Diplomatic Text
Wedy. Morng. ¾ past
9 o'Clock
My dearest Miranda
I thank you for yr. kind &
affectionate NoteLetter of Today. My
dearest Friend does not seem to
apprehend yt. ye. paʃsion I have
formed is for an Actreʃs so yt.
I scarcely dare flatter myʃelf
yt. she feels ye same love for
me yt. I do for her, I am convinced
yt. she understood ye. language
of my eyes ------------------------------& of my actions, from her
------ manner & ye. tender & bewitching
glances she gave me. Iher eyes sayid
more than words can expreʃs. O Heaven --
was you but to see her, even if
ye. most envious of her sex was
to see her, they must confeʃs, yt.
she is almost ye most perfect
beauty yt. ever was seen. However
no more of these enthusiastic
expeʃsions or else you will take
me to be mad, I know her to be
very galant[1], & yet I can not
help adoring her, however in a
Day or two I will inform you
what opinion she has conceived
of my person & how she is content
with it, for I have an excellent
person to employ who is well
acquainted with her, who will
inform me of these particulars &
you may depend on my informing
you immediately by my ##[2]
I am glad by yt. Letter to perceive
yt. dear ------------ [3] is a great deal
better, ye reports yt. have been
spread about my Shoes are false
for I never wear a shoe yt. is
not perfectly easy, & yt. is not
in ye. real shape of my foot.
As to M. H. & my appearing
in print with her I look upon
yt. as nothing, as I never upon
my honor ever gave ye smallest
foundation for it.[4] I am now going
to advance My Miranda a maxim wh. you
will I am afraid call detesta=
=ble. Which is yt. I shd: be very
sorry to form a connection with a
Wife, or a Daughter, or a Sister
in a family, where yt. family
lives in perfect unity together
but if ye. first advances are made
to me I look upon it as highly
unbecoming any young Man
to refuse ym-. In ye case of Mrs..
R——n who lives totally separate
from her husband, I look upon
a connection in such her condition
with her, & myʃelf unknown,
as impoʃsible to lead to any mischief
as there is no family peace disturbed
by it. Be not too much offended
at this declaration consider I am
blinded by my paʃsion yt I know not
what I say or do or to what lengths
it may not carry me. Did you
but know ye. real history of ye unhappy
object of it you cld. weep with
tenderneʃs over her fate, I will
relate it to you ye. first time
we meet. God Bleʃs you &
preserve you, ever unto death
Yr. Friend
Palemon toujours de même
P.S. I will send you Thursday
a list of my hours. A. A.
[5]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. In eighteenth-century musical terminology, galant referred to a style of simplicity and immediacy associated with popular, continental music such as Italian Opera (as opposed to the Antient baroque style championed by traditionalists). This term was extended to people of fashion in the sense of 'designed to please'. The Prince therefore worries that Robinson's behaviour may stem from her desire to please generally, rather than affection for him personally.
2. The multi-functional ## symbol perhaps signifies 'Messenger' here, as in one of its instances in GEO/ADD/3/82/67.
3. Probably a reference to Miss (Charlotte) Gunning, whose health the Prince enquires after in earlier letters.
4. References to criticism of his shoes and to public association with Miss H[odgson] imply that completion of this letter follows receipt of GEO/ADD/3/83/54.
5. The last page is blank.
Normalised Text
My dearest Miranda
I thank you for your kind &
affectionate Letter of Today. My
dearest Friend does not seem to
apprehend that the passion I have
formed is for an Actress so that
I scarcely dare flatter myself
that she feels the same love for
me that I do for her, I am convinced
that she understood the language
of my eyes & of my actions, from her
manner & the tender & bewitching
glances she gave me. her eyes said
more than words can express. O Heaven --
was you but to see her, even if
the most envious of her sex was
to see her, they must confess, that
she is almost the most perfect
beauty that ever was seen. However
no more of these enthusiastic
expressions or else you will take
me to be mad, I know her to be
very galant, & yet I can not
help adoring her, however in a
Day or two I will inform you
what opinion she has conceived
of my person & how she is content
with it, for I have an excellent
person to employ who is well
acquainted with her, who will
inform me of these particulars &
you may depend on my informing
you immediately by my ##
I am glad by that Letter to perceive
that dear is a great deal
better, the reports that have been
spread about my Shoes are false
for I never wear a shoe that is
not perfectly easy, & that is not
in the real shape of my foot.
As to Miss Hodgson & my appearing
in print with her I look upon
that as nothing, as I never upon
my honour ever gave the smallest
foundation for it. I am now going
to advance My Miranda a maxim which you
will I am afraid call detestable
. Which is that I should be very
sorry to form a connection with a
Wife, or a Daughter, or a Sister
in a family, where that family
lives in perfect unity together
but if the first advances are made
to me I look upon it as highly
unbecoming any young Man
to refuse them. In the case of Mrs..
Robinson who lives totally separate
from her husband, I look upon
a connection in such her condition
with her, & myself unknown,
as impossible to lead to any mischief
as there is no family peace disturbed
by it. Be not too much offended
at this declaration consider I am
blinded by my passion that I know not
what I say or do or to what lengths
it may not carry me. Did you
but know the real history of the unhappy
object of it you could weep with
tenderness over her fate, I will
relate it to you the first time
we meet. God Bless you &
preserve you, ever unto death
Your Friend
Palemon toujours de même
P.S. I will send you Thursday
a list of my hours. Adieu Adieu
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
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/3/82/76
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 8 December 1779
notBefore 8 December 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 8 December 1779 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, on whether Mary Robinson reciprocates the Prince's feelings; and on her being married.
The Prince states that 'I should be very sorry to form a connection with a Wife, or a Daughter, or a Sister in a family, where that family lives in perfect unity together, but if the first advances are made to me I look upon it as highly unbecoming any young man to refuse them'. As Mary Robinson is 'totally separated from her husband', he does not believe their connection will 'lead to any mischief'. The Prince refers to false reports about his shoes; and on 'M H' and himself appearing in print together.
Received Wednesday morning at ¾ past 9 o'clock.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 2 sheets, 497 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited 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: Transcription and XML version created as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1.
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021