Diplomatic Text
My dear Mrs: Dickenson -- What a strange Woman you are, very few like you, and woe be to
you if being singularly amiable and respectable be a crime -- You have honord me
first and flattered me secondarily, all together I dont know how to repay your
kindneʃs but by an aʃsurance that tho out of sight you have not been blotted from
my remembrance, far from it -- When I knew you a little, I liked you a little
when I had a better acquaintance, I thought as your husband --
Little Louisa -- and you tell me of a boy[1] --
I sincerely gratulate you both on the charming circumstance of independance --
pray what think you of that mortal who is far from independance yet must
declare himself happy by comparison -- I shall say something of your nose
before I get to the bottom of my paper on the 4th Side -- Mr: D. you are idle
enough to ask if I have seen a match for Lady D. V.[2] since I left you, how
could a man of your sense marryed to a Woman of so acute a nose as MD.
ask such a Q. I tell you nay, nor you in the vast vortex of hoops and
pettycoats in which you may move if you please -- but softly, you appear to
me to love confinements and one petty thing is enough for a reasonable Man --
Mrs D. by this and by that I will not willingly offend you, but do, think
a moment what animal creatures we men are, and you will excuse me --
It is too ridiculous certainly to dwell upon, yet we who are candid must allow it.
The sensible generosity of elderly Mr: D. is to be praised and
highly, if that sort of conduct were more generelly pursued, the World would
be better inhabited, and by a better race than the present, tho I love things present.
I thank you 1000 times for the kind communications of your letter wch.
I have as yet red but once and am talking to You of, only by recollection --
Yours was accompanied by a flight of letters from people whom
I either like or love -- If I liked you once, I really love you tho' you are the
bosom friend of another man, and why, because, which you know is a pretty salvo
and usually saves reasoning -- Were I to tell you who I like, I should give you
a long roll of shapes and sizes, eyes teeth hair and those things included,
but when I come to make a catalogue of those I love it would perhaps appear
long, and that I not acquired a right to love so many, yet I could give you
a list, know, that I would not set Lady D. V. at the head, because --
Because I have the happyneʃs of knowing such as (in my opinion) deserve
to sit on the same bench with her Lp. They are not Legion --
Madame Pompadour's opinion is that a beautiful Womans face is
the highest and most pleasing proof of the skill of the divine Architect, but
how could that sensible Creature be so incorrect, ought she not to have
reflected on the vanity of tastes fancies caprices &ca which exist in this
very pleasant and whimsical World which is too good for the most of us --
The man is smitten with a face, and then with the bust of a fine statue, but
when we would represent that charming creature Woman as an object of
admiration and desire, let us not hear a Word of mutilation, let us have
the tout ensemble which was the original design -- I could now as if she sat
for her picture give you my sketch of L de V. but you know her -- She is manly
but not masculine -- She is feminine but not effeminated -- I imagine that her
fancy is under the immediate correction of a vigilant and enlightened mind, or
which must be the case with every fine Woman --
I honor I revere I admire her, and think she has few equals,[3] what wld.
you have -- ? now the confidence I must have in your understanding!
I am certain that when I shall reread your letter I shall find questions to be answerd,
in the mean time let me aʃsure you that I am with great sincerity your much
honord and obliged servant -- When a man has so high an opinion of the wit
genius, understanding and impartiallity of a Woman, as to prove the praise=
worthy qualities of another female he is entitled to thanks, then pray
signify your gratitude in your next, for I hope you will not treat
me with a bite of a cherry, but supply me with a monthly magazine
of knowledge and pleasure -- Know that I have not written to
the end of Oxford Street (Tho I received proof of hospitallity &ca.)
As Mr: Jackson was your host, I beg you will say a kind word
to him -- I wish my sister P. had you in a land flowing with
milk and potatoes -- If she be a truth telling Woman she loves and
esteems you, I won't repeat her expreʃsions as (Tho I enjoy flattery
I am too conscientious to admenester doses to those who are better
Physicians than I can pretend to be) -- If I was to meet
you at the end of three months I should stipulate by the watch
for so many minutes or hours, and purge our true tongues with something
equipollent as a linguist to Euphrasie[4] and yew as an occulist --
“for we have much to say” -- I have looked into your
letter since beginning this Morceau, and you may believe, am not
only highly entertained by the manner but delighted with the
matter -- often when the glooms pay me a short visit, I reflect
that I poʃseʃs the friendship of such and such, which consoles
and refocillates[5] me in a considerable degree -- take my word
you have many a long letter (If we live) to expect from me,
and as to arrangement, direction, and sentiment, that jargonic
misapplyed and prostituted expreʃsion you may search and research,
Shakespear has something, touching two grains of wheat in a bushell
of Chaff[6] -- You would in earnest love me if you were intimate
with those I love -- I am full of them at this distance, yet my
Religion forbids me to repine at the improbability of seeing
them -- now in this stage of the busyneʃs what have I told you?
