Single Letter

HAM/1/4/3/19

Letter from Jane Holman to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


                             35 Aldgate High St: London.

Jan: 29th: 1807.

Many thanks, my dearest Cousin, for your immediate
and affectionate reply to my sad communication.
      What you and Mr: D. so kindly urge, is most na-
tural
, and, with the generality of parents, would
be subject to no risque. But, I grieve to say, the
feelings of the one in question, are at present,
very peculiar. I received a letter from him,
by the same post with yours, this morning,
expreʃsive of unchanged affection towards me,
but peremptorily declining a meeting, unleʃs I
declared my conviction of the justice of
all his opinions (you understand me). No one, my
dearest Cousin
, can judge so well as yourself, of
the impoʃsibility of that. Even were I impreʃsed
with the most unequivocal belief of it, such
a declaration must give eternal offence
to him with whom my life is to be spent; for,
if two persons are diametrically opposite in
their ideas, it is scarcely neceʃsary to say, that



nothing but silence can fail to offend one
of them. I am really almost distracted, with
accumulated afflictions. My complaint (that
you kindly and anxiously enquire after) is ex-
treme
depreʃsion and weakneʃs, brought on by
agitation of mind. The storm broke out, you
may remember, immediately after I had had a
miscarriage; which is, in itself, a great streʃs
upon the constitution and nerves. There is no
pregnancy in the case, now, thank Heaven.
      As you are entitled to all my confidence, my
dearest Cousin
, I will mention, that my F. has
explained in this last letter, his intentions towards
me -- which are, 100£. per annum, being the
interest of 2000£., during his life, and, at his
death (which God avert as long as poʃsible!) the
2000£ principal, to be paid off his estates.[1] I told
you that my H. had has remaining of mine,
1900£. -- to him, my F. says, he leaves it to make
up the remainder of the 6000£. I was promised
at my marriage should be left me in future; with the interest of it, in present.[2] -- It is all the consolation
my situation will admit of, to receive the kindneʃs of



real friends; therefore, if not too troublesome, let
me hear from you again as soon as poʃsible. I
could not, at any rate, go to Bath, for two or three
days, because my mourning is making up.[3] In
the state of affairs I have described, I don't see the
poʃsibility, unleʃs my finances were such as to
enable me to go, to a Lodging, by which means I
should not obtrude myself as an inmate, and
could take my departure at a moment's warning,
if I found myself unwelcome. I am not
ashamed to confeʃs to you, that this would be
inconvenient to me. I need not tell you that
the disposition of my F. is very determined, which
encreases the danger of giving offence by acting in
opposition to his wishes. -- I do not know the
addreʃs of my Cousin, Mrs: Orr -- I only know that
her residence is somewhere near Worcester -- at
least, was, the last time I saw her, which was
at Cheltenham. -- Mrs: Mann requests me
to present her best thanks for your obliging wishes
to her; and to say, that her ideas would perfectly
coincide with yours and Mr: D.'s, but for the unfortunate



peculiarity of the circumstances. -- She is not re-
lated
to the family of her name, at Leighton Buzzard.
I feel the highest obligation for the concern you &
Mr: D. take about me. My sincere love attends you
both, and my Cousin, Louisa. Many thanks for your
attention to my tranquillity, in transcribing your own
          
letter. Nothing could be safer or kinder to your U.
than it was. -- My S.ister (whom I have not yet seen,
but announced myself to, by letter, on the sad news) tells
me that she has offered to go to B. but does not expect
the offer to be accepted. God bleʃs you, my dear Cousin,
                             and kind friend
.[4]

leaves London Monday-Thursday
& Saturday at 9 oClock in the morng
& sets out from the Cross Keys -- St.
John Street Smithfield -- [5]


Mrs: Dickenson[6]
      Leighton House
           Leighton Buzzard
                             Bedfordshire. -- [7]

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


Notes


 1. Cf. 'I have already made very ample provision for her after my decease by considerable Annuity in Trust out the reach of her husband' (Frederick Hamilton, HAM/1/4/2/20).
 2. In the sense 'immediately' (OED s.v. present n., Phrases, P1(c)).
 3. Jane Holman's mother, Rachel Hamilton, died in 1807.
 4. This section appears at bottom of p.3 below the address when unfolded.
 5. Moved annotation here from right side of address panel in centre of p.3 when unfolded.
 6. Postmark 'C JA 29 [1]807' to left of address when unfolded.
 7. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically. Several columns of cancelled figures appear to left of address when unfolded.

Normalised Text


                             35 Aldgate High Street London.

January 29th: 1807.

