Single Letter

GEO/ADD/3/82/37

Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


37

     
Septr- 10th. Thursd
          1779 Friday[1]

My dearest, my dearest, my dearest
Friend
,
                                                        

      You answer in every particular
and are worthy that sacred appellation,
you shew that notwithstanding yr.
affection for mye as a Man, yet you
pay true regard to my Character, yr
views & affection, an-d esteem for me
extend beyond the Grave. I was resolved
my dearest Friend however short my
Letter might be, to write to you,
in order to pour forth into yr. bosom
ye. overflowings of a truely grateful heart.



such are mine, proceeding from ye.
disinterested, tender, generous expreʃ=
=sions
in yr. last dear Note. Adieu
Adieu, Adieu my friend, may you enjoy all ye.
bleʃsings this World can afford, & may you live, at last to
crown the happineʃs of
                             Yr. Palemon.
toujours de même

      P.S. I admired ye. Verses you sent
me very much, I will follow their advice
with ye greatneʃseʃt attention. I coʃubjoin
another copy, with which I ʃuppose you
are already acquainted, I do not send
ym.. for ye. beauty, but for ye sentiments,
which I hope expreʃs both ours. This
last bleʃsed Note of yrs. has made me happier
than words can expreʃs. Adieu, Adieu, Adieu
once more my Guardian Angel, toujours de même

      “I can not send you ye character, nor take notice of
any of yr. former Letters till my return. I ʃhall continue
ye same civil conduct according to yr. advice to W. R. during my Stay.[2]


[3]


[4]



part of 37

Second Song out of ye Poem
of
Constantia & Philetus
by
Cowley.

                             1
      Time! fly with greater speed away
Add feathers to thy wings,
Till thy haste in flying brings
That wisht-for & expected day.

                             2d..
Comforts, Sun! we then shall see,
Though' at first it darken'd be
With dangers; yet, those Clouds but gone,
Our day will put his lustre on.

                             3d..
Then though' death's sad Night appear,
And we in lonely silence rest;
Our ravishe'd Souls no more shall fear;
But with lasting day be blest.



                             4.
And then no friends can part us more,
Nor no new death extend its power;
Thus there's nothing can diʃsever
Hearts which love has joined together.



      Substitute friendship in ye place of that
word for yrself, tho' it does not make
verse, & let both vye for me.
                             Adieu, Adieu, Adieu.
                             toujours chère.

(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. Moved date here from slightly below and to the right of the opening salutation.
 2. Moved postscript here from the top of p.1, before the opening salutation.
 3. This page is blank.
 4. This page is blank.

Normalised Text



     

My dearest, my dearest, my dearest
Friend,
                                                        

      You answer in every particular
and are worthy that sacred appellation,
you show that notwithstanding your
affection for me as a Man, yet you
pay true regard to my Character, your
views & affection, and esteem for me
extend beyond the Grave. I was resolved
my dearest Friend however short my
Letter might be, to write to you,
in order to pour forth into your bosom
the overflowings of a truly grateful heart.



such are mine, proceeding from the
disinterested, tender, generous expressions
in your last dear Note. Adieu
Adieu, Adieu my friend, may you enjoy all the
blessings this World can afford, & may you live, at last to
crown the happiness of
                             Your Palemon.
toujours de même

      P.S. I admired the Verses you sent
me very much, I will follow their advice
with ye greatest attention. I subjoin
another copy, with which I suppose you
are already acquainted, I do not send
them for the beauty, but for the sentiments,
which I hope express both ours. This
last blessed Note of yours has made me happier
than words can express. Adieu, Adieu, Adieu
once more my Guardian Angel, toujours de même

      “I can not send you the character, nor take notice of
any of your former Letters till my return. I shall continue
the same civil conduct according to your advice to William Ramus during my Stay.










Second Song out of the Poem
of
Constantia & Philetus
by
Cowley.

                            
      Time! fly with greater speed away
Add feathers to thy wings,
Till thy haste in flying brings
That wisht-for & expected day.

                            
Comforts, Sun! we then shall see,
Tho' at first it darken'd be
With dangers; yet, those Clouds but gone,
Our day will put his lustre on.

                            
Then tho' death's sad Night appear,
And we in lonely silence rest;
Our ravish'd Souls no more shall fear;
But with lasting day be blest.



                            
And then no friends can part us more,
Nor no new death extend its power;
Thus there's nothing can dissever
Hearts which love has joined together.



      Substitute friendship in the place of that
word for yourself, though it does not make
verse, & let both vie for me.
                             Adieu, Adieu, Adieu.
                             toujours chère.

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. Moved date here from slightly below and to the right of the opening salutation.
 2. Moved postscript here from the top of p.1, before the opening salutation.
 3. This page is blank.
 4. This page is blank.

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/3/82/37

Correspondence Details

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

Place sent: unknown

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 10 September 1779
when 10 September 1779 (precision: high)

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton on her esteem for him; and on sending her a copy of verses from 'Constantia & Philetus' by Abraham Cowley.
    Written Friday.
   

Length: 2 sheets, 374 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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