HAM/1/19/27
Letter from William Napier (later 7th Lord Napier) to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
[1]
11th
Canterbury Jany- 8th- 1773 X
Card playing
Last night my dearest Mary only brought me
yours of the 31st of Decr last year & of the first
of this, otherwise you may be perswaded
that I should not have been so long in
anʃwering it especially when I conʃider
that I may be thought ungrateful (in not
anʃwering so long & kind a letter as yours
was) by others was I to use them so but
hope my dear Girl now knows me
better & believes I have no greater plea
sure than in writing to her excepting
that of recieving hers, which must al-
-ways give me more -- you deʃire to[2]
know if Mrs- Napier mentions having got
yours, I thought I had anʃwered that before
as I am ʃure I deʃigned, but have forgot I
suppose, she did not mention any letters
she had got from you these ʃome months
past. but that is no reason that she has
not as her letters lately has been filled up
entirely wt buʃineʃs & that mostly law so that
she has not had room or time for any thing
else -- why should you ʃay “now Iyou have
X reinstated me in your good opinion” when
was you out of it? for upon my word I don't
know, but am ʃure never ʃince I knew you
sheso my dear Girl you must have dreamt
it & as it was a dream you have too much
good ʃencʃe to mind it; It was your Uncle
Cathcart I meant you to write too[3] I knew
you wrote Lady Hamilton regularly and
for Mr F.H. I left that entirely to yourself
as I knew you wd do what was right
there Col Bland is very obliging by einquiring
after me, please my Compts- & tell him I was
not very Croʃs. If Money can give happi
neʃs Mr Egerton will have enough wt the
Lady that has five Hundred thouʃand Pounds
for her fortune but good sense, amiable
disposition, good nature & an agreeable
Companion may be wanting, which in
my opinion cannot be made up by having
millions, however as I know nothing of the
Lady, she may have & be poʃseʃsed of every
requisite neceʃsary (if the two last words may
be made use off together) to render the
marriage state happy -- I can aʃsure
you My dearest Mary a chit chat letter
now & then unbends the mind, its like
reading a Novel at night, after having been study
ing hard all day & one returns with double
pleaʃure the next day to the more
senʃible occupation, but I dont approve
at all of the Complimentary part of yours
to me especially when it takes the least
merit from a Lady that I love & regard
so much for her good ʃence & a --- bleamiable
behaviour at all times perhaps you may
not recollect what you ʃaid, so to refresh
your memory I shall sett it down here
but to bring it properly in you ʃay that
you agree wt me that its the best way
between friends to write wtout studying
then you go on. “not that I am poʃseʃsed of
“so much vanity as to imagine I expreʃs
“myself properly & therefore have no occa=
“=sion for much thought -- to be Miʃstriʃs
“of that, I should borrow the ingenious,
“eaʃy, & agreeable Pen of my Dear Guardian
“but as its not in my power to write
“like him I must content my self with
“expreʃsing my obligations in the best manner
“I am able for his condescenʃion in bearing
“with it, & also for his great goodneʃs in tell=
[4]“ing me, the recieving my letters gives him
“pleasure” Does my dear Girl think that
I can poʃsible allow of the above wtout
letting her know that these kind of Com=
=pliments can never be agreeable where
they take from a friend, even tho from
that very friend, to one that profeʃses a
friendship so very sincere as that I do for
you tho I must own you palliate it over wt
a very flattering expreʃsion viz. yr dear Guardian
& he hopes his Dear ward will for the
future write him without putting him
any more to the blush unleʃs she means
to have a Compt- in return which I can
aʃsure you the above gave me the
finest oppertunity in the world of
doing, did I ever deal in that commodity
but to return to yours -- I would have
excuʃed no other person but Mrs Hamil-
ton in preventing you writing to me
but as I am ʃure she had a good enough reaʃon
I say no more -- ([5] Your Reflections My dear
est Mary on the ending & beginning of the year
are like Yourself and extremely proper
for every body old & young to mind
& put into practise, tho I trust to God
almighty that there is no everlasting
eternity of Miʃery, that a punishment
will be afflicted according to our bad deeds
I make no doubt off but I hope not ʃuch
a one, as to banish for ever one the preʃence
of God for ever, Its true he gave us a free
will, but in my poor opinion, its inconsistant
with the goodneʃs of God to suppose he created
a perʃon to be doomed to everlasting misery
but let me drop a subject that I am not
capable of deciding properly on, for fear
of drawing myself into a scrape that
I never deʃigned, but allow me to wish and
