Diplomatic Text
65
St Albans Street Windsor October 16 -- 1785
if I had not recieved frequent accounts
of my Dear Mrs Dickenson and her amiable
Husband from these Friends she made Happy
at Calwich and Ilam I shoud not have spared
for so long without a more Particular inquiry
I am very sensible how much your time must
be taken up in answering the numberleʃs
inquiries of all your Friends -- amongest them
none more sincere in their wishes for your Happineʃs
then my self -- therefore as my intelligence
cannot be as frequent now as it has been -- I
trust you will have the goodneʃs to indulge
me when at Leisure with an account of your
self and your proceedings you have given
so pleasant a prospect of your present situation
that the resolution of it often proves a Cordial
my Health is fluctuating bitter Prongs of
grief will over Cloud the many Honours and
comforts that are Dayly bestowed upon me.
I trust that time will make me leʃs selfish
and enable me to rejoyce rather than Moan
for the Exchange my unparalleld Freind has made --
-- I have the Honour of seeing my Royal Neighbours
3 or 4 days in the week I see no other
Company in an Evening when I have no
Expectations of their Majesties -- but Lady Louisa
Clayton and sometimes the Egertons and in the Morning
only my old aquaintance as I take the air
for two or three Hours when the weather is
good. my House is delightfully Pleasant
and Commodous[1] and the Thoughts of returning
to st James Place sinks my spirits and
I shoud not have Courage to go to that sad
Home -- were it not for a few very choise Freinds
to whom I am attach'd with the warmest
gratitude. Miʃs Port says pray my love
and respects to mr and Mrs Dickenson
66
she is I thank god well and happy and tho'
Honourd with very kind notice her head is not
turnd -- Miʃs Goldsworthy and Miʃs Planta
have often inquird after you. I have seen
no one beside belonging to the Lodge --
adieu my Dear Friend believe me unalterably
yours affectionately
P S
Pray make my best Compliments to Mr Dickenson
Mrs Waslingham and Miʃs Boyle have calld upon
me presi very Preʃsing that I shoud Make
Her a visit at Thames ditton. I have Promisd
if able to wait upon Her in my way to Londonhome
which I hope won't be till after xmaʃs --
I expect Mr Dews here on the 21st for a
week or ten Days -- and after that hope to
get our amiable Miʃs Burney -- the Queen
has mentiond a Desire of Her coming to me
as she says she thinks it woud give me
Pleasure -- this Letter was written yesterday
This morning I was at Early Prayers at the Kings
chapel which is the 5 time -- this Evening
I go to the Lodge again appointed by
their Majesties this Morning so you see my
dear Friend I do not reject the Honours
and Bleʃsings that are offerd -- me notwithstanding
the sad sorrow fasend at my Heart --
and now adieu --
as I was walking in my own little garden to
day just after church -- I was to my no small surprise
in a instant surrounded by their Majesties & Princeʃses
and 3 attendants -- had I not been fortified
by their dayly I may almost say severly benedictions
and indulgences I shoud have been almost overpowerd
by the Eclat of such an Ilustrious appearance
Mrs Delany
Oct: 16th 1785[2]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
St Albans Street Windsor October 16 -- 1785
if I had not received frequent accounts
of my Dear Mrs Dickenson and her amiable
Husband from these Friends she made Happy
at Calwich and Ilam I should not have spared
for so long without a more Particular inquiry
I am very sensible how much your time must
be taken up in answering the numberless
inquiries of all your Friends -- amongst them
none more sincere in their wishes for your Happiness
than my self -- therefore as my intelligence
cannot be as frequent now as it has been -- I
trust you will have the goodness to indulge
me when at Leisure with an account of your
self and your proceedings you have given
so pleasant a prospect of your present situation
that the resolution of it often proves a Cordial
my Health is fluctuating bitter Prongs of
grief will over Cloud the many Honours and
comforts that are Daily bestowed upon me.
I trust that time will make me less selfish
and enable me to rejoice rather than Moan
for the Exchange my unparalleled Friend has made --
-- I have the Honour of seeing my Royal Neighbours
3 or 4 days in the week I see no other
Company in an Evening when I have no
Expectations of their Majesties -- but Lady Louisa
Clayton and sometimes the Egertons and in the Morning
only my old acquaintance as I take the air
for two or three Hours when the weather is
good. my House is delightfully Pleasant
and Commodous and the Thoughts of returning
to st James Place sinks my spirits and
I should not have Courage to go to that sad
Home -- were it not for a few very choice Friends
to whom I am attached with the warmest
gratitude. Miss Port says pray my love
and respects to mr and Mrs Dickenson
she is I thank god well and happy and though
Honoured with very kind notice her head is not
turned -- Miss Goldsworthy and Miss Planta
have often inquired after you. I have seen
no one beside belonging to the Lodge --
adieu my Dear Friend believe me unalterably
yours affectionately
P S
Pray make my best Compliments to Mr Dickenson
Mrs Waslingham and Miss Boyle have called upon
me very Pressing that I should Make
Her a visit at Thames ditton. I have Promised
if able to wait upon Her in my way home
which I hope won't be till after Christmas --
I expect Mr Dews here on the 21st for a
week or ten Days -- and after that hope to
get our amiable Miss Burney -- the Queen
has mentioned a Desire of Her coming to me
as she says she thinks it would give me
Pleasure -- this Letter was written yesterday
This morning I was at Early Prayers at the Kings
chapel which is the 5 time -- this Evening
I go to the Lodge again appointed by
their Majesties this Morning so you see my
dear Friend I do not reject the Honours
and Blessings that are offered -- me notwithstanding
the sad sorrow fastened at my Heart --
and now adieu --
as I was walking in my own little garden to
day just after church -- I was to my no small surprise
in a instant surrounded by their Majesties & Princesses
and 3 attendants -- had I not been fortified
by their daily I may almost say severly benedictions
and indulgences I should have been almost overpowered
by the Eclat of such an Illustrious appearance
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University
Archive: Mrs. Delany correspondence
Item title: Letter on behalf of Mary Delany to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: LWL Mss Vol. 75(74)
Correspondence Details
Sender: Anne Agnew (née Astley) and formerly Pendarves), Mary Delany (née Granville
Place sent: Windsor
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 16 October 1785
Letter Description
Summary: Letter on behalf of Mary Delany to Mary Hamilton, expressing her understanding that Hamilton has not had much time to inform Delany of her doings lately, and informing her of her own schedule and social activities recently.
Length: 1 sheet, 581 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: Tino Oudesluijs, editorial team (completed 7 April 2021)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021