Single Letter

GEO/ADD/3/82/20

Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


210

1st. August 1779


My dearest dearest dearest Sister Friend.

      I set down with ye. greatest calmneʃs
poʃsible and not with my usual impetuosity to answer both
yr. last Letters. First of all I read yr. unsealed Note in
which you ask me every question upon every subject, which I have
attempted to answer during ye whole of our correspondance, did
not I tell you how severely I should feel were I to be separated
from you. I would not exchange ye. little conversation we have
when we meet, not for any thing I know. But We might
indeed correspond tho' we were at a distance but then O Heavens
I ʃhould not have the happineʃs of seeing my friend. You say
you are sure if I allow myself time to consider but for a moment



I shall perceive no reason why you should bind yourself to
remain by any fresh tie, did not I tell you my dearest life,
that my whole happineʃs depended upon it, that it would
absolutely break my heart were you to go. Excuse my impetu=
-osity
. I can not think calmly on the subject. You ask me
when I am at liberty of what use yr. friendʃhip will be to me
then. I shall then want such a friend as you, more than at
any other time, who will with freedom blame my conduct,
where it deserves it, and commend it when it merits it,
and I am sure you never will commend it, but when I
also shall be pleased with it myself, as we agree so perfectly
in Our sentiments. You will tell me that I shall need
no commendation from any one else, not even from my loveliest
friend
, if I am pleased with my own conduct
      “One ʃelfapproving hour, whole Years outweighs
      “Of ʃtupid starers and of loud huzza's.

You say that I shall see things in a different light



hereafter than what I now do, perhaps I shall, but can you
suppose that I shall ever cease being attached to a person
who is & ever will be so much my Friend as yourself. You say, that
you desire that my partiality for you may not make me
overlook ye imprudence you have been guilty of, tho' it is now
without remedy, of accepting of my friendship, I say it
is no imprudence, ye similarity of our minds, ye sympathy
of our ideas, and ye. natural inclinations of our hearsts made
ye. tie ye. ʃtronger. Honor, credit or satisfaction of any
long duration I can not gain by establishing an intimacy
or friendʃhip with any person of yr. Sex, but with such
a one as yourself, and I must do so in ye. opinion of
everybody who knows you. My happineʃs wld.. be beyond
what words can expreʃs were you to be ye. partner of my future
days, then my joys would be endleʃs, and my contentment
beyond what usually falls to ye. lot of mortals.
      I know not how to return you my thanks
for having granted my request, should you hereafter have



any occasion to repent having bound yourself by such a
promise to me, it wld.. be ye cause of my being miser=
=able
during ye. rest of my days. I doubt not
but you have acted with the utmost generosity, as my
friend
, and by our mutual promises to each other, you
ought to tell me how or& in what manner, and in order that as yr. friend I may
at least, tho' I can not ʃhare in doing ye generous action,
share in ye pleasure you receive from it. But I well
know & feefl ye person ton whom you have conferred this
generous action, 'tis on myʃelf. If it is not too
painful to you explain to me I entreat of you how in renewing yr. promise
to me, you have disappointed ye. expectations of others,
in order that I may expreʃs my gratitude to you. I
am grieved that I ever should have given you an instants
pain, however I am sure you can not have suffered more
than I did ever since we last parted at W——[1]

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Notes


 1. The letter stops here without a closer.

Normalised Text





My dearest dearest dearest Sister Friend.

      I set down with the greatest calmness
possible and not with my usual impetuosity to answer both
your last Letters. First of all I read your unsealed Note in
which you ask me every question upon every subject, which I have
attempted to answer during the whole of our correspondence, did
not I tell you how severely I should feel were I to be separated
from you. I would not exchange the little conversation we have
when we meet, not for any thing I know. We might
indeed correspond though we were at a distance but then O Heavens
I should not have the happiness of seeing my friend. You say
you are sure if I allow myself time to consider but for a moment



I shall perceive no reason why you should bind yourself to
remain by any fresh tie, did not I tell you my dearest life,
that my whole happiness depended upon it, that it would
absolutely break my heart were you to go. Excuse my impetuosity
. I can not think calmly on the subject. You ask me
when I am at liberty of what use your friendship will be to me
then. I shall then want such a friend as you, more than at
any other time, who will with freedom blame my conduct,
where it deserves it, and commend it when it merits it,
and I am sure you never will commend it, but when I
also shall be pleased with it myself, as we agree so perfectly
in Our sentiments. You will tell me that I shall need
no commendation from any one else, not even from my loveliest
friend, if I am pleased with my own conduct
      “One selfapproving hour, whole Years outweighs
      “Of stupid starers and of loud huzza's.

You say that I shall see things in a different light



hereafter than what I now do, perhaps I shall, but can you
suppose that I shall ever cease being attached to a person
who is & ever will be so much my Friend as yourself. You say, that
you desire that my partiality for you may not make me
overlook the imprudence you have been guilty of, though it is now
without remedy, of accepting of my friendship, I say it
is no imprudence, the similarity of our minds, the sympathy
of our ideas, and the natural inclinations of our hearts made
the tie the stronger. Honour, credit or satisfaction of any
long duration I can not gain by establishing an intimacy
or friendship with any person of your Sex, but with such
a one as yourself, and I must do so in the opinion of
everybody who knows you. My happiness would be beyond
what words can express were you to be the partner of my future
days, then my joys would be endless, and my contentment
beyond what usually falls to the lot of mortals.
      I know not how to return you my thanks
for having granted my request, should you hereafter have



any occasion to repent having bound yourself by such a
promise to me, it would be the cause of my being miserable
during the rest of my days. I doubt not
but you have acted with the utmost generosity, as my
friend, and by our mutual promises to each other, you
ought to tell me how & in what manner, in order that as your friend I may
at least, though I can not share in doing the generous action,
share in the pleasure you receive from it. But I well
know & feel the person on whom you have conferred this
generous action, 'tis on myself. If it is not too
painful to you explain to me I entreat of you how in renewing your promise
to me, you have disappointed the expectations of others,
in order that I may express my gratitude to you. I
am grieved that I ever should have given you an instants
pain, however I am sure you can not have suffered more
than I did ever since we last parted at Windsor

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 1. The letter stops here without a closer.

Metadata

Library References

Repository: Windsor Castle, The Royal Archives

Archive: GEO/ADD/3 Additional papers of George IV, as Prince, Regent, and King

Item title: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: GEO/ADD/3/82/20

Correspondence Details

Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)

Place sent: unknown

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: unknown

Date sent: c.1 August 1779
notBefore 31 July 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 1 August 1779 (precision: high)

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton answering her questions on the nature of their friendship and future contact.
    The Prince thanks Hamilton for agreeing to his request to stay, as his happiness depends upon it. He states that 'my happiness would be beyond what words can express were you to be the partner of my future days...'. He asks her to explain how 'in renewing your promises to me, you have disappointed the expectations of others'.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 688 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: Transcription and Research Assistant funding in 2018/19 provided by the Student Experience Internship programme of the University of Manchester.

Research assistant: Emma Donington Kiey, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Transliterator: Emma Donington Kiey (submitted June 2019)

Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors

Revision date: 2 November 2021

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