hope that all mankind may live up to
the rules laid down by our Mother so as
to inherit eternal bliʃs -- Indeed my
Dear Mary I meant nothing more by
marking the agreable & amiable Mr Price
than that I had obʃerved you marked ye
agreeable widow & her elegant Suppers[6]
however I am extremely happy it produced
so flattering a promise as that I shall be the
second perʃon in the world that shall be
conʃulted when my dear Girl proposes to
alter her situation in life, but I can aʃsure
you that I'll be very dificult to please as
I know few or none that I think deʃerves
you, so my dear Girl write always your sen-
timents without restraint to me and
whatever confidence you put in me
believe me it shall always be con=
fined to my own breast -- I must
agree with you in your opinion of Cards[7]
but as we are not all born to do just
as we please & as Cards now is the only
buʃineʃs, (I had near said education) of
the better sort of this Kingdom it is a
duty to learn them that we may be ʃome
times uʃefull to those who cannot take
any more rational amuʃement and
I would have my dear Mary not only capable to
amuse the senʃible but those likeways
of a meaner capacity whose number I
am afraid is the greatest in ye world and
its a happineʃs to be well with all, as the
tongues of fools are shorter than those
of wise people as they run faster for
the most part & when one ʃeems to dispise
or dislike what they are fond off, they most
com̅only theyrevenge themʃelves by lyes, so
upon the whole tho I entirely agree wt you
that it is not a very proper amuʃement
for the fair Sex yet a little of it may
oblige others, which is always proper to do
in both Sexes & the knowledge of Card
playing is eaʃily carried about after it
is attainted which is not so eaʃily done
by people that has an antipathy to
Cards however my dear Girl do not think
me an advocate for your learning I only
write what occurs, but not by way of
advising any thing, as if you can keep
from them wtout offending such a
number of Bablonians[8] I think and
am ʃure you both can and do employ
your time to much more advantage
& much more becoming a young Lady yt
that thinks & knows that time is too short for those things
absolutely neceʃsary as to our duties towards God, or Neighbours and
ourselves Duty's that ought to be prefered to every sort of diverʃion
whatsoever but which are com̅only dispised becauʃe they are
ordered to be done by our Mother and the Laws of that Country
we live hin[9] Adieu My dearest Girl accept to yourself and
please in the best manner you can aʃsure Mrs- Hamilton of
my best wishes and of Compts- of the Seaʃon & believe to be
My dearest Mary yours most Affctly-
[10]
To Miʃs Hamilton.
11th- Northamptonshire[11]
J Free Sawbridge
2
£5[12]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Extracts from this letter, concerned with ‘chit chat’ letters, the proprieties of card-playing, and duty, appear in Anson & Anson (1925: 20-21).
2. Thin horizontal lines merely filling up the space to the edge of the page have been ignored here and twice on p.5, as they do not seem intended as punctuation; compare the more positive inking of dashes elsewhere, often with curled ends, for example earlier in the present line.
3. There is a faint red line in the left margin, possibly half-erased, marking the 3-4 lines concerned with Hamilton writing to her relatives, on which see also HAM/1/19/26. Further marginal lines are scattered through the remainder of the letter.
4. What are transcribed as quotation marks at the start of this and the next line actually look more like double hyphens, which would be appropriate here but not in the next line.
5. A curved mark in red crayon above the dash marks the start of a passage of interest to the annotator, continued with a vertical line in the right margin; only the first sentence is quoted in the Ansons' book.
6. See HAM/1/19/26 regarding Hamilton's teasing Napier about Mrs Barrington.
7. The papers contain other references both to the propriety and the pleasures (or otherwise) of cards. Hamilton complains after a visit to the family of ‘Nestor’ [Richard Glover]: ‘I play'd at Whist to oblige them. -- I play'd so ill -- & You must know I am detirmin'd never to try to play well -- that I soon got released [...] I sincerely hope that at no period of my life I shall be obliged to have recourse to Cards for amusement -- I could say a great deal upon this subject [...] I am not amused by cards’ (HAM/2/15/3 p.36, 20 January 1785). In March 1786 Mary Glover writes to Hamilton as follows: ‘I have an invitation to a small party at cards for Sunday sevennight The answer I return'd was, that I was sorry I could not wait on the Lady on the 19th.. as I never play'd at cards on a sunday evening, do you not think it was highly improper to send to a young person, tell me if you think my answer was proper.’ (HAM/1/13/33).
