Single Letter

HAM/1/7/1/10

Copy of letter from Mary Hamilton to Jean Baptiste Louis Georges Seroux d'Agincourt

Diplomatic Text


                                                         10
      Clarges Street Piccadilly Janry. 17. 1784

      Yes my good Friend I receiv'd your Letter from Albano
and you will I fear give me little credit; both for saying how much
I was delighted with its contents, & what satisfaction it gave me
again to have accounts from one for whom I retain the most
lively esteem -- I could give a thousand reasons why I have not
written to you sooner, I will not stop to dwell on those reasons, but
proceed to give you that intelligence you require, because I know you
too well not to be certain that your wishing to be inform'd of any thing
that relates to me proceeds from (what must be so agreable to me)
your kind Solicitude for my happineʃs.      Before I can begin my
little narrative, I must tell you how much I was pleased with
the last kind letter you sent me by my Uncle Sir William Hamilton
with the ingenious Specimens of engraving which I shall prize,
because done by your hand -- I must also inform you that my
Uncle
& I have talked much of you, what he has said to me
on this Subject has made me feel happy that I poʃseʃs the friend-
-ship
of one who is so valuable a member of Society: & may
I add? poʃseʃsing Sentiments I so entirely approve
      Poor Lady Hamilton! -- Sir William has shewn me
letters which he found after her death, addreʃsed to himself, which
have affected me exceedingly & made me, if poʃsible, still more
Sensible of her worth.
      The alteration in my Situation requires some Explana-
-tion
to an absent friend, if You find my letter too long, remember
'tis in compliance with your desire that I enter into a particular
detail of what concerns me. I was not educated with a view
of living in a Court, and had not, consequently, every advantage
                                                         which



which that brilliant & exposed station required -- I had seen very little
of the great World & my Father who had seen much of it had given
me no favourable impreʃsions. After his death my time & thoughts
were wholly devoted to my mother, who's ill health required every
tender attention from an only Child. Some dear friends of mine
who's partiality thought me equal to the important task of Aʃsisting
in the Government of the Royal Children, and as the Queen was
looking out for a third lady to be at the head of that establishment,
they spoke of me -- as my family was well known, the Queen soon
gain'd the intelligence she required concerning me -- all this was
the work of three or four days & without my knowledge; it was then
proposed to my Mother & me, & my friends urged me warmly to
accept the offer. I took no part in the Affair but resolved to do
whatever appear'd Agreable to my Mother, who was prevailed upon
to desire me to accept the honor -- in leʃs than a week I found myself
in a Situation I had never had the most distant Idea of -- I endeavour'd
to fulfil my duty to the best of my Abilities & had the satisfaction of
being approved of -- I experienced great goodneʃs & attention from her
Majesty
& distinctions which were not common -- I soon found however
that a constant exertion & a life of fatigue I had not been accustom'd to
affected my health, which tho' naturally good, was by no means equal
to -- it required a stronger constitution than I was bleʃsed with -- I had
not time to poʃseʃs my own mind, my health & Spirits suffer'd very
much from leading a life of constant restraint, I felt myself
unequal to it & regretted my loʃs of liberty -- the Situation became
irksome & I had few Opportunities of enjoying the Society of
many most dear & valuable friends -- for it was totally inconsistent
with the place I was in to ask permiʃsion to live so much as I wish'd
with those persons whom I loved. I therefore took the resolution to entreat
                                                         her



her Majesty
to allow me to retire from Court -- She was graciously
pleased to write me a most Affectionate letter and desire that I would
not quit her family, & attributed my request to the effect of low
Spirits, -- You may imagine that my Affection for the Queen
would not suffer me to preʃs any thing in Opposition to her
wishes & I promised to remain some time longer, I continued
near two Years after this, & then again, from those Motives
I mention'd before, & others which it would not be proper
for me to mention, I warmly preʃsed for leave to retire
& as I made a point of it Obtain'd my wish. In my next, if
You desire it I will tell you in what manner I am settled,
& every other circumstance which to a friend may be
interesting.      Adieu let me hear from you very soon & I
Promise not to delay answering Your letter -- tell me
every thing which relates to Yourself, for believe me, You
have not a more Sincere friend. than[1]

