Single Letter

HAM/1/20/19

Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


                             Edinr- 16 June 1779




      I much applaud your wise
determination, tho' I doubt whether you
are poʃseʃsed of a competent share
of resolution to go through with your
Scheme, & rather incline to beleive
you will return to your primitive
state & become a second time A
Bundle of Nerves.
      Had it been poʃsible
for you to have transported yourself
here a few days ago, you would have
been sufficiently revenged upon me
for all my impertinencies. Figure
to yourself your saucy humble Servant
violently agitated by pleasing f---and
alternate hopes & fears -- Broken



Slumbers -- starting in my Sleeps --
hideous dreams & most intolerable
headaches. To be more intelligible, know
then, that the Seige is begun & the
Trenches opened with proper vigour.
whether the Enemy will capitulate
or not, I cannot yet say, but the
last flag of truce brought back
a favourable Answer & was productive
of a consequential interview. I think
I hear you say & pray Sir what is
the meaning of all these pretty
terms? The answer is, Miʃs I have
wrote & waited upon the Aunt of my
fair one
. As you are my only
Confidant, I shall give you a
little information, who & what She
is -- to proceed -- Her name is
Leslie, Granddaughter to the Late Earl



of Leven
and daughter to General Leslie
now serving in America. Her Aunt
(Lady Northesk) upon reading my Epistle
sent for me -- told me she was sensible
of the Honor -- approved of me in
many respects -- thought our
fortunes would be too little to set
up house upon -- Our Age, too
Young -- She not 18, I not 22 -- Her
father
does not choose she should
marry 'till about 20 -- two Years is
a great while to wait -- Her
Grandmother
must be consulted --
The Old Woman in the Country --
The young Lady not to be addreʃsed
upon the Subject yet -- Apropos
She thinks very well of me -- a ten
years acquaintance -- Her fortune
£15000 -- of which the Genl- life
rents £10000 -- My present income
besides my pay £300 pr- Ann. Interest of



of £5000 -- £250 -- total £550 -- too
little for a Lord & a Lady. So stands
matters at present. She goes to the
Country immediately, so that we
shall not meet again before Winter.
Don't imagine this is one of my
wild flights -- the plan is formed
upon the most mature consideration --
& is a profound secret in my family --
my Sisters suspect & joke me, I deny
that there is any grounds for such
suppositions -- Ly- Northesk is to
keep my secret -- should any body
presume to addreʃs her Neice upon
the same subject, I am instantly
to be informed & brought upon the
field -- I can hardly swallow the
Idea of waiting so long -- I hope
her father will relent & shorten
the time, at least I shall try whether
or not I can coax him -- this to be burnt -- Adieu N

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Normalised Text


                             Edinburgh 16 June 1779




      I much applaud your wise
determination, though I doubt whether you
are possessed of a competent share
of resolution to go through with your
Scheme, & rather incline to believe
you will return to your primitive
state & become a second time A
Bundle of Nerves.
      Had it been possible
for you to have transported yourself
here a few days ago, you would have
been sufficiently revenged upon me
for all my impertinencies. Figure
to yourself your saucy humble Servant
violently agitated by pleasing and
alternate hopes & fears -- Broken



Slumbers -- starting in my Sleep --
hideous dreams & most intolerable
headaches. To be more intelligible, know
then, that the Siege is begun & the
Trenches opened with proper vigour.
whether the Enemy will capitulate
or not, I cannot yet say, but the
last flag of truce brought back
a favourable Answer & was productive
of a consequential interview. I think
I hear you say & pray Sir what is
the meaning of all these pretty
terms? The answer is, Miss I have
written & waited upon the Aunt of my
fair one. As you are my only
Confidant, I shall give you a
little information, who & what She
is -- to proceed -- Her name is
Leslie, Granddaughter to the Late Earl



of Leven and daughter to General Leslie
now serving in America. Her Aunt
(Lady Northesk) upon reading my Epistle
sent for me -- told me she was sensible
of the Honour -- approved of me in
many respects -- thought our
fortunes would be too little to set
up house upon -- Our Age, too
Young -- She not 18, I not 22 -- Her
father does not choose she should
marry 'till about 20 -- two Years is
a great while to wait -- Her
Grandmother must be consulted --
The Old Woman in the Country --
The young Lady not to be addressed
upon the Subject yet -- Apropos
She thinks very well of me -- a ten
years acquaintance -- Her fortune
£15000 -- of which the General life
rents £10000 -- My present income
besides my pay £300 per Annum Interest of



of £5000 -- £250 -- total £550 -- too
little for a Lord & a Lady. So stands
matters at present. She goes to the
Country immediately, so that we
shall not meet again before Winter.
Don't imagine this is one of my
wild flights -- the plan is formed
upon the most mature consideration --
& is a profound secret in my family --
my Sisters suspect & joke me, I deny
that there is any grounds for such
suppositions -- Lady Northesk is to
keep my secret -- should any body
presume to address her Niece upon
the same subject, I am instantly
to be informed & brought upon the
field -- I can hardly swallow the
Idea of waiting so long -- I hope
her father will relent & shorten
the time, at least I shall try whether
or not I can coax him -- -- Adieu Napier

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Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/20/19

Correspondence Details

Sender: Francis Scott Napier, 8th Lord

Place sent: Edinburgh

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 16 June 1779

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton. He notes that Hamilton is his only confidante regarding the woman he wishes to marry and provides her with further information. Her name is Leslie and she is the granddaughter to the late Earl of Leven and the daughter of General Leslie who is currently serving in America. He has waited upon her and her aunt has written to him and informed him that her father does not wish her to marry before she is 20 and she is now 18. The family is quite positive towards him but her grandmother is to be consulted. Her fortune is £15,000 'of which the Gene[ral]s life rents £10,000'. Besides Napier's pay, his current income is £300 per annum. ‘Interest of £5000 – £250 – total £550 – too little for a Lord & Lady’. Leslie is to leave for the country immediately and he shall not see her again until Winter. His sisters suspect his attachment but he denies it. He is upset at the idea of waiting so long to marry and hopes her father will change his mind.
    Dated at Edinburgh.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 485 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 12 January 2022)

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: 16 March 2022

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