The Mary Hamilton Papers : Letter from William Napier, 7th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton

Napier, William, 7th Lord

The Mary Hamilton Papers

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Letter from William Napier, 7th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton, thanking Hamilton for her poems and for the ring. ‘The ring was immediately was ordered to dislodge my other ring & to take possession of my Left little finger where it is to remain’. As to the book he is sorry that she took so much trouble as he does not deserve such a fine binding. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Napier writes on the subject of marriage and notes that ‘no woman can be really happy without doing her duty & answering the intention of her coming into the World & without marriage its not to be done’. He advises that women should be cautious and should not enter into an engagement without the consent of her parents and friends. That she should acquaint ‘them with every offer she may get & she will always have the satisfaction to think that she has acted right’. She should still consult her own heart for if this is not engaged the hopes for her happiness will be limited. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Napier also writes of his life as a soldier and that he is selling his commission in the Greys as he is tired of being a ‘stroller about the Country’. He also regrets that the ‘good people’ of country towns not talking ‘to one for fear of our carrying off some of their Daughters’. He does not want Hamilton to think that he has quit the army altogether. He will continue in his role as Deputy Adj. General for North Britain but he is unsure as to whether he will take part in active service again.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dated at Edinburgh.</p>