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. He writes that he is ill and confined to his bedroom. This and his low spirits have reduced him 'to a very poor animal'. Napier also writes of two marriages that are to take place: Hamilton's cousin, Miss Cathcart, is to marry the Duke of Atholl, and 'Miss Mary' to marry Napier's cousin, Mr Graham of Balgowan. He asks Hamilton to indulge the Dowager Duchess by not speaking of the weddings until they are over. Napier writes that his son, Francis, has entered the army in the 31st Regiment of Foot Soldiers, but will spend the next few years in Scotland finishing off his education, as the Regiment is to be quartered in Scotland for a number of years, which he notes was a great inducement for him to join that regiment. Napier ends by noting that this is only the second letter that he has written in many months.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Hamilton inscribes this letter, noting that it was written on the deathbed 'of my Dearest Friend – I answer[e]d it by return of post & in answer rec[eive]d the heart-breaking intelligence from his Son L[or]d Napier that I had for ever lost my beloved my valuable Friend'.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dated at Edinburgh.</p>