no share of honor & common honesty -- as I shall have
a proposal made to me in form[2] respecting him, write
a few lines by return of post to give me yr- Sentiments
dont mention Names or any thing particular. as I may
probably not receive the letter -- Emma told me yt
the marriage is to take place on Sunday. therefore I shall
not leave town till this day Sent -- A Demur was made
by the AB——p of Canty. about a special licence owg to an
expreʃsion in Sir Wm-'s application therefore it must be so-
lemnized in a Church -- Ld. Abern.. is very anxious about
it -- & his Wife is dying -- therefore they are afraid lest he shd.
be prevented from attending -- I have been out of luck
in not meetg this person -- but on that day I shall have
the best introduction poʃsible -- When I saw Cs. Greville
I gave him a preʃsing invitation to Taxal, & he seemed pleased
I am prevented from adding another Line, except
to tell you that I have taken these Lodggs on till
next Wedy. -- Adieu best of Women
Adieu --
J D --
Single sheet
To
Mrs. Dickenson
Taxal
Chapel le frith
Derbyshire[3] [4]
[5]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. ‘[a]pplied slightingly to [...] a slight effort of the pen, etc.’ (OED s.v. Dab n. 1, 4).
2. In form is equivalent to ‘according to the rules’ or ‘formally’ (OED s.v. form n. 11b).
3. Moved address here from middle of page, written vertically.
4. Bishop mark ‘E AU 31 91’ to right of address panel when unfolded.
5. Image shows part of p.2 col.1 visible below address through missing rectangle in p.3.
Normalised Text
30th. August 1791 London
Tuesday -- After dinner we all went to Romneys & saw
8 or 9 Portraits of Emma, not one of which satisfied me --
we drank tea with her -- & then the Chevalier & I went to Sir Robert
Herries's to get the matters adjusted respecting the
Money, we did not return till past 9 -- Anna Maria went
home when we separated from Emma -- Sir Robert
told me that he had just received a letter from Lady Herries
who had altered her plans & meant to go to Taxal
when She quitted Buxton -- therefore I hope to be
at home now when She is there --
Wednesday At 9 I went to Lincolns Inn fields on the Chevaliers.
Account -- from thence to Sir Robert Herriess for Some Cash
for him & to other places -- in my Way I called
upon Mrs. Johnstone who seems very well -- She
has two Girls -- both She & her Husband look old -- last
night when the Chevalier was gone to bed I took an Opportunity
of talking to Eliza & recommended to her a
Line of Conduct that I wished her to pursue --
at 11 Emma's Mother came here & repeating her
professions of kind Offices (which I have no doubt
will be realized if necessary) took a very friendly
leave of her -- As soon as Sir William went to Court &
Lord & Lady Malmsbury left Emma, She came through a very
heavy rain to take leave of Eliza -- I was so much
affected after our conversation last Night, though I
had only answers of Monosyllables, that I could not
sleep -- & to day I felt a great deal at the thoughts
of parting with a Sister, probably for ever -- Eliza
drank a Glass or two of Wine & without saying one
Affectionate Word to me -- without mentioning Father
Sister or Niece or friend She went into her Carriage
& with the utmost Sang-froid adjusted the
Blinds &c -- This was too much for me -- Emma
came back to me & exclaimed -- “My God! Mr. Dickenson -- is this
possible -- I am glad & I am sorry to see with what Philosophy
She bears this Separation -- how She must love
this Man to leave all her dearest Relations with so
much composure” -- She left a little Dab of a Letter
for you sealed -- Yours my dear friend of the 27th
arrived a few minutes before they went, I read to
Elizabeth what related to her Father & Sister -- She talked
cheerfully of them, but left no endearing message
for them -- Can this Creature have feelings
or of what Nature are they? She never mentioned
Louisa since we left Taxal -- Adieu to Elizabeth --
The Chevalier sent you many Compliments he seemed glad
to get away & poor Samuel will have a bad beginning
as it has never ceased raining since morning --
Lady Wake will write to you very soon She is gone
to Tonbridge -- I have just recollected that I
am to dine with Devaynes to day to meet Lord Cremorne
-- I was very near forgetting it as my head is so
confused -- I am afraid Mr. H——s aversion to Robert
is too well founded & I fear he possesses great duplicity
& no share of honour & common honesty -- as I shall have
a proposal made to me in form respecting him, write
a few lines by return of post to give me your Sentiments
don't mention Names or any thing particular. as I may
probably not receive the letter -- Emma told me that
the marriage is to take place on Sunday. therefore I shall
not leave town till this day Sennight -- A Demur was made
by the Archbishop of Canterbury about a special licence owing to an
expression in Sir William's application therefore it must be solemnized
in a Church -- Lord Abercorn is very anxious about
it -- & his Wife is dying -- therefore they are afraid lest he should
be prevented from attending -- I have been out of luck
in not meeting this person -- but on that day I shall have
the best introduction possible -- When I saw Charles Greville
I gave him a pressing invitation to Taxal, & he seemed pleased
I am prevented from adding another Line, except
to tell you that I have taken these Lodgings on till
next Wednesday -- Adieu best of Women
Adieu --
John Dickenson --
Single sheet
To
Mrs. Dickenson
Taxal
Chapel le frith
Derbyshire
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: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/2/35
Correspondence Details
Sender: John Dickenson
Place sent: London
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith
Date sent: 31 August 1791
Letter Description
Summary: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to his wife Mary née Hamilton covering the period 30-31 August 1791, describing his time in London. While there, he went to the painter [George] Romney's and saw a number of portraits of Emma Lyon and was not satisfied with any of them. He then drank tea with her. He also met with Hamilton's cousin, Charles Greville, Emma's former lover (see HAM/1/5/3), and invited him to stay at Taxal.
Original reference No. 16.
Length: 1 sheet, 736 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Image to Text' (David Denison & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2013-2019), now incorporated 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: XML version: Research Assistant funding in 2017/18 provided by the Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Manchester.
Research assistant: Georgia Tutt, MA student, University of Manchester
Transliterator: Katie Grime, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted May 2018)
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