Diplomatic Text
Monday Morng.
Novbr. 8th- 1779
My dearest, dearest, dearest Miranda,
my Sister, my Friend,
It is impoʃsible for me, such
is my attachment to you to be separated from
you a single Day without feeling ye same
regret, as I shd.. at being separated
from another friend for a whole Month.
Yes my Miranda I am more & more
every day convinced, yt. nothing but
ye hand of Death can put an end to
my affection for you & not even that
if our Souls hereafter in their immortal ʃtate are allowed
to be guided by ye same sensations, as
they are here in their mortal.
I hope M. G——g's[1] Preesentiments[2]
will be nothing but mere preesentiments,
let not yr. delicate spirits be too much
cast down, do not if you will allow me
to say so, do not for my sake, if you
will not for yr. own, do not dwell
too much, or indulge yrself in thinking
over melancholy ideas, banish ym——
from yt. dear bosom where gaiety
ought always to reign. Remember
you once promised me you wld.. once
follow this advice of mine as much
as it was in yr. power, but I am
afraid you have not ʃtuck so closely
to yr. word in this inʃtance as you
do in every other. My Miranda
will pardon me, for blaming her
in one instance of her conduct Y——y
when my M——r,[3] it was about sending
me back ye. Seal cld..had she opened my
Letter before she had sent it back she
wld.. have seen my reason for sending
it, but cld.. she suppose yt. after ye
firm & disinterested declaration she
made to me yt. she wld.. receive no
more presents. I wld.. dare to force
myher delicacy, No my friend, I
have begun to learn what delicacy
is from you, I will copy you to my utmost,
tho' I can not equal you,
O cld.. I flow like thee, & make thy ʃtream
My great example, as it is my theme,
Though deep, yet clear, tho' gentle yet not dull
Strong without rage, without oerflowing full.
Since I wrote ye. end of ye. last Page I
finished ye. Man of Feeling I cld.. not
help dropping a tear ato Harley's fate
such is ye. happy death of ye. virtuous.
Oh great God! if I am soon to die
may I thus die in ye. arms of my
bleʃsed & ever dearest Miranda. But
our lives my Miranda are to last
longer in order to undergo ------------ a greater
mixture of pleasures & pains than they as yet have, however
theyour Souls are perfectly united & yt. I
hope we shall both find a great
comfort thro'out our Journey. I
have one word more to say before I quit
such melancholy Topics, I admire
ye Book extremely & have not found
a single paʃsage yt. is any wise beau=
=tiful yt. was not already marked by
yr. Pencil,[4] but I think it an improper
Book for you read during yr. present
melancholy train of ideas, (I tell you
honestly my ideas) I think it is
too sentimental for you in yr. present
state of mind, yr. tender heart, wants
no additional sting to make it feel.
it is but too much softned already,
however allow me once more to add
yt. if you have any affection for me
you will endeavour as much as is in
yr. power to banish such melancholy
thoughts from yr. bosom.
Allow me now to turn to a
more trivial subject, you must know
I have received my Tabinet[5] from
Ireland by ye means of L——y C——n
I send you a Patern of it, I intend
to make it up for New year's day with a white Ermine
Lining with a White Sattin Waist=
=coat embroidered with Cheneel
(I do not know how to spell yt
word) and to embroider ye. Coat
also with Cheneel, without any
Gold & Silver in it, now I wish
to know whether you wld: like
ye Coat best, plain or with a
light Cheneel embroidery, tell
me fairly yr. opinion, (pugh[6] I
offend you in asking you to do so
for I know you always will do so to
me,) consider only ye. Coat is for
a Gala Day, they will be both equally
full dreʃsed. Adieu Adieu, Adieu
my Miranda, my best & dearest
Friend, & Sister may you ever
be under ye. peculiar care
of Heaven, & may you enjoy
every bleʃsing yr. Virtues deserve,
I am
ever Your Palemon. toujours de même
P.S. I have taken ye. liberty of adding
a little Motto to ye. Book tell me in yr.
next if you think it well applied.
Pray let me receive a Note from my dearest
Miranda's hand at my return be it ever so short.
encore Ad. Ad. toujours chére
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. The name blanked by the Prince as ‘G-g’ and later erased is surely that of Miss (Charlotte) Gunning. Hamilton writes a note to Gunning (part of HAM/1/15/2/1(2)) on probably the very day the present letter was received, dismissing as hearsay something that Gunning has told her about ‘Osyiris’; these are most likely the preesentiments [sic] that the Prince refers to. Hamilton's undated note is pasted to a letter dated 8 November, to which a pencilled '1779?' has been added. Even if the links in this chain of inference are not all equally strong, the identification remains persuasive.
2. We do not have Gunning's original. Hamilton's reply reads as follows: 'As to what you say respecting Osyiris or rather what you hear said -- it is my opinion wrong to detiremine -- for I should imagine ye. amusement he takes is absolutely neceſsary -- his mind wld. otherwise be oppreſs'd, & After all perhaps tis for the sake of his Children that he promotes and enters into it. I hear nothing of Public Affairs but what you write to me for I do not read the papers, & this is not a place to get intelligence.' (HAM/1/15/2/1(2)). The code name shared by Gunning and Hamilton recurs in HAM/1/15/2/18 as 'Osyris' (so spelled), where it seems to stand for the King.