Many thanks, my dearest Cousin, for your immediate
and affectionate reply to my sad communication.
      What you and Mr: Dickenson so kindly urge, is most natural
, and, with the generality of parents, would
be subject to no risk. But, I grieve to say, the
feelings of the one in question, are at present,
very peculiar. I received a letter from him,
by the same post with yours, this morning,
expressive of unchanged affection towards me,
but peremptorily declining a meeting, unless I
declared my conviction of the justice of
all his opinions (you understand me). No one, my
dearest Cousin, can judge so well as yourself, of
the impossibility of that. Even were I impressed
with the most unequivocal belief of it, such
a declaration must give eternal offence
to him with whom my life is to be spent; for,
if two persons are diametrically opposite in
their ideas, it is scarcely necessary to say, that



nothing but silence can fail to offend one
of them. I am really almost distracted, with
accumulated afflictions. My complaint (that
you kindly and anxiously enquire after) is extreme
depression and weakness, brought on by
agitation of mind. The storm broke out, you
may remember, immediately after I had had a
miscarriage; which is, in itself, a great stress
upon the constitution and nerves. There is no
pregnancy in the case, now, thank Heaven.
      As you are entitled to all my confidence, my
dearest Cousin, I will mention, that my Father has
explained in this last letter, his intentions towards
me -- which are, 100£. per annum, being the
interest of 2000£., during his life, and, at his
death (which God avert as long as possible!) the
2000£ principal, to be paid off his estates. I told
you that my Husband has remaining of mine,
1900£. -- to him, my Father says, he leaves it to make
up the remainder of the 6000£. I was promised
at my marriage should be left me in future; with the interest of it, in present. -- It is all the consolation
my situation will admit of, to receive the kindness of



real friends; therefore, if not too troublesome, let
me hear from you again as soon as possible. I
could not, at any rate, go to Bath, for two or three
days, because my mourning is making up. In
the state of affairs I have described, I don't see the
possibility, unless my finances were such as to
enable me to go, to a Lodging, by which means I
should not obtrude myself as an inmate, and
could take my departure at a moment's warning,
if I found myself unwelcome. I am not
ashamed to confess to you, that this would be
inconvenient to me. I need not tell you that
the disposition of my Father is very determined, which
increases the danger of giving offence by acting in
opposition to his wishes. -- I do not know the
address of my Cousin, Mrs: Orr -- I only know that
her residence is somewhere near Worcester -- at
least, was, the last time I saw her, which was
at Cheltenham. -- Mrs: Mann requests me
to present her best thanks for your obliging wishes
to her; and to say, that her ideas would perfectly
coincide with yours and Mr: Dickenson's, but for the unfortunate



peculiarity of the circumstances. -- She is not related
to the family of her name, at Leighton Buzzard.
I feel the highest obligation for the concern you &
Mr: Dickenson take about me. My sincere love attends you
both, and my Cousin, Louisa. Many thanks for your
attention to my tranquillity, in transcribing your own
          
letter. Nothing could be safer or kinder to your Uncle
than it was. -- My Sister (whom I have not yet seen,
but announced myself to, by letter, on the sad news) tells
me that she has offered to go to Bath but does not expect
the offer to be accepted. God bless you, my dear Cousin,
                             and kind friend.



Mrs: Dickenson
      Leighton House
           Leighton Buzzard
                             Bedfordshire. --

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. Cf. 'I have already made very ample provision for her after my decease by considerable Annuity in Trust out the reach of her husband' (Frederick Hamilton, HAM/1/4/2/20).
 2. In the sense 'immediately' (OED s.v. present n., Phrases, P1(c)).
 3. Jane Holman's mother, Rachel Hamilton, died in 1807.
 4. This section appears at bottom of p.3 below the address when unfolded.
 5. Moved annotation here from right side of address panel in centre of p.3 when unfolded.
 6. Postmark 'C JA 29 [1]807' to left of address when unfolded.
 7. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically. Several columns of cancelled figures appear to left of address when unfolded.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Jane Holman to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/3/19

Correspondence Details

Sender: Jane Holman (née Hamilton)

Place sent: London

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Leighton Buzzard

Date sent: 29 January 1807

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Mrs Jane Holman née Hamilton to Mary Hamilton. The letter mainly relates to Jane's health, her concerns for her future and her father. She writes that she is suffering from 'weakness' which has 'been brought on by agitation of mind', which in part was due to a miscarriage she had had. The letter also provides details of her father's financial arrangements at the time of her marriage, especially the promise of £6000 on her marriage. She writes of her father's temperament as being 'determined', and that there is a danger of causing him offence if she acts against his wishes. She is unable to travel to Bath for her father for at least a couple of days as her mourning clothes are not yet ready but writes of receiving a letter from him in which he affirms that although his affections towards her remain the same, he refuses to meet with her until she declares her 'conviction of the justice of all his opinions'. She notes that this is an 'impossibility', as 'such a declaration must give eternal offence to him with whom my life is to be spent, for, if two persons are diametrically opposite in their ideas, it is scarcely necessary to say, that nothing but silence can fail to offend one of them'.
    Dated at 35 Aldgate High Street [London].
   

Length: 4 sheets, 678 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 2016/17 provided by The John Rylands Research Institute.

Research assistant: Sarah Connor, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo

Transliterator: Sarah Connor (submitted May 2017)

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

Document Image (pdf)