8. ‘Characteristic of Babylon or its inhabitants; spec. (a) huge, gigantic; (b) decadent, indulgent’ (OED s.v. Babylonian adj. B.1.b. Accessed 04-01-2021), here apparently used in sense b.
9. The intended reading must be ‘that Country we live in’. The initial h has been struck through by a later hand. Did Napier write him, which would be a bizarre error even for that hasty scribbler, or hin, a reverse spelling consistent with h being unpronounced in unstressed words like him and her?
10. The address on this page is in the hand of John Sawbridge, MP for Hythe, who provided the frank.
11. FREE frank mark in red ink.
12. This annotation is written at right angles to the address. The right-hand columns of the calculation are lost with the torn-off foot of the page.
Normalised Text
Canterbury January 8th- 1773
Last night my dearest Mary only brought me
yours of the 31st of December last year & of the first
of this, otherwise you may be persuaded
that I should not have been so long in
answering it especially when I consider
that I may be thought ungrateful (in not
answering so long & kind a letter as yours
was) by others was I to use them so but
hope my dear Girl now knows me
better & believes I have no greater pleasure
than in writing to her excepting
that of receiving hers, which must always
give me more -- you desire to
know if Mrs- Napier mentions having got
yours, I thought I had answered that before
as I am sure I designed, but have forgot I
suppose, she did not mention any letters
she had got from you these some months
past. but that is no reason that she has
not as her letters lately has been filled up
entirely with business & that mostly law so that
she has not had room or time for any thing
else -- why should you say “now you have
reinstated me in your good opinion” when
was you out of it? for upon my word I don't
know, but am sure never since I knew you
so my dear Girl you must have dreamt
it & as it was a dream you have too much
good sense to mind it; It was your Uncle
Cathcart I meant you to write to I knew
you wrote Lady Hamilton regularly and
for Mr Frederick Hamilton I left that entirely to yourself
as I knew you would do what was right
there Colonel Bland is very obliging by inquiring
after me, please my Compliments & tell him I was
not very Cross. If Money can give happiness
Mr Egerton will have enough with the
Lady that has five Hundred thousand Pounds
for her fortune but good sense, amiable
disposition, good nature & an agreeable
Companion may be wanting, which in
my opinion cannot be made up by having
millions, however as I know nothing of the
Lady, she may have & be possessed of every
requisite necessary (if the two last words may
be made use of together) to render the
marriage state happy -- I can assure
you My dearest Mary a chit chat letter
now & then unbends the mind, it's like
reading a Novel at night, after having been studying
hard all day & one returns with double
pleasure the next day to the more
sensible occupation, but I don't approve
at all of the Complimentary part of yours
to me especially when it takes the least
merit from a Lady that I love & regard
so much for her good sense & amiable
behaviour at all times perhaps you may
not recollect what you said, so to refresh
your memory I shall set it down here
but to bring it properly in you say that
you agree with me that it's the best way
between friends to write without studying
then you go on. “not that I am possessed of
“so much vanity as to imagine I express
“myself properly & therefore have no occasion
“for much thought -- to be Mistress
“of that, I should borrow the ingenious,
“easy, & agreeable Pen of my Dear Guardian
“but as it's not in my power to write
“like him I must content my self with
“expressing my obligations in the best manner
“I am able for his condescension in bearing
“with it, & also for his great goodness in telling
“me, the receiving my letters gives him
“pleasure” Does my dear Girl think that
I can possible allow of the above without
letting her know that these kind of Compliments
can never be agreeable where
they take from a friend, even though from
that very friend, to one that professes a
friendship so very sincere as that I do for
you though I must own you palliate it over with
a very flattering expression viz. your dear Guardian
& he hopes his Dear ward will for the
future write him without putting him
any more to the blush unless she means
to have a Compliment in return which I can
assure you the above gave me the
finest opportunity in the world of
doing, did I ever deal in that commodity
but to return to yours -- I would have
excused no other person but Mrs Hamilton
in preventing you writing to me
but as I am sure she had a good enough reason
I say no more -- Your Reflections My dearest
Mary on the ending & beginning of the year
are like Yourself and extremely proper
