Single Letter

HAM/1/4/1/21

Letter from Frederick Hamilton to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


April 1782

      Dear Miʃs Hamilton

      I receiv'd the favor of yours of the 9th. of March some time ago;
I am extremely sensible of your goodneʃs to me in taking part in
so kind a manner in my interests If Ld. S_t has not been more
candid in his publick transactions than in his conduct to me,
his dismiʃsion will not give cause of much regret. By a letter
I receiv'd at least a year ago from Ly. S., wrote by Ld. S——t's parti=
cular
direction, he disapproves of what he had not only appro=
ved
but even corrected him self, I mean my Memorial, which he
meanly recommended it to me to apply to you to find a proper
person to present it; in short in that letter in many unmean=
ing
expreʃsions of regard he declined giving me any aʃsistance
whatever, as Ecclesiastical Preferments, to use his own words,
were not in his department. His opinion upon the subject you
was so obliging to consult him, is equally frivolous & unsincere
he had better have spoke out at first, that he had no real
regard for Ly. S. as that being the case, I cou'd have no claim upon
him, which is the construction I must put upon the matter.
      I expect to be in London by the 10th. of May next, where I
mean to stay but a very few days, and then proceed



on my journey to Geneva, that we may arrive there before
the great heats come on. If by chance you cou'd procure me a
letter of recommendation to any respectable Family there, it
might be of much use to me, as I wou'd not chuse to depend
entirely upon the acquaintances that I have already there.
I believe there are some very respectable Persons connected
with that Country in the Family with you. There are
some preliminaries of some difficulty to settle before my Prefer=
ment
can be surrenderd, a word, too well understood in these
days, which if they are not agreed to, I am determined to
keep it in my own hands; all this will be explain'd when
we meet. I have pleasure in the thoughts of showing you my
Children, and hope you will think them objects well deserving
my whole attention. I hope my Daughter Jane will be more for=
tunate
than her Sister, she has a good understanding with
excellent principles, the best foundation for a polish'd education
for which she poʃseʃses every requisite talent.
      When I appointed Mr. Balfour to be my Agent in Scotland,
I gave him directions to be punctual in making your annual



Remittance which I conclude he will always do at the same
time that he sends my yearly Rent, which I generally receive
in the month of Feby., nor can the Tenants be brought to make their
payments sooner. What changes the great revolutions in
the Administration will produce here time will show, and
I shall be satisfied to hear of them at a distance; the subject of
of Politicks is particularly unsatisfactory at this time, and
I observe you always avoid it. My views are now much con=
tracted
, & all expectations being at an end I shall at least be
exposed to fewer disappointments. My spirits are by no means
broken and no one can enjoy agreeable society more than
I do, but the kind of society that I mean, I do not find here.
Pray remember me to the Grevilles, you have never mention'd
Ld. Cathcart, I am disposed to think extremely well of him. Adieu
                                                         My Dear Miʃs Hamilton believe me ever
                                                         Your very faithful & Affece. Uncle
                                                                   Frederick Hamilton
Sackville Street
      April 2d. 1782.[1]

P.S. I shall be at some Hôtel for
the few days that I shall stay in London

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red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. These two lines appear to the left of the closing salutation and signature.

Normalised Text



      Dear Miss Hamilton

      I received the favour of yours of the 9th. of March some time ago;
I am extremely sensible of your goodness to me in taking part in
so kind a manner in my interests If Lord Stormont has not been more
candid in his public transactions than in his conduct to me,
his dismission will not give cause of much regret. By a letter
I received at least a year ago from Lady Stormont, written by Lord Stormont's particular
direction, he disapproves of what he had not only approved
but even corrected him self, I mean my Memorial, which he
meanly recommended it to me to apply to you to find a proper
person to present it; in short in that letter in many unmeaning
expressions of regard he declined giving me any assistance
whatever, as Ecclesiastical Preferments, to use his own words,
were not in his department. His opinion upon the subject you
was so obliging to consult him, is equally frivolous & unsincere
he had better have spoken out at first, that he had no real
regard for Lady Stormont as that being the case, I could have no claim upon
him, which is the construction I must put upon the matter.
      I expect to be in London by the 10th. of May next, where I
mean to stay but a very few days, and then proceed



on my journey to Geneva, that we may arrive there before
the great heats come on. If by chance you could procure me a
letter of recommendation to any respectable Family there, it
might be of much use to me, as I would not choose to depend
entirely upon the acquaintances that I have already there.
I believe there are some very respectable Persons connected
with that Country in the Family with you. There are
some preliminaries of some difficulty to settle before my Preferment
can be surrendered, a word, too well understood in these
days, which if they are not agreed to, I am determined to
keep it in my own hands; all this will be explained when
we meet. I have pleasure in the thoughts of showing you my
Children, and hope you will think them objects well deserving
my whole attention. I hope my Daughter Jane will be more fortunate
than her Sister, she has a good understanding with
excellent principles, the best foundation for a polished education
for which she possesses every requisite talent.
      When I appointed Mr. Balfour to be my Agent in Scotland,
I gave him directions to be punctual in making your annual



Remittance which I conclude he will always do at the same
time that he sends my yearly Rent, which I generally receive
in the month of February, nor can the Tenants be brought to make their
payments sooner. What changes the great revolutions in
the Administration will produce here time will show, and
I shall be satisfied to hear of them at a distance; the subject of
Politics is particularly unsatisfactory at this time, and
I observe you always avoid it. My views are now much contracted
, & all expectations being at an end I shall at least be
exposed to fewer disappointments. My spirits are by no means
broken and no one can enjoy agreeable society more than
I do, but the kind of society that I mean, I do not find here.
Pray remember me to the Grevilles, you have never mentioned
Lord Cathcart, I am disposed to think extremely well of him. Adieu
                                                         My Dear Miss Hamilton believe me ever
                                                         Your very faithful & Affectionate Uncle
                                                                   Frederick Hamilton
Sackville Street
      April 2d. 1782.

P.S. I shall be at some Hôtel for
the few days that I shall stay in London

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 1. These two lines appear to the left of the closing salutation and signature.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Frederick Hamilton to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/1/21

Correspondence Details

Sender: Frederick Hamilton

Place sent: Dublin

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 2 April 1782

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Rev. Frederick Hamilton to Mary Hamilton. He discusses his dispute with Lord Stormont over using his influence to gain him an ecclesiastical preferment. The letter also informs Mary Hamilton that he intends to visit London prior to leaving for Geneva. He hopes that she will meet his children and asks her if it would be possible for her to obtain a letter of recommendation for him from one of her prominent acquaintances which he could use in Geneva.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 625 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 2013/14 provided by G.L. Brook bequest, University of Manchester.

Research assistant: George Bailey, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Transliterator: Olivia Skinner, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted December 2013)

Transliterator: Joseph Doherty, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted December 2013)

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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