Single Letter

HAM/1/2/37

Journal-letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


19
                                                         18
19[1]
                                                         Bath May
                                                         1st. 1794
Thursday continued
I set off with my packet for you inclosing a lettr. from Grandpapa & one
from Mrs. Potter & arrived in proper time at Mrs. Boscawens as Lord Falmouth
was in ye. act of franking & a few minutes later he would I suppose
have been in ye. act of dreʃsing for dinner. Mrs. B. shew'd me ye Gazette
containing news of ye. last Victory; -- When I return'd found my
Beau
arrived, & Harriet Rundell -- we sat down to a very pretty
well dreʃs'd dinner & had you been of ye. party you would have
been charm'd with ye: engaging lively Hosteʃs -- soon after
dinner, wch. was at 4 oClock, I sent Louisa, her play fellow,
wth. Morrison to superintend them, upstairs, that I might
uninterruptedly enjoy a tête à tête with the good Man; if I
did not reap much entertainment from his conversation I had at
least ye. satisfaction of perceiving he was well pleased wth-
his visit & my attentions, he left me abt. 6 as he was
engaged on busineʃs -- from him I learnt that Richardson
Author of Pamela, &c, had 4 daughters & yt a Maiden one still
living abt. 20 miles from London (a very sensible Woman & a very worthy one) had in her poʃseʃsion a large
collection of her fathers manuscripts & letters wh. she
intendinged leaving as a legacy to a numerous progeny of Nephews
& Nieces -- Richardson left his daughters 5000£ each.
Mrs. Preston came & sat ½ an hour wt: me & inform'd me they
were to set out for Ireland on Wednesday next -- Mr. Preston is
to give up 400£ Pr. An. to his 2d. Son who is going to marry a young
Lady
of good family & connexions. -- We are to pay 30 Guineas to
Mrs. Dunn who's rect. will be sufficient, & wch. we are to leave at
Mr. Prestons House wth. their Cook who will remain at their house.
Mary is to divide her time between Mrs. Talbot & Walsh during
their absence. I went in the Eveg. to Lady Jane Muirhead,[2] paʃs'd
an agreeable hour & ½ with her & Lady Amelia[3] who appears amiable
& interesting -- we filled up ye. time with working & reading -- I
read a few papers of ye. Lounger[4] to ym.. I was invited to supper
by Ly J. & thinking yt. this was to continue consented -- in ye.
Supper Room Mr. M: made his appearance, & soon after
enterd ye. Marquis of Tullibardine & his Tutor Mr. Walker
from ye. play. I shall reserve a communication of ye.
conversation -- ye. Manners of Mr. M &c &c, & my remarks till
we meet. Mr: W: was so galant as to croʃs ye. Street wth. me
to knock upat ye. door & when I made him a civil speech
about calling &c &c gave a broad hint he was sensible
how much he had lost by not having already been able
to do so &ccccc
Friday 2d. May 1794 I went early this Morng. to Miʃs S. Nicolls &
made her a long visit she is certainly in an alarming state of
health tho' I do not believe she is aware of it as she does
not think it neceʃsary to have medical aʃsistance. She was
writing to Mrs. Price & I helpd her to fill up her letter by meʃsages
to Mr. Wright informing him of your Hunting Royal Stags as
well as humble dwellings &c &c -- In my way home sat ½
an hour with Mrs. Pigotts -- they are in poʃseʃsion of the finest
Portrait of Sr. J Reynolds I ever saw of their Mother -- you must



