Diplomatic Text
My Dear Mrs. Dickenson
My Mother has this moment receiv'd your
very kind & truly affectionate letter, we both of us thank
you in the sincerest manner for it; My Dearest Father
continues much as he was, when our dear Anna Maria
wrote to you last, no better, these last two nights he
has not slept well, notwithstanding his opiates, which
he takes every night, my dearest mother is extremely
wretched, & indeed I begin to grow fearful that she
should hurt herself, her spirits are very bad, which
you will not wonder at, as we are in constant
anxiety & misery; we are in ------------ of a ------ fearful that he is apprehended
to be in danger as Dr. Brocklesby & Mr. Devaynes have never flatter'd
us since they first saw him, they think he may
continue for some months, as he has a great deal
of strength still left; he is I thank God in no pain,
that is a great comfort; he is very patient, he neither
murmurs nor complains; I do not think that he
thinks himself in danger. Oh my dearest dear friend
what a loʃs, it is our duty to submit to the will
of our maker, but it will be a hard very hard trial
whenever the fatal day approachescomes, he will no doubt
meet with that happineʃs hereafter, which dearest best
of men in this world he has never experienced.
We most sincerely thank you for your kind offer,
& we never doubted your faithful friendship, no
my dear friend we beg you will not think of coming,
my mother says she would not afflict your tender
heart, & that as to herself nothing but time can
be of any use to her, she begs you will forgive
her not writing a few lines to you, but her spirits
are so low that she cannot put pen to paper.
I cannot add another line to day, & as I hope to
be able to get a frank, will finish to-morrow.
Wednesday morning
My Father has had a very indifferent night &
is as usulal to day; when my mother told him
yesterday of your letter, & very kind offer of coming
to us, he replied, I hope I shall struggle through
it, & get amongst them again; dearest man I wish
there was any hopes of his getting well.
I wrote to my Brother, who is come to Town
& is wth. us a great deal, all our friends are kind
in sending, & none more attentive than Mr & Mrs-
Hamilton, they are both well, & I think Miʃs
H—— is grown. Mrs. Strothoff to whose behaviour
I intirely attribute this last attack of my Fathers
has never been here, & her excuse is that
she cannot bear to see her brother ill, that it
would quite overcome her; she has behaved
extremely ill ever since Mrs. Burgeʃs's death;[1] &
my Father has been much hurt.
Our dear & amiable friend Anna Maria returns
to Town to-morrow for the winter, she was
with us for four days last week, & came again on Sunday,
return'd to Harwood[2] on Monday, she hopes that
her affairs are now in a very fair way of being
settled, it is & has always been my astonishment
that Mr. J—— should not himself have been anxious
for the sake of his wife & children to have them
settled long ago, it would have sav'd our amiable friend
from a great deal of anxiety.
Pray thank Mr. Dickenson & your very amiable
siʃters for their kind concern on our accounts, & tell
them we have a sincere regard for them, (though at
present personally unknown to each other) for
their very affectionate & tender regard for our dear
and amiable friend Miranda. Our Affectionate
love to Mr Dickenson (dont be jealous)
we very very often think of you, both
& with no small pleasure to reflect how happy
you both are.
My Mother's maid Clarke sets up every night, nor
can we persuade her to change with the other
maids, my Father likes her as she is very clever
about sick people, she goes to bed about six o'clock
in the morning & lays for four for five hours,
she is quite a comfort to us; my Father takes a
great deal of nourishment, such as broth, Sago, Caudle,[3]
& Chocolate. You have desired Anna Maria to send
you an account everyday, as he is likely to continue
for so long a time, I think it will be puting you
to an unneʃsesary expence, & once or twice a week either
Miʃs A. C. or myself will certainly write to you to let
you know how our dear Father goes on. My Mother desires
her most Affectionate love to you. I am my dear Mrs. Dickenson's
Ever oblig'd & affectionate
Mary Glover
we beg our best Compts..
to Mr & Miʃs Dickensons.[4]
Friday 28th..[5]
My Father has had a very indifferent night,
but is no worse to day. I have some news to
tell you which I am sure you will rejoice
to hear, my mother applied to Mr Reveley last
summer, if he had an opportunity, she wroteshould
esteem it a very great favor, to raise Mr-
Bems in the Excise office, Mrs. G.. receiv'd
a letter from him last night, to say
[6]that he had appointed him to be a brandy
officer, with which William is very much
pleas'd. Once more my dearest friend
Adieu. --
Oct: 25th 1785[7]
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red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Mrs Burgess, the sister of Elizabeth Strothoff and Richard Glover, had died in January 1785.
2. The country home of Mrs Caterina Jackson (née Clarke) (cf. Anson & Anson (1925), p.254).
3. ‘A warm drink consisting of thin gruel, mixed with wine or ale, sweetened and spiced, given chiefly to sick people’ (OED s.v. caudle n. a. Accessed 07-07-2020).