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Notes


 1. The letter is not signed by Mary, as this is a copy of the letter sent.

Normalised Text


                                                        
      Clarges Street Piccadilly January 17. 1784

      Yes my good Friend I received your Letter from Albano
and you will I fear give me little credit; both for saying how much
I was delighted with its contents, & what satisfaction it gave me
again to have accounts from one for whom I retain the most
lively esteem -- I could give a thousand reasons why I have not
written to you sooner, I will not stop to dwell on those reasons, but
proceed to give you that intelligence you require, because I know you
too well not to be certain that your wishing to be informed of any thing
that relates to me proceeds from (what must be so agreeable to me)
your kind Solicitude for my happiness.      Before I can begin my
little narrative, I must tell you how much I was pleased with
the last kind letter you sent me by my Uncle Sir William Hamilton
with the ingenious Specimens of engraving which I shall prize,
because done by your hand -- I must also inform you that my
Uncle & I have talked much of you, what he has said to me
on this Subject has made me feel happy that I possess the friendship
of one who is so valuable a member of Society: & may
I add? possessing Sentiments I so entirely approve
      Poor Lady Hamilton! -- Sir William has shown me
letters which he found after her death, addressed to himself, which
have affected me exceedingly & made me, if possible, still more
Sensible of her worth.
      The alteration in my Situation requires some Explanation
to an absent friend, if You find my letter too long, remember
'tis in compliance with your desire that I enter into a particular
detail of what concerns me. I was not educated with a view
of living in a Court, and had not, consequently, every advantage
                                                        



which that brilliant & exposed station required -- I had seen very little
of the great World & my Father who had seen much of it had given
me no favourable impressions. After his death my time & thoughts
were wholly devoted to my mother, who's ill health required every
tender attention from an only Child. Some dear friends of mine
who's partiality thought me equal to the important task of Assisting
in the Government of the Royal Children, and as the Queen was
looking out for a third lady to be at the head of that establishment,
they spoke of me -- as my family was well known, the Queen soon
gained the intelligence she required concerning me -- all this was
the work of three or four days & without my knowledge; it was then
proposed to my Mother & me, & my friends urged me warmly to
accept the offer. I took no part in the Affair but resolved to do
whatever appeared Agreeable to my Mother, who was prevailed upon
to desire me to accept the honour -- in less than a week I found myself
in a Situation I had never had the most distant Idea of -- I endeavoured
to fulfil my duty to the best of my Abilities & had the satisfaction of
being approved of -- I experienced great goodness & attention from her
Majesty & distinctions which were not common -- I soon found however
that a constant exertion & a life of fatigue I had not been accustomed to
affected my health, which though naturally good, was by no means equal
to -- it required a stronger constitution than I was blessed with -- I had
not time to possess my own mind, my health & Spirits suffered very
much from leading a life of constant restraint, I felt myself
unequal to it & regretted my loss of liberty -- the Situation became
irksome & I had few Opportunities of enjoying the Society of
many most dear & valuable friends -- for it was totally inconsistent
with the place I was in to ask permission to live so much as I wished
with those persons whom I loved. I therefore took the resolution to entreat
                                                        



her Majesty to allow me to retire from Court -- She was graciously
pleased to write me a most Affectionate letter and desire that I would
not quit her family, & attributed my request to the effect of low
Spirits, -- You may imagine that my Affection for the Queen
would not suffer me to press any thing in Opposition to her
wishes & I promised to remain some time longer, I continued
near two Years after this, & then again, from those Motives
I mentioned before, & others which it would not be proper
for me to mention, I warmly pressed for leave to retire
& as I made a point of it Obtained my wish. In my next, if
You desire it I will tell you in what manner I am settled,
& every other circumstance which to a friend may be
interesting.      Adieu let me hear from you very soon & I
Promise not to delay answering Your letter -- tell me
every thing which relates to Yourself, for believe me, You
have not a more Sincere friend. than

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 1. The letter is not signed by Mary, as this is a copy of the letter sent.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Copy of letter from Mary Hamilton to Jean Baptiste Louis Georges Seroux d'Agincourt

Shelfmark: HAM/1/7/1/10

Correspondence Details

Sender: Mary Hamilton

Place sent: London

Addressee: Jean Baptiste Louis Georges Seroux d'Agincourt

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 17 January 1784

Letter Description

Summary: Unsigned copy of a letter from Mary Hamilton to [Jean Baptiste Louis Georges Seroux d'Agincourt]. She assures him that she received his letter from Albano and that she was delighted to hear from him and is very lucky to have such a friend. She tells him that she often speaks about him with her uncle, William Hamilton, through whom he has sent a letter to her, and that she will treasure the engravings he has sent to her. She also refers to letters from Lady Hamilton addressed to her uncle which he found shortly after her death that have improved Hamilton's opinion of her. She takes the opportunity to explain the change in her situation to D’Agincourt, explaining that she was not fully educated to a life living in Court and was therefore, she feels, at a slight disadvantage. Her father, who was very well travelled, did not encourage her to see the world and after his death, her mother needed constant attention due to her ill health. She explains that the role of Governing the Royal Children came about very quickly, with friends arranging things almost entirely unbeknownst to her. With her mother behind the arrangement, she accepted the position and found herself in a role of which she had no experience or preconceptions. Although she was treated very well by the Queen, she found the role exhausting and this, in turn affected her health. She missed her life of freedom and spending time with her loved ones and asked the Queen’s permission to retire from Court. She stayed on, out of duty to the family, for two more years and then eventually retired completely.
    Dated at Clarges Street [London].
    Original reference No. 10.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 857 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 15 March 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: 17 December 2021

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