Diplomatic Text
13th- Sepbr- 1782
I think it scarcely neceʃsary to
inform my dear Miʃs Hamilton how much
I felt myself flatterd by her kind remem
brance of me -- I consider her present
as emblematical and I shoud risque
a Comment on it, had I not been
informd that she looks on me in
the Light of a sawcy Poet & fastidious
Critic -- If she had calld me a poor
Poet -- well but how a fastidious
Critic? I find it very awkward
to addreʃs you in the third person,
it seems to mark a distance diffe-
rent from that which arises from
respect -- I have read Warton's verses
they are I think good, I shall
say no more at present but shall
leave the subject for future Canvaʃs
during the many many melancholy
hours I have spent alone this
Summer, my thoughts have not
been wholly unoccupied, I have
read much, & if to little purpose
on points of Improvements, still I
hope the Labor has not been altoge
ther useleʃs -- I have written a
small Poem which I mean at
some future period to present
submit to your Criticism, altho
it must have rather the appearance
of vanity, since I never coud
boast of any such favor from you,
when at the same time I know
you have had it in your power
to oblige me on that head. Beleive
me the fastidious Critic in judgements
on your works woud subject himself
to an imputation of Partiality.
The Lobster Claws are now before me,
I look on them with pleasure; I
understand you sent them with ------
smile; they have, I know no[t]
how, a power of soothing the
soul into a sweet Complacency;
you are a Naturalist & can
perhaps explain this power inherent
in Lobster Claws ; for my part I
never saw any like these. Adieu
& beleive me
unalterably yrs
J. F.
[1]
[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
13th- September 1782
I think it scarcely necessary to
inform my dear Miss Hamilton how much
I felt myself flattered by her kind remembrance
of me -- I consider her present
as emblematical and I should risk
a Comment on it, had I not been
informed that she looks on me in
the Light of a saucy Poet & fastidious
Critic -- If she had called me a poor
Poet -- well but how a fastidious
Critic? I find it very awkward
to address you in the third person,
it seems to mark a distance different
from that which arises from
respect -- I have read Warton's verses
they are I think good, I shall
say no more at present but shall
leave the subject for future Canvass
during the many many melancholy
hours I have spent alone this
Summer, my thoughts have not
been wholly unoccupied, I have
read much, & if to little purpose
on points of Improvements, still I
hope the labour has not been altogether
useless -- I have written a
small Poem which I mean at
some future period to
submit to your Criticism, although
it must have rather the appearance
of vanity, since I never could
boast of any such favour from you,
when at the same time I know
you have had it in your power
to oblige me on that head. Believe
me the fastidious Critic in judgements
on your works would subject himself
to an imputation of Partiality.
The Lobster Claws are now before me,
I look on them with pleasure; I
understand you sent them with ------
smile; they have, I know not
how, a power of soothing the
soul into a sweet Complacency;
you are a Naturalist & can
perhaps explain this power inherent
in Lobster Claws ; for my part I
never saw any like these. Adieu
& believe me
unalterably yours
John Farhill
Queen's Lodge
Windsor
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 John Farhill to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/7/4/9
Correspondence Details
Sender: John Farhill
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Windsor
Date sent: 13 September 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from John Farhill to Mary Hamilton, concerning reading and writing
poetry. Farhill talks of reading verses including Hamilton's own
writings, his comments on which has led to Hamilton describing him as a
'fastidious critic'. He notes that he has written a poem and that at
some future date he will submit to Hamilton for her criticism.
Length: 1 sheet, 314 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 23 October 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: 7 February 2022