Diplomatic Text
[1]
80
I return you a thousand thanks, Dear
Madam, for the favour of your kind and comfortable
Letter. I know not how sufficiently to thank my dear
Mrs Delany, nor to admire her generous attention to
the feelings of her friends, at a time when one could
only expect her to be engroʃs'd by her own. she does me
but Justice in believing that I most truly Sympathised
in her affliction, and was very apprehensive for her
health. I had written to Mrs. Sandford, for I thought
a Letter addrest to herself would be only troublesome
and afflicting at present. the day before I received
yours I had great comfort from Mrs. Boscawen who
told me how admirably our excellent friend preserv'd
her sweet and patient resignation. I know the greatneʃs
of her mind and the strength of her principles. but
still I fear for her Mortal frame. a selfish fear!
of what perhaps constitutes her greatest consolation.
It is a great satisfaction to me to hear that you
are in Town who must be so great a support to her. I much
fear Mrs. Sandford is not able to attend her as I am
sure she wishes to do, and I would gladly have come to
Town to have tried to supply her place if I could have
flatter'd myself it would have been acceptable, and
if more precious Comforters were not at hand.
I thought you had gone out of Town immediately
upon your Marriage, or I should have offer'd you
my Sincere congratulations. alas that I must now
add condolence to them! your loʃs is indeed a general
Concern -- but heavy indeed must it be to those who
enjoy'd so high a place as you did in the friendship
of the excellent Dʃs of Portland![2] -- how unspeakably
great to her first Friend! May God Almighty
support and comfort her! -- I am glad to hear that
Mr. Dewes is coming to her. where does she mean to
spend the remainder of the Summer?
I am much obliged to you and to Mr. Dickenson
for the honor you did me in calling at my Lodgings,
and shall be always happy to cultivate your
acquaintance and kindneʃs. I beg my best Compliments
and Congratulations to Mr. Dickenson.
81
Be so good to expreʃs for me the most affectionate wishes
my heart is capable of to my dear good Mrs. Delany
with the truest Gratitude for her kind remembrance
of me. Mr. & Mrs. Burrowses and Mr Smith & famy all desire to
offer their kindest Condolence and are most truly
touch'd and interested for her. Mrs. Amy Burrows
was withheld, as I was, from writing to Mrs. Delany
by the feat of disturbing and troubling her, but her
tender heart, which has suffer'd like deprivations,
feels sincerely for her's.
I am Dear Madam with repeated th[anks]
your very much obliged
and obedient Servant
Hester Chapone
July 24th. 1785
I beg my thanks and good wishes to poor dear
Mrs. Vesey (the late accounts I have heard of
Mr V.'s will[3] fill me with indignation and
Concern, and disappointed me the more as I had
heard a very different account.)
[4]
Mrs Dickenson
2 Clarges Street
Piccadilly
London
[5]
[6]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This letter appears in Llanover (1862: 266-267).
2. The Duchess of Portland had died a week before Hester Chapone wrote this letter.
3. Agmondesham Vesey had died on 3 June.
4. Remains of a stamp, which reads '12 BARNET', just above the address.
5. Bishop mark which reads '26 JY', indicating the date when the letter was stamped by the postal service.
6. Remains of a seal, in red wax.
Normalised Text
I return you a thousand thanks, Dear
Madam, for the favour of your kind and comfortable
Letter. I know not how sufficiently to thank my dear
Mrs Delany, nor to admire her generous attention to
the feelings of her friends, at a time when one could
only expect her to be engrossed by her own. she does me
but Justice in believing that I most truly Sympathised
in her affliction, and was very apprehensive for her
health. I had written to Mrs. Sandford, for I thought
a Letter addressed to herself would be only troublesome
and afflicting at present. the day before I received
yours I had great comfort from Mrs. Boscawen who
told me how admirably our excellent friend preserved
her sweet and patient resignation. I know the greatness
of her mind and the strength of her principles. but
still I fear for her Mortal frame. a selfish fear!
of what perhaps constitutes her greatest consolation.
It is a great satisfaction to me to hear that you
are in Town who must be so great a support to her. I much
fear Mrs. Sandford is not able to attend her as I am
sure she wishes to do, and I would gladly have come to
Town to have tried to supply her place if I could have
flattered myself it would have been acceptable, and
if more precious Comforters were not at hand.
I thought you had gone out of Town immediately
upon your Marriage, or I should have offered you
my Sincere congratulations. alas that I must now
add condolence to them! your loss is indeed a general
Concern -- but heavy indeed must it be to those who
enjoyed so high a place as you did in the friendship
of the excellent Duchess of Portland! -- how unspeakably
great to her first Friend! May God Almighty
support and comfort her! -- I am glad to hear that
Mr. Dewes is coming to her. where does she mean to
spend the remainder of the Summer?
I am much obliged to you and to Mr. Dickenson
for the honour you did me in calling at my Lodgings,
and shall be always happy to cultivate your
acquaintance and kindness. I beg my best Compliments
and Congratulations to Mr. Dickenson.
Be so good to express for me the most affectionate wishes
my heart is capable of to my dear good Mrs. Delany
with the truest Gratitude for her kind remembrance
of me. Mr. & Mrs. Burrowses and Mr Smith & family all desire to
offer their kindest Condolence and are most truly
touched and interested for her. Mrs. Amy Burrows
was withheld, as I was, from writing to Mrs. Delany
by the feat of disturbing and troubling her, but her
tender heart, which has suffered like deprivations,
feels sincerely for her's.
I am Dear Madam with repeated thanks
your very much obliged
and obedient Servant
Hester Chapone
July 24th. 1785
I beg my thanks and good wishes to poor dear
Mrs. Vesey (the late accounts I have heard of
Mr V.'s will fill me with indignation and
Concern, and disappointed me the more as I had
heard a very different account.)
Mrs Dickenson
2 Clarges Street
Piccadilly
London
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 from Hester Chapone to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: LWL Mss Vol. 75(85)
Correspondence Details
Sender: Hester Chapone (née Mulso)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: London
Date sent: 24 July 1785
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Hester Chapone to Mary Hamilton, thanking her for her "kind and comfortable letter", as well as expressing fear for Mary Delany's "Mortal frame", despite the "greatness of her mind and the strength of her principles". Chapone also sends Mary Hamilton her condolences, as the Duchess of Portland (Margaret Cavendish Bentinck) had died a week before she wrote this letter.
Length: 1 sheet, 534 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 12 April 2021)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021