What a dull mortal not to tell you of lemons and Whales, of
rocks and Women, Ships and Caverns, Thunder and rain, potatoes
and ducks, and how I am about being marryed to a young
flaunting Jade with black eyes and white teeth, or a fair
complexion blue eyes and good nature -- in true truth,
when I see a friend after a certain lapse of time I find my
thoughts as distracted as poor Martha's were who wanted one
thing needful[7] -- all abroad,[8] all talk, in short -- &ca
You must know that if ever I should have the pleasant
fortune of seeing you so happily fixed as I believe you are, I
shall have no reserve whatever, but indulge in an overflow
of that precious folly which you have experienced more or leʃs
from some of your maiden namesakes -- pray take the pains
of correcting this fátras[9] -- If I can find time I will write
you a few lines in the envelope, bearing a distant resemblance
to common sense and coheerence (if I can) -- my best friends
were good enough to overlook the sulky humor I was poʃseʃsed by
when last in England -- The reasons for which might be very
unreasonable, but I will tell all over a seacoal fire either in this World or[10]
Postscript -- your Husband is a curious fellow to be in love
with his Wife, I see he is, and I could be a little bit in love
with you myself, only I happen to be engaged --
Now good Dear pretty Mrs: D. will you make an Apology for
me? that I should send you a most lame and impotent preface
instead of a narrative with beginning middle and end, with
some lardings of compliment and never ending aʃsurances of
attachment and those sort of things, is certainly flying in the
face of gratitude decorum and Gentilhommerie, but hear me
I was this day up before the Sun, heavy as a leaden dormouse
The Nonpareille having come to an anchor last night has hurried us
so that I can scarce say my life is my own -- however when Marshal
Villars was in the Cevennes depopulating the Country by the exte[rmination]
of the Huguenots he learned the fatal event of the Batt[le] ------------
Marshall writes to his Monarch the Superb Louis ------------------------
------------ disgrace befallen the arms of France and the ind ------
brought on the fleurs de Lys, deplores his own misfortune w[hic]h
forbid his being present “autrement &ca” Mais je ne puis pas
me trouver pas tout -- Mr D. pacify, or endeavor to pacify
the ladys just indignation, and on my part aʃsure her that when
I think on absent friends whom I value esteem and like, I cannot
but lament with Villars -- kiʃs the little Louisa and her cadet
for me, and accept my sincere aʃsurances of friendly regard --
If you knew how grateful I feel for your unsollicited
remembrance you would determine to retain hopes of my amendment.
2d Postscript per the Fanny -- tell of a broil preparing
for the Kings birth day tomorrow 1790. So happyneʃs be your lot --
I like Mrs: Waddington being
a Mother -- and she?
Pray do salute those of our
common acquaintances whom
you may chance to love --
correct my letter for me
add anything affectionate
that may be wanting --
[Y]rs with all my heart Errors excepted HH.[11]
Letters[12]
London 30 June 90
This day rec'd & forwarded by / Madame
------
------------ [14]
1790[15]
▼
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. See also HAM/1/5/2/11, dated some three years earlier.
2. Lady Vesey (her husband's surname), otherwise Lady de Vesci (after his elevation to a viscountcy), is repeatedly cited by Henry Hamilton as an ideal of womanhood. Dickenson had mentioned to his wife a likeness to her in someone he encountered in Bath in 1789 (see HAM/1/2/18 p.2 and HAM/1/2/21), so she had evidently been known to both of them.
3. Henry Hamilton must have been unaware that she had died in 1786, after his departure for Bermuda, assuming that this date has been correctly recorded (see The Peerage).
4. ‘a plant ... formerly held in high repute for its medicinal virtues in the treatment of diseases of the eye; = eyebright n.’ (OED s.v. Euphrasy n.).
5. ‘revive, reanimate, or refresh’ (OED s.v. refocillate).
6. A slight misquotation: 'his reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff'.
7. Luke 10:42.
8. Here in sense ‘confused, bewildered, perplexed, at a loss; in error; wide of the mark or the truth’ (OED s.v. abroad adv. A.5).