4. This postscript appears to the left of the closer.
5. Moved this section here from the bottom of the sheet.
6. The passage continues at the top of the sheet with the following lines.
7. This annotation is written upside down to the bottom right of the address line.
8. This address line is written vertically in the middle of the page.
Normalised Text
My Dear Mrs. Dickenson
My Mother has this moment received your
very kind & truly affectionate letter, we both of us thank
you in the sincerest manner for it; My Dearest Father
continues much as he was, when our dear Anna Maria
wrote to you last, no better, these last two nights he
has not slept well, notwithstanding his opiates, which
he takes every night, my dearest mother is extremely
wretched, & indeed I begin to grow fearful that she
should hurt herself, her spirits are very bad, which
you will not wonder at, as we are in constant
anxiety & misery; we are fearful that he is apprehended
to be in danger as Dr. Brocklesby & Mr. Devaynes have never flattered
us since they first saw him, they think he may
continue for some months, as he has a great deal
of strength still left; he is I thank God in no pain,
that is a great comfort; he is very patient, he neither
murmurs nor complains; I do not think that he
thinks himself in danger. Oh my dearest dear friend
what a loss, it is our duty to submit to the will
of our maker, but it will be a hard very hard trial
whenever the fatal day comes, he will no doubt
meet with that happiness hereafter, which dearest best
of men in this world he has never experienced.
We most sincerely thank you for your kind offer,
& we never doubted your faithful friendship, no
my dear friend we beg you will not think of coming,
my mother says she would not afflict your tender
heart, & that as to herself nothing but time can
be of any use to her, she begs you will forgive
her not writing a few lines to you, but her spirits
are so low that she cannot put pen to paper.
I cannot add another line to day, & as I hope to
be able to get a frank, will finish to-morrow.
Wednesday morning
My Father has had a very indifferent night &
is as usual to day; when my mother told him
yesterday of your letter, & very kind offer of coming
to us, he replied, I hope I shall struggle through
it, & get amongst them again; dearest man I wish
there was any hopes of his getting well.
I wrote to my Brother, who is come to Town
& is with us a great deal, all our friends are kind
in sending, & none more attentive than Mr & Mrs-
Hamilton, they are both well, & I think Miss
Hamilton is grown. Mrs. Strothoff to whose behaviour
I entirely attribute this last attack of my Fathers
has never been here, & her excuse is that
she cannot bear to see her brother ill, that it
would quite overcome her; she has behaved
extremely ill ever since Mrs. Burgess's death; &
my Father has been much hurt.
Our dear & amiable friend Anna Maria returns
to Town to-morrow for the winter, she was
with us for four days last week, & came again on Sunday,
returned to Harwood on Monday, she hopes that
her affairs are now in a very fair way of being
settled, it is & has always been my astonishment
that Mr. Jackson should not himself have been anxious
for the sake of his wife & children to have them
settled long ago, it would have saved our amiable friend
from a great deal of anxiety.
Pray thank Mr. Dickenson & your very amiable
sisters for their kind concern on our accounts, & tell
them we have a sincere regard for them, (though at
present personally unknown to each other) for
their very affectionate & tender regard for our dear
and amiable friend Miranda. Our Affectionate
love to Mr Dickenson (don't be jealous)
we very very often think of you,
& with no small pleasure to reflect how happy
you both are.
My Mother's maid Clarke sets up every night, nor
can we persuade her to change with the other
maids, my Father likes her as she is very clever
about sick people, she goes to bed about six o'clock
in the morning & lays for four or five hours,
she is quite a comfort to us; my Father takes a
great deal of nourishment, such as broth, Sago, Caudle,
& Chocolate. You have desired Anna Maria to send
you an account everyday, as he is likely to continue
for so long a time, I think it will be putting you
to an unnecessary expense, & once or twice a week either
Miss Anna Clarke or myself will certainly write to you to let
you know how our dear Father goes on. My Mother desires
her most Affectionate love to you. I am my dear Mrs. Dickenson's
Ever obliged & affectionate
Mary Glover
we beg our best Compliments
to Mr & Miss Dickensons.
Friday 28th..
My Father has had a very indifferent night,
but is no worse to day. I have some news to
tell you which I am sure you will rejoice
to hear, my mother applied to Mr Reveley last
summer, if he had an opportunity, she should
esteem it a very great favour, to raise Mr-
Bems in the Excise office, Mrs. Glover received
a letter from him last night, to say
that he had appointed him to be a brandy
officer, with which William is very much
pleased. Once more my dearest friend
Adieu. --
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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 Mary Glover to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/13/25
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Glover
Place sent: London
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: from 25 to 28 October 1785
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Glover to Mary Hamilton, concerning the poor health of her father. Richard Glover had not slept well for the last two nights despite taking opiates. Glover notes her anxiety for her mother who she describes as being in very low spirits and she is worried that her health may be in danger. Richard Glover’s doctor thinks that he will continue to survive for some months yet as he still has some strength. Glover is not in any pain and is patient and never complains. Mary Glover believes that her father is not aware of how ill he is and that his life is in danger. She writes her friend ‘what a loss, it is our duty to submit to the will of our maker, but it will be a hard very hard trial whenever the fatal day comes’. Glover thanks Hamilton for her offer of visiting them but her mother does not want to put Hamilton through the stress of seeing Glover so ill and only time can be of an aid to Mrs Glover.
Glover continues her letter the following day noting that when her mother told Richard Glover of Hamilton’s offer of a visit he replied that he hoped to ‘struggle through & get amongst them again’. Glover continues on her father’s health and on acquaintances and family visiting and writing for news of him. She notes that her mother’s maid Clarke stays up each night and that she will not be persuaded to change with any other maids as Richard Glover wishes for her aid as she is very good with ‘sick people’. Clarke stays up all night with her charge and goes to bed at about six o’clock in the morning for about four or five hours. Glover writes that she is ‘quite a comfort’ to them.
Dated at Albemarle Street [London].
Length: 1 sheet, 921 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: Christine Wallis, editorial team (completed 17 June 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: 20 October 2023