Diplomatic Text
2[1]
24 June 1779[2] as sincerity of all Virtues is what my parti▼-
cular disposition is most delighted with & accounts most
indispensably[e] -- I must tell you my friend that my
great dread of your future change of sentiments, respecting
the friendship you wld. now establish & ye knowledge I have
of my own sensibility -- is what occasion'd me so strongly
to point out what in all human probability will happen.
I do you the justice to think you now mean all you say --
but do not do not ask me to continue a friendship, if
I am hereafter to be treated with contempt & neglect --
pardon me but indeed I cannot help thinking that
you now fancy you wish for my friendship -- & that in a
few Months you will fancy -- no such thing -- You
will perhaps think this freedom a presumption --
I am in truth your inferiour -- but I never will
have a friendship wth.- a person who wd. not be as happy
or even feel as proud of my friendship as I was of
theirs -- & let me aʃsure you that I expect no
emolument from Yours -- Your rank -- Your fortune
are no
no inducements for me to wish the continuance of
it -- on the contrary it is for that very reason I so
long hesitated to say I would accept it -- from me
you will have no adulation or flattery, & if our friend-
ship is to continue -- I shall behave as a real friend
ought -- your happineʃs -- your honor will be dear to me
as my own & I solemnly promise, & you may depend
on it as if sworn, never to betray any confidence you
may place in me -- Adieu -- remember -- if you please --
that I never shall require any thing more of you, -- if
fate should permit us to be friends through life, than
strict sinceritystrict sincerity, in the true spirit of
which I aʃsure you I am your friend
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
24 June as sincerity of all Virtues is what my particular
disposition is most delighted with & accounts most
indispensable -- I must tell you my friend that my
great dread of your future change of sentiments, respecting
the friendship you would now establish & the knowledge I have
of my own sensibility -- is what occasioned me so strongly
to point out what in all human probability will happen.
I do you the justice to think you now mean all you say --
but do not do not ask me to continue a friendship, if
I am hereafter to be treated with contempt & neglect --
pardon me but indeed I cannot help thinking that
you now fancy you wish for my friendship -- & that in a
few Months you will fancy -- no such thing -- You
will perhaps think this freedom a presumption --
I am in truth your inferior -- but I never will
have a friendship with a person who would not be as happy
or even feel as proud of my friendship as I was of
theirs -- & let me assure you that I expect no
emolument from Yours -- Your rank -- Your fortune
are
no inducements for me to wish the continuance of
it -- on the contrary it is for that very reason I so
long hesitated to say I would accept it -- from me
you will have no adulation or flattery, & if our friendship
is to continue -- I shall behave as a real friend
ought -- your happiness -- your honour will be dear to me
as my own & I solemnly promise, & you may depend
on it as if sworn, never to betray any confidence you
may place in me -- Adieu -- remember -- if you please --
that I never shall require any thing more of you, -- if
fate should permit us to be friends through life, than
strict strict sincerity, in the true spirit of
which I assure you I am your friend
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 Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales
Shelfmark: GEO/ADD/3/83/2
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 24 June 1779
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales, on the nature of their friendship and her dread of his 'future change of sentiments'.
Hamilton writes that she expects no material benefit from their friendship, and that she will give him 'no adulation or flattery'. She states that 'I never will have a friendship with a person who would not be as happy or even feel as proud of my friendship as I was of theirs'.
[Copy.]
Length: 1 sheet, 322 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 July 2019)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 10 December 2021