9. French fatras ‘jumble, clutter’.
10. This sentence appears to be interrupted, as if the next sheet was missing or not digitised.
11. Moved this second postscript here from bottom of p.4, written after folding.
12. This annotation appears at the top right of the page.
13. The address panel appears in the middle of the page, written vertically.
14. This annotation appears to the left of the address panel, in the middle of the page, written vertically, orientation right to left.
15. This annotation appears at the bottom of the page, written upside down.
16. This annotation appears at the bottom of the page, written vertically.
Normalised Text
My dear Mrs: Dickenson -- What a strange Woman you are, very few like you, and woe be to
you if being singularly amiable and respectable be a crime -- You have honoured me
first and flattered me secondarily, all together I don't know how to repay your
kindness but by an assurance that though out of sight you have not been blotted from
my remembrance, far from it -- When I knew you a little, I liked you a little
when I had a better acquaintance, I thought as your husband --
Little Louisa -- and you tell me of a boy --
I sincerely gratulate you both on the charming circumstance of independence --
pray what think you of that mortal who is far from independence yet must
declare himself happy by comparison -- I shall say something of your nose
before I get to the bottom of my paper on the 4th Side -- Mr: Dickenson you are idle
enough to ask if I have seen a match for Lady De Vesci since I left you, how
could a man of your sense married to a Woman of so acute a nose as Mary Dickenson
ask such a Question. I tell you nay, nor you in the vast vortex of hoops and
petticoats in which you may move if you please -- but softly, you appear to
me to love confinements and one petty thing is enough for a reasonable Man --
Mrs Dickenson by this and by that I will not willingly offend you, but do, think
a moment what animal creatures we men are, and you will excuse me --
It is too ridiculous certainly to dwell upon, yet we who are candid must allow it.
The sensible generosity of elderly Mr: Dickenson is to be praised and
highly, if that sort of conduct were more generally pursued, the World would
be better inhabited, and by a better race than the present, though I love things present.
I thank you 1000 times for the kind communications of your letter which
I have as yet read but once and am talking to You of, only by recollection --
Yours was accompanied by a flight of letters from people whom
I either like or love -- If I liked you once, I really love you though you are the
bosom friend of another man, and why, because, which you know is a pretty salvo
and usually saves reasoning -- Were I to tell you who I like, I should give you
a long roll of shapes and sizes, eyes teeth hair and those things included,
but when I come to make a catalogue of those I love it would perhaps appear
long, and that I not acquired a right to love so many, yet I could give you
a list, know, that I would not set Lady De Vesci at the head, because --
Because I have the happiness of knowing such as (in my opinion) deserve
to sit on the same bench with her Ladyship They are not Legion --
Madame Pompadour's opinion is that a beautiful Womans face is
the highest and most pleasing proof of the skill of the divine Architect, but
how could that sensible Creature be so incorrect, ought she not to have
reflected on the vanity of tastes fancies caprices &ca which exist in this
very pleasant and whimsical World which is too good for the most of us --
The man is smitten with a face, and then with the bust of a fine statue, but
when we would represent that charming creature Woman as an object of
admiration and desire, let us not hear a Word of mutilation, let us have
the tout ensemble which was the original design -- I could now as if she sat
for her picture give you my sketch of Lady de Vesci but you know her -- She is manly
but not masculine -- She is feminine but not effeminated -- I imagine that her
fancy is under the immediate correction of a vigilant and enlightened mind, or
which must be the case with every fine Woman --
I honour I revere I admire her, and think she has few equals, what would
you have -- ? now the confidence I must have in your understanding!
I am certain that when I shall reread your letter I shall find questions to be answered,
in the mean time let me assure you that I am with great sincerity your much
honoured and obliged servant -- When a man has so high an opinion of the wit
genius, understanding and impartiality of a Woman, as to prove the praiseworthy
qualities of another female he is entitled to thanks, then pray
signify your gratitude in your next, for I hope you will not treat
me with a bite of a cherry, but supply me with a monthly magazine
of knowledge and pleasure -- Know that I have not written to
the end of Oxford Street (Though I received proof of hospitality &ca.)