not quit Bath without seeing it. they told me that he was
so well satisfied with ye. credit this picture would do him in
after ages that he said he ought to pay them instead of
receiving their money. When I came home found your shabby
little letter from Chorleywood -- there was to be sure somewhat
affectionate in ye. two or three first lines wch. in some measure
reconcil'd me to ye. disappointment of a more circumstantial
letter from thence -- poor Morrison look'd very blank, but
consoled herself with hopes that tomorrows post would, agreeable
to your promise, make full amends, Mr: Muirhead, the Marquis,
& Mr. Walker had call'd during my absence. -- You have had a
fine day for excursions but the Gardeners are praying for rain.
Miʃs Irelands came to see me & I was glad to be at home
the Eldest is a well bred, very modest, & sensible Young Woman, her
father
is a Wine Merchant, & lives near Bristol -- I have
promised to visit her when we go there, therefore shall
not repeat to you, what she repeated from her father
during his being at Paris last year, his paʃsing thro'
ye: allied armies & other equally interesting subjects.
Martin came here to day for ye. first time  ------ this week
Louisa however danc'd tolerably well, -- I believe I have told
you that ye. A ---  Abbé Rudemare gave her ye. whole hour
since you went -- I now regret she had not ye. same advantage
since his first attendance. Mr. Stratton has had ye. Gout
but is  ------ again able to mount the Hill. Miʃs Green has been
with her three times since you left us. In the afternoon
Louisa had no mercy on the Shrubs in ye. Garden being deter-
mind
Master Granville Leveson Gower should have a
fine May Nosegay -- She had been so amiable that
when I had bleʃsed her for ye. night I gratified her & went to Mrs.
Boscowan
accompanied by Squire Charles bearer of
ye. fragrant present wch. was rather too large for me to carry. -- I had an hours very pleasant
Chat with Mrs. B. as Lord F: Mrs: J: & Mr & Mrs. Evelyn were
playing at cards -- Mrs. Bos: is not pleased with our paying
ye. K of Pruʃsia so liberally & seems averse to our being
engaged in ye: War;  ---  Was shewn Ld. F: Regimentals -- wch. are in a good taste.
I calld at ye. Rundells before I return'd home they have wth-
ym. a Mrs. Trevanion -- /who's husband was kill'd in ye. Ruʃsian
Service/ & her child -- she is soon to return to Ruʃsia -- the
Empreʃs allows her a pension of 150£ Pr. An:
Saturday 3d. May -- After Rudemare went -- I must tell you
Louisa improves both in her french & english, I endeavour
to make her as attentive as I can 'tis in want of attention she fails.
I sent Morrison & Louisa to enquire after Miʃs S Nicolls -- She
was better -- It was so broiling hot that I would not go out



besides ye. Town was full of Bustle on acct. of ye. Election -- Charles
saw Sr. Pepper seated in his triumphal Car. I told you the
Cook
was to go & aʃsist Smith she went to ye. Town Hall early
on ye. Morng. & I expected to sit down to a Cold dinner --
but Charles was resolved to shew what he could do, & to our
Surprise we had roast veal, -- a made dish of mutton, -- hot Vegetables,
Butter Well Melted,[5] of his Cooking, & by way of letting us see he knew
how to set off a Table, every thing cold in ye: Larder was produced
& we had five & fives. It was lucky I was no longer bilious
for it would doubtleʃs have been mortifying to a high degree
had I not done honor to his dinner. Morrison said I work'd
& eat out of vexation to day having been terribly disappointed
in not receiving a letter from you wch: you promised in your
last faithfully, (as I imagin'd,) I should. I have a great
Mind to punish you & not send this large proof of my
affection. Martin gave Louisa a good leʃson to day and I
encounterd half an hour of his fragrances to see her dance
her minute minuet. I drank tea with Louisa & then went
to Mr.. Bigges -- Mrs: & Miʃs Rundell &c were there -- spent two
pleasant hours -- Mr: Bigge & his Wife kept up ye. Ball of
conversation very agreeably. Mrs. R. preʃs'd me much to
 ---  go home & sup with them telling me yt. Mr. R. had set his heart
upon it -- but preferring eating a few Radishes quietly wth-
Meg. I debat declined & came home abt. 10.
Sunday -- I shall not I think venture to send you any
more letters -- this I will get directed to Ly. Wakes in London.
if I had been rich enough I would have surprised you --
Pray send for Money & let me have some, for so poor
am I at this present writing that I must borrow money
to pay for ye. postage of your next letter whenever it arrives.
Well I have borrowd ye. Money & paid postage for the letter;
Tho' I do not fuʃs myself about you as I used to have reason
to do, I should be better satisfied if you would mention
whether you are well or ill -- with whole limbs or broken
bones, pleased or displeas'd, in a paʃsion or out of a
paʃsion, & so forth. You say true few are the families
where reign domestic harmony & peace equal to our
own -- but I must hasten to close this letter & not
indulge myself by a full reply to yours -- I shall
get a frank from Lord Falmouth & enclose a letter
from Stockport -- If I have time I will availwrite under
ye. cover to Lady Wake -- if I should not, I depend on
Your saying every thing expreʃsive of ye. true affection



