A DONEGAL FAMILY in GERMANY MANUSCRIPT 250 of the National Library of 1're1and consists of 81 pages in octavo closely written in ink, described in the catalogue as the 'Diary iOf Hfe in Germany and Switzerland during residence there by '~Moll" Hamilton, a daughter of John and Mary Hamiltion '.of St. Er.nan's, Co. Donegial, Ireland,' and given to the National Library in 1913 by the Howard ,Memorial Library, New Orleans. This is .an account, written shortly after the events recorded lhad tak,en plaoe rather than an actual di1ary, covering the period from 6th December 1838 ito the beginning of June 1840. On fol. 8v. it is stated thlat ther.e was an ,earlier :volume covering the Hamilto.ns' firs't sojourn at Neuwied. The 1present volume concludes with the Hamiltons returning to Neuwied (on Rhine) after their sojourns iat Karls1ruihe and IJausanne. The Hamiltons' reside.nee in Co. Donegal is stated in the inscription on the tomb-stone of Isabell Hamilton, Moll's 1sister, at KJarlsruhe, as recorded at the end of this diary. From fol. 12r. we learn that the Hamiltons had with them in Germany their son, J1ames, and four daughters. Isabell, born in 1826, died "in a foreign land" (as is stated on· her tomb-stone) on 3rd May 1840. Moll, who was 1educat·ed together 1with Jsabell and in her diary repeatedly recognised her sister's superiority, was presumably the s1econd ; therefore, at the time whe.n this diary was wr~~tten she was scarce!ly more than thirteen. The hand of this ·manuscript, 1hc1wever, is that of 1an 1elderly person, and it is suggested that it was written 'by Miss Bagot, the governess of Bell and Moll Hamilton. Only the last pag:e, perhaps, iwas written by Moll herself, in a stiff child's hand, paying tribute to the memory of her sister. Bell Haimilton was buried at Karlsruhe side by side with "Rebedra McClearn, born at Raphoe in Ireland 1813, a faithful servant and beloved sist1er," who had died four days before the present diary opens, on the day when the Hamiltons moved into their new !hous:e at Karlsruhe. The inscription on that joint grave has been, and possibly still is, a record r0f a closely knit !He of an Irish 11amily. When visiting Bell's grave, the Hamiltons _passed by the grave of the husband and father of their best friends, Mrs. and Miss V. Struve. This was Johann 1Gustav V. Struve, who in 1817 had be~·ome Russian minister to the Karlsruhe court and had died there in 182B. 1M-oll Hamilton referred to the great r·eview held at Karlsruhe on the occasion of the visit of the s:on of the Emperor of 3l6
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