As Mr: Jackson was your host, I beg you will say a kind word
to him -- I wish my sister P. had you in a land flowing with
milk and potatoes -- If she be a truth telling Woman she loves and
esteems you, I won't repeat her expressions as (Though I enjoy flattery
I am too conscientious to administer doses to those who are better
Physicians than I can pretend to be) -- If I was to meet
you at the end of three months I should stipulate by the watch
for so many minutes or hours, and purge our true tongues with something
equipollent as a linguist to Euphrasie and yew as an oculist --
“for we have much to say” -- I have looked into your
letter since beginning this Morceau, and you may believe, am not
only highly entertained by the manner but delighted with the
matter -- often when the glooms pay me a short visit, I reflect
that I possess the friendship of such and such, which consoles
and refocillates me in a considerable degree -- take my word
you have many a long letter (If we live) to expect from me,
and as to arrangement, direction, and sentiment, that jargonic
misapplied and prostituted expression you may search and research,
Shakespeare has something, touching two grains of wheat in a bushel
of Chaff -- You would in earnest love me if you were intimate
with those I love -- I am full of them at this distance, yet my
Religion forbids me to repine at the improbability of seeing
them -- now in this stage of the business what have I told you?
What a dull mortal not to tell you of lemons and Whales, of
rocks and Women, Ships and Caverns, Thunder and rain, potatoes
and ducks, and how I am about being married to a young
flaunting Jade with black eyes and white teeth, or a fair
complexion blue eyes and good nature -- in true truth,
when I see a friend after a certain lapse of time I find my
thoughts as distracted as poor Martha's were who wanted one
thing needful -- all abroad, all talk, in short -- &ca
You must know that if ever I should have the pleasant
fortune of seeing you so happily fixed as I believe you are, I
shall have no reserve whatever, but indulge in an overflow
of that precious folly which you have experienced more or less
from some of your maiden namesakes -- pray take the pains
of correcting this fátras -- If I can find time I will write
you a few lines in the envelope, bearing a distant resemblance
to common sense and coherence (if I can) -- my best friends
were good enough to overlook the sulky humour I was possessed by
when last in England -- The reasons for which might be very
unreasonable, but I will tell all over a seacoal fire either in this World or
Postscript -- your Husband is a curious fellow to be in love
with his Wife, I see he is, and I could be a little bit in love
with you myself, only I happen to be engaged --
Now good Dear pretty Mrs: Dickenson will you make an Apology for
me? that I should send you a most lame and impotent preface
instead of a narrative with beginning middle and end, with
some lardings of compliment and never ending assurances of
attachment and those sort of things, is certainly flying in the
face of gratitude decorum and Gentilhommerie, but hear me
I was this day up before the Sun, heavy as a leaden dormouse
The Nonpareille having come to an anchor last night has hurried us
so that I can scarce say my life is my own -- however when Marshal
Villars was in the Cévennes depopulating the Country by the extermination
of the Huguenots he learned the fatal event of the Battle ------------
Marshal writes to his Monarch the Superb Louis ------------------------
------------ disgrace befallen the arms of France and the ind ------
brought on the fleur-de-lis, deplores his own misfortune which
forbid his being present “autrement &ca” Mais je ne puis pas
me trouver pas tout -- Mr Dickenson pacify, or endeavour to pacify
the ladys just indignation, and on my part assure her that when
I think on absent friends whom I value esteem and like, I cannot
but lament with Villars -- kiss the little Louisa and her cadet
for me, and accept my sincere assurances of friendly regard --
If you knew how grateful I feel for your unsolicited
remembrance you would determine to retain hopes of my amendment.
2d Postscript per the Fanny -- tell of a broil preparing
for the Kings birth day tomorrow 1790. So happiness be your lot --
I like Mrs: Waddington being
a Mother -- and she?
Pray do salute those of our
common acquaintances whom
you may chance to love --
correct my letter for me
add anything affectionate
that may be wanting --
Yours with all my heart Errors excepted Henry Hamilton
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: Letter from Henry Hamilton to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/6/1
Correspondence Details
Sender: Henry Hamilton
Place sent: Bermuda (certainty: high)
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith
Date sent: 4 June 1790
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Henry Hamilton to Mary Hamilton, containing passages addressed to Mary's husband, John Dickenson. The letter relates to his admiration of Mary Hamilton and her husband, to his own family and his views on life. He begins his letter by noting what a strange woman Mary Hamilton is. She has flattered him, and he writes, 'When I knew you a little, I liked you a little when I had a better acquaintance, I thought as your husband'. He can tell that John Dickenson is in love with his wife and notes that he is a little so himself.
Length: 2 sheets, 1652 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: Sam Cooper, 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