I bear her. Comet is well & so full of pranks that
he has done a guineas worth of mischief to some apple
trees, & tho' he has almost eaten up ye. pasture of the
Orchard, -- his palate is grown too nice to relish his once
favorite treat of bread, wch. I find he disdainfully refusd
even from the affectionate hands of Charles this
Morning; -- Charles has so gain'd upon ye. attach hearts
of Dash & Sancho that they are his inseparable com-
panions
-- the former carries his stick & ye. later
has been taught to be delighted to have ye. honor of
carrying Louisas Doll fastened on his back.
      Louisa desires me to tell you she is taking pains
with in every thing she learns, that she loves you
dearly & that she is quite well -- The Nightingales
in ye. Grove behind ye. House sing Day & Night most
harmoniously.






Let me know if you have
recd. my letters according to their
dates[6]

(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. This number is written vertically over the T of Thursday. The other numbers at the top left and right appear to have been erased.
 2. Lady Jane Muirhead (née Murray), daughter of the 3rd Duke of Atholl (Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland).
 3. Lady Amelia Murray, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Atholl (ODNB).
 4. Also mentioned in HAM/1/15/1/23: 'Have you met with the Lounger a new Scotch periodical work?'.
 5. The original order ‘Melted Butter Well’ is marked for reversal with numbers ‘3 1 2’ above them. The diagonal slash through Well is unlikely to be a cancellation, given that the superscript numbers are retained and a reordering of ‘Melted Butter’ to ‘Butter Melted’ makes no sense without Well. Note too that Dickenson generally cancels a word by crossing it through horizontally.
 6. These three lines appear at the bottom of p.3, written upside down.

Normalised Text



                                                        

                                                         Bath May
                                                         1st. 1794
Thursday continued
I set off with my packet for you enclosing a letter from Grandpapa & one
from Mrs. Potter & arrived in proper time at Mrs. Boscawens as Lord Falmouth
was in the act of franking & a few minutes later he would I suppose
have been in the act of dressing for dinner. Mrs. Boscawen showed me the Gazette
containing news of the last Victory; -- When I returned found my
Beau , & Harriet Rundell -- we sat down to a very pretty
well dressed dinner & had you been of the party you would have
been charmed with the engaging lively Hostess -- soon after
dinner, which was at 4 o'Clock, I sent Louisa, her play fellow,
with Morrison to superintend them, upstairs, that I might
uninterruptedly enjoy a tête à tête with the good Man; if I
did not reap much entertainment from his conversation I had at
least the satisfaction of perceiving he was well pleased with
his visit & my attentions, he left me about 6 as he was
engaged on business -- from him I learnt that Richardson
Author of Pamela, &c, had 4 daughters & that a Maiden one still
living about 20 miles from London (a very sensible Woman & a very worthy one) had in her possession a large
collection of her fathers manuscripts & letters which she
intended leaving as a legacy to a numerous progeny of Nephews
& Nieces -- Richardson left his daughters 5000£ each.
Mrs. Preston came & sat ½ an hour with me & informed me they
were to set out for Ireland on Wednesday next -- Mr. Preston is
to give up 400£ Per Annum to his 2d. Son who is going to marry a young
Lady of good family & connexions. -- We are to pay 30 Guineas to
Mrs. Dunn whose receipt will be sufficient, & which we are to leave at
Mr. Prestons House with their Cook who will remain at their house.
Mary is to divide her time between Mrs. Talbot & Walsh during
their absence. I went in the Evening to Lady Jane Muirhead, passed
an agreeable hour & ½ with her & Lady Amelia who appears amiable
& interesting -- we filled up the time with working & reading -- I
read a few papers of the Lounger to them I was invited to supper
by Lady Jane & thinking that this was to continue consented -- in the
Supper Room Mr. Muirhead made his appearance, & soon after
entered the Marquis of Tullibardine & his Tutor Mr. Walker
from the play. I shall reserve a communication of the
conversation -- the Manners of Mr. Muirhead &c &c, & my remarks till
we meet. Mr: Walker was so gallant as to cross the Street with me
to knock at the door & when I made him a civil speech
about calling &c &c gave a broad hint he was sensible
how much he had lost by not having already been able
to do so &ccccc
Friday 2d. May 1794 I went early this Morning to Miss Sarah Nicolls &
made her a long visit she is certainly in an alarming state of
health though I do not believe she is aware of it as she does
not think it necessary to have medical assistance. She was
writing to Mrs. Price & I helped her to fill up her letter by messages
to Mr. Wright informing him of your Hunting Royal Stags as
well as humble dwellings &c &c -- In my way home sat ½
an hour with Mrs. Pigotts -- they are in possession of the finest
Portrait of Sr. Joshua Reynolds I ever saw of their Mother -- you must