3. There appears to be a verb missing.
4. Hamilton had suggested that they each mark passages they like, she in pencil and he in ink (in GEO/ADD/3/83/44, 14 October 1779).
5. ‘A watered fabric of silk and wool resembling poplin: chiefly associated with Ireland’ (OED s.v. tabinet n. Accessed 01-02-2020).
6. This reading is uncertain, but pugh is a rare 18th-century spelling of the interjection pooh ‘[e]xpressing impatience, contempt, disdain, etc.’ (OED B.1. Accessed 19-06-2020).
Normalised Text
My dearest, dearest, dearest Miranda,
my Sister, my Friend,
It is impossible for me, such
is my attachment to you to be separated from
you a single Day without feeling the same
regret, as I should at being separated
from another friend for a whole Month.
Yes my Miranda I am more & more
every day convinced, that nothing but
the hand of Death can put an end to
my affection for you & not even that
if our Souls hereafter in their immortal state are allowed
to be guided by the same sensations, as
they are here in their mortal.
I hope M. 's Presentiments
will be nothing but mere presentiments,
let not your delicate spirits be too much
cast down, do not if you will allow me
to say so, do not for my sake, if you
will not for your own, do not dwell
too much, or indulge yourself in thinking
over melancholy ideas, banish them
from that dear bosom where gaiety
ought always to reign. Remember
you once promised me you would once
follow this advice of mine as much
as it was in your power, but I am
afraid you have not stuck so closely
to your word in this instance as you
do in every other. My Miranda
will pardon me, for blaming her
in one instance of her conduct Yesterday
when my Messenger, it was about sending
me back the Seal had she opened my
Letter before she had sent it back she
would have seen my reason for sending
it, but could she suppose that after the
firm & disinterested declaration she
made to me that she would receive no
more presents. I would dare to force
her delicacy, No my friend, I
have begun to learn what delicacy
is from you, I will copy you to my utmost,
though I can not equal you,
O could I flow like thee, & make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme,
Though deep, yet clear, though gentle yet not dull
Strong without rage, without oerflowing full.
Since I wrote the end of the last Page I
finished the Man of Feeling I could not
help dropping a tear at Harley's fate
such is the happy death of the virtuous.
Oh great God! if I am soon to die
may I thus die in the arms of my
blessed & ever dearest Miranda. But
our lives my Miranda are to last
longer in order to undergo a greater
mixture of pleasures & pains than they as yet have, however
our Souls are perfectly united & that I
hope we shall both find a great
comfort throughout our Journey. I
have one word more to say before I quit
such melancholy Topics, I admire
the Book extremely & have not found
a single passage that is any wise beautiful
that was not already marked by
your Pencil, but I think it an improper
Book for you read during your present
melancholy train of ideas, (I tell you
honestly my ideas) I think it is
too sentimental for you in your present
state of mind, your tender heart, wants
no additional sting to make it feel.
it is but too much softened already,
however allow me once more to add
that if you have any affection for me
you will endeavour as much as is in
your power to banish such melancholy
thoughts from your bosom.
Allow me now to turn to a
more trivial subject, you must know
I have received my Tabinet from
Ireland by the means of Lady C——n
I send you a Pattern of it, I intend
to make it up for New year's day with a white Ermine
Lining with a White Satin Waistcoat
embroidered with Chenille
(I do not know how to spell that
word) and to embroider the Coat
also with Chenille, without any
Gold & Silver in it, now I wish
to know whether you would like
the Coat best, plain or with a
light Chenille embroidery, tell
me fairly your opinion, (pugh I
offend you in asking you to do so
for I know you always will do so to
me,) consider only the Coat is for
a Gala Day, they will be both equally
full dressed. Adieu Adieu, Adieu
my Miranda, my best & dearest
Friend, & Sister may you ever
be under the peculiar care
of Heaven, & may you enjoy
every blessing your Virtues deserve,
I am
ever Your Palemon. toujours de même
P.S. I have taken the liberty of adding
a little Motto to the Book tell me in your
next if you think it well applied.
Pray let me receive a Note from my dearest
Miranda's hand at my return be it ever so short.
encore Adieu Adieu toujours chére
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/3/82/59
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 8 November 1779
notBefore 8 November 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 8 November 1779 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, on her spirits; finishing reading 'The Man of Feeling'; and on his plans for a tabinet coat to wear on New Year's Day.
The Prince refers to the 'presentiments' of 'M. G...g' and requests that Hamilton does not let her spirits be cast down. He discusses his plans to make up the tabinet coat 'with a white Ermine Lining with a White [satin] waistcoat embroidered with cheneel'.
Written Monday morning at 8 o'clock.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 2 sheets, 801 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 (Partial transliteration submitted July 2019)
Transliterator: Cassandra Ulph, editorial team (completed January 2020)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021