for every body old & young to mind
& put into practice, though I trust to God
almighty that there is no everlasting
eternity of Misery, that a punishment
will be afflicted according to our bad deeds
I make no doubt of but I hope not such
a one, as to banish one the presence
of God for ever, It's true he gave us a free
will, but in my poor opinion, it's inconsistent
with the goodness of God to suppose he created
a person to be doomed to everlasting misery
but let me drop a subject that I am not
capable of deciding properly on, for fear
of drawing myself into a scrape that
I never designed, but allow me to wish and
hope that all mankind may live up to
the rules laid down by our Mother so as
to inherit eternal bliss -- Indeed my
Dear Mary I meant nothing more by
marking the agreeable & amiable Mr Price
than that I had observed you marked the
agreeable widow & her elegant Suppers
however I am extremely happy it produced
so flattering a promise as that I shall be the
second person in the world that shall be
consulted when my dear Girl proposes to
alter her situation in life, but I can assure
you that I'll be very difficult to please as
I know few or none that I think deserves
you, so my dear Girl write always your sentiments
without restraint to me and
whatever confidence you put in me
believe me it shall always be confined
to my own breast -- I must
agree with you in your opinion of Cards
but as we are not all born to do just
as we please & as Cards now is the only
business, (I had near said education) of
the better sort of this Kingdom it is a
duty to learn them that we may be some
times useful to those who cannot take
any more rational amusement and
I would have my dear Mary not only capable to
amuse the sensible but those likeways
of a meaner capacity whose number I
am afraid is the greatest in the world and
it's a happiness to be well with all, as the
tongues of fools are shorter than those
of wise people as they run faster for
the most part & when one seems to despise
or dislike what they are fond of, they most
commonly revenge themselves by lies, so
upon the whole though I entirely agree with you
that it is not a very proper amusement
for the fair Sex yet a little of it may
oblige others, which is always proper to do
in both Sexes & the knowledge of Card
playing is easily carried about after it
is attained which is not so easily done
by people that has an antipathy to
Cards however my dear Girl do not think
me an advocate for your learning I only
write what occurs, but not by way of
advising any thing, as if you can keep
from them without offending such a
number of Babylonians I think and
am sure you both can and do employ
your time to much more advantage
& much more becoming a young Lady
that thinks & knows that time is too short for those things
absolutely necessary as to our duties towards God, or Neighbours and
ourselves Duty's that ought to be preferred to every sort of diversion
whatsoever but which are commonly despised because they are
ordered to be done by our Mother and the Laws of that Country
we live hin Adieu My dearest Girl accept to yourself and
please in the best manner you can assure Mrs- Hamilton of
my best wishes and of Compliments of the Season & believe to be
My dearest Mary yours most Affectionately
To Miss Hamilton.
Northamptonshire
John Free Sawbridge
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 William Napier (later 7th Lord Napier) to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/19/27
Correspondence Details
Sender: William Napier, 7th Lord
Place sent: Canterbury
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Northamptonshire
Date sent: 8 January 1773
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from William Napier [later 7th Lord Napier] to Mary Hamilton. He
writes Hamilton a long letter in reply to her last letter to him. Napier
again raises the subject of Hamilton writing to her Uncle Cathcart
(HAM/1/19/26). He knows that Hamilton writes to Lady Hamilton and he has
left it up to her to decide whether she writes to her uncle, Frederick
Hamilton.
Napier also assures Hamilton of his pleasure in correspondence noting that a
‘chit chat letter now & then unburdens the mind, its like reading a
novel after having been studying hard all day’. He agrees with Hamilton in
her opinion of cards but notes that as not everybody is born to do as they
please and ‘cards now is the only business (I had near said education) of
the better sort of this Kingdom it is a duty to learn them, that we may be
sometimes useful to those who cannot take any more rational amusement’. He
wants Hamilton to be able to amuse both the sensible and those less able.
The latter of which are in the greatest number.
Dated at Canterbury.
Length: 3 sheets, 1435 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 4 January 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: 2 November 2021