not quit Bath without seeing it. they told me that he was
so well satisfied with the credit this picture would do him in
after ages that he said he ought to pay them instead of
receiving their money. When I came home found your shabby
little letter from Chorleywood -- there was to be sure somewhat
affectionate in the two or three first lines which in some measure
reconciled me to the disappointment of a more circumstantial
letter from thence -- poor Morrison looked very blank, but
consoled herself with hopes that tomorrows post would, agreeable
to your promise, make full amends, Mr: Muirhead, the Marquis,
& Mr. Walker had called during my absence. -- You have had a
fine day for excursions but the Gardeners are praying for rain.
Miss Irelands came to see me & I was glad to be at home
the Eldest is a well bred, very modest, & sensible Young Woman, her
father is a Wine Merchant, & lives near Bristol -- I have
promised to visit her when we go there, therefore shall
not repeat to you, what she repeated from her father
during his being at Paris last year, his passing through
the allied armies & other equally interesting subjects.
Martin came here to day for the first time this week
Louisa however danced tolerably well, -- I believe I have told
you that the Abbé Rudemare gave her the whole hour
since you went -- I now regret she had not the same advantage
since his first attendance. Mr. Stratton has had the Gout
but is again able to mount the Hill. Miss Green has been
with her three times since you left us. In the afternoon
Louisa had no mercy on the Shrubs in the Garden being determined
Master Granville Leveson Gower should have a
fine May Nosegay -- She had been so amiable that
when I had blessed her for the night I gratified her & went to Mrs.
Boscawen accompanied by Squire Charles bearer of
the fragrant present which was rather too large for me to carry. -- I had an hours very pleasant
Chat with Mrs. Boscawen as Lord Falmouth Mrs: J: & Mr & Mrs. Evelyn were
playing at cards -- Mrs. Boscawen is not pleased with our paying
the King of Prussia so liberally & seems averse to our being
engaged in the War;  ---  Was shown Lord F: Regimentals -- which are in a good taste.
I called at the Rundells before I returned home they have with
them a Mrs. Trevanion -- /whose husband was killed in the Russian
Service/ & her child -- she is soon to return to Russia -- the
Empress allows her a pension of 150£ Per Annum
Saturday 3d. May -- After Rudemare went -- I must tell you
Louisa improves both in her french & english, I endeavour
to make her as attentive as I can 'tis in want of attention she fails.
I sent Morrison & Louisa to enquire after Miss Sarah Nicolls -- She
was better -- It was so broiling hot that I would not go out



besides the Town was full of Bustle on account of the Election -- Charles
saw Sir Pepper seated in his triumphal Carriage I told you the
Cook was to go & assist Smith she went to the Town Hall early
on the Morning & I expected to sit down to a Cold dinner --
but Charles was resolved to show what he could do, & to our
Surprise we had roast veal, -- a made dish of mutton, -- hot Vegetables,
Butter Well Melted, of his Cooking, & by way of letting us see he knew
how to set off a Table, every thing cold in the Larder was produced
& we had five & fives. It was lucky I was no longer bilious
for it would doubtless have been mortifying to a high degree
had I not done honour to his dinner. Morrison said I worked
& ate out of vexation to day having been terribly disappointed
in not receiving a letter from you which you promised in your
last faithfully, (as I imagined,) I should. I have a great
Mind to punish you & not send this large proof of my
affection. Martin gave Louisa a good lesson to day and I
encountered half an hour of his fragrances to see her dance
her minuet. I drank tea with Louisa & then went
to Mr.. Bigges -- Mrs: & Miss Rundell &c were there -- spent two
pleasant hours -- Mr: Bigge & his Wife kept up the Ball of
conversation very agreeably. Mrs. Rundell pressed me much to
go home & sup with them telling me that Mr. Rundell had set his heart
upon it -- but prefering eating a few Radishes quietly with
Meg. I declined & came home about 10.
Sunday -- I shall not I think venture to send you any
more letters -- this I will get directed to Lady Wakes in London.
if I had been rich enough I would have surprised you --
Pray send for Money & let me have some, for so poor
am I at this present writing that I must borrow money
to pay for the postage of your next letter whenever it arrives.
Well I have borrowed the Money & paid postage for the letter;
Though I do not fuss myself about you as I used to have reason
to do, I should be better satisfied if you would mention
whether you are well or ill -- with whole limbs or broken
bones, pleased or displeased, in a passion or out of a
passion, & so forth. You say true few are the families
where reign domestic harmony & peace equal to our
own -- but I must hasten to close this letter & not
indulge myself by a full reply to yours -- I shall
get a frank from Lord Falmouth & enclose a letter
from Stockport -- If I have time I will write under
the cover to Lady Wake -- if I should not, I depend on
Your saying every thing expressive of the true affection



I bear her. Comet is well & so full of pranks that
he has done a guineas worth of mischief to some apple
trees, & though he has almost eaten up the pasture of the
Orchard, -- his palate is grown too nice to relish his once
favourite treat of bread, which I find he disdainfully refused
even from the affectionate hands of Charles this
Morning; -- Charles has so gained upon the hearts
of Dash & Sancho that they are his inseparable companions
-- the former carries his stick & the latter
has been taught to be delighted to have the honour of
carrying Louisas Doll fastened on his back.
      Louisa desires me to tell you she is taking pains
in every thing she learns, that she loves you
dearly & that she is quite well -- The Nightingales
in the Grove behind the House sing Day & Night most
harmoniously.






Let me know if you have
received my letters according to their
dates

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. This number is written vertically over the T of Thursday. The other numbers at the top left and right appear to have been erased.
 2. Lady Jane Muirhead (née Murray), daughter of the 3rd Duke of Atholl (Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland).
 3. Lady Amelia Murray, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Atholl (ODNB).
 4. Also mentioned in HAM/1/15/1/23: 'Have you met with the Lounger a new Scotch periodical work?'.
 5. The original order ‘Melted Butter Well’ is marked for reversal with numbers ‘3 1 2’ above them. The diagonal slash through Well is unlikely to be a cancellation, given that the superscript numbers are retained and a reordering of ‘Melted Butter’ to ‘Butter Melted’ makes no sense without Well. Note too that Dickenson generally cancels a word by crossing it through horizontally.
 6. These three lines appear at the bottom of p.3, written upside down.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/2/37

Correspondence Details

Sender: John Dickenson

Place sent: Bath

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: London (certainty: medium)

Date sent: 4 May 1794

Letter Description

Summary: Journal-letter from John Dickenson to his wife Mary née Hamilton covering the period 1-4 May 1794. He writes in detail of his time in Bath, his social life there, and the people he socialised with, including the Rundells (see HAM/1/8/6) and Mrs Boscawen (see HAM/1/6/1). At the house of Mrs Pigotts was a portrait painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the finest he ever saw, and he suggests Hamilton view it herself; they told him that Reynolds was so pleased with the portrait and the credit it would later do him that he said he ought to pay them for it rather than they him.
    Original reference No. 19.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 1777 words

Transliteration Information

Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Image to Text' (David Denison & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2013-2019), now incorporated 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: XML version: Research Assistant funding in 2017/18 provided by the Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Manchester.

Research assistant: Georgia Tutt, MA student, University of Manchester

Transliterator: Georgia Tutt (Remainder of transliteration submitted June 2018)

Transliterator: Joshua Hartley (Fragmentary transliteration submitted May 2018)

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

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