Single Letter

GEO/ADD/3/83/20

Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales

Diplomatic Text


20

20

      I am no longer doubtful my friend -- neither
shall you any more be tormented with my apprehensions
      I am sensibly hurt at ye. disagreeable situation you are
at present in -- as I put myself in Your place --
& yet, how will my friend[1] be surprised when I tell
him I am extremely well satistisfied that this
event has happen'd -- in this I give a proof of my
true affectionfriendship -- it will teach him more than a dozen
pages fill'd wth. flattering encomiums for I am
sorry to tell my friend I too condemn him -- I
think I can trace in his account of +++[2] a
remain of paʃsion from ye. mortification of his
pride having been hurt in ye. unguarded, public
accusation I say unguarded accusation because
it was both ungrateful & ungenerous, for I
am grieved to tell my ------------Friend[3] I have
often sigh'd to be an ear-witneʃs of ye. unthinking
expreʃsions he has frequently made use of
before ye. younger part of ye. family -- & yt. I
have seen him prompt them to act improperly
                                                         I however



attributed this conduct to an uncommon share
of animal spirits, & an inherent turn to
ridicule -- I still attribute it to ye. same cause --
but I shall not excuse my friend if it exists
any longer -- There are at your age a sufficient
number of pursuits to exercise ye. one, & the
other must, positively must, be suppreʃs'dp suppreʃsd.
      Your own good sense must point out -- & I
know ------ does frequently, yt some persons
of an exalted rank lower themselves by a
certain unbecoming familiarity, wch by indulging
this turn, they are led into & wch. all persons
are not charitable enough to attribute to
good humour &c &c &c

I do not mean by all this to excuse +++
he has behaved as a mean spirited vulgar
Boy wld. have done -- I do not think I shd-
speak too harshly If I added that I think
at times he appears such -- I wish for his
sake as well as others yt. he cld. be transplant[ed]
to either Eaton or Westminster.



You ------ desire me to advise you how to
act -- & you appear in a very amiable light
in feeling ye. displeasure of your Mother --
I would have you immediately come to an
éclairciʃsement -- do not dwell too much upon
your vindication -- it is not respectful to a
parent to do so -- & believe me she will
in her own heart do you ample justice -- but
desire her to depend -- (& if I know my friend
if he will say it, he will mean it) upon your
future discretion -- I would not for more
than I can expreʃs have you continue inunder
her displeasure -- if you have any affectionfriendship --
for me prove it do as I desire
& let no false pride prevent your[4] -- I shall be very
unhappy till I am certain you are friends
      Adieu depend upon the eternal
duration of my friendship -- .[5]



      sent Novbr- 6th Novbr 1779

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


Notes


 1. Original ‘my friend will’ marked for reversal with numbers ‘2 3 1 ’above.
 2. Here and on the next page, Hamilton refrains even from using Edward's initial in her draft.
 3. It is probably ‘Dear brother’ that was erased in favour of ‘friend’.
 4. Original ‘let no false pride prevent your doing as I desire’, marked for reversal with numbers above (the ‘10’ inadvertently repeated), plus & inserted, your changed to you, and doing to do.
 5. A strip has been cut off the bottom of the page.

Normalised Text



      I am no longer doubtful my friend -- neither
shall you any more be tormented with my apprehensions
      I am sensibly hurt at the disagreeable situation you are
at present in -- as I put myself in Your place --
& yet, how will my friend be surprised when I tell
him I am extremely well satisfied that this
event has happened -- in this I give a proof of my
true friendship -- it will teach him more than a dozen
pages filled with flattering encomiums for I am
sorry to tell my friend I too condemn him -- I
think I can trace in his account of Edward a
remain of passion from the mortification of his
pride having been hurt in the unguarded, public
accusation I say unguarded accusation because
it was both ungrateful & ungenerous, for I
am grieved to tell my Friend I have
often sighed to be an ear-witness of the unthinking
expressions he has frequently made use of
before the younger part of the family -- & that I
have seen him prompt them to act improperly
                                                         I however



attributed this conduct to an uncommon share
of animal spirits, & an inherent turn to
ridicule -- I still attribute it to the same cause --
but I shall not excuse my friend if it exists
any longer -- There are at your age a sufficient
number of pursuits to exercise the one, & the
other must, positively must, be suppressed.
      Your own good sense must point out -- & I
know does frequently, that some persons
of an exalted rank lower themselves by a
certain unbecoming familiarity, which by indulging
this turn, they are led into & which all persons
are not charitable enough to attribute to
good humour &c &c &c

I do not mean by all this to excuse Edward
he has behaved as a mean spirited vulgar
Boy would have done -- I do not think I should
speak too harshly If I added that I think
at times he appears such -- I wish for his
sake as well as others that he could be transplanted
to either Eaton or Westminster.



You desire me to advise you how to
act -- & you appear in a very amiable light
in feeling the displeasure of your Mother --
I would have you immediately come to an
éclaircissement -- do not dwell too much upon
your vindication -- it is not respectful to a
parent to do so -- & believe me she will
in her own heart do you ample justice -- but
desire her to depend -- (& if I know my friend
if he will say it, he will mean it) upon your
future discretion -- I would not for more
than I can express have you continue under
her displeasure -- if you have any friendship --
for me prove it do as I desire
& let no false pride prevent you -- I shall be very
unhappy till I am certain you are friends
      Adieu depend upon the eternal
duration of my friendship -- .



      sent November 6th 1779

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



 1. Original ‘my friend will’ marked for reversal with numbers ‘2 3 1 ’above.
 2. Here and on the next page, Hamilton refrains even from using Edward's initial in her draft.
 3. It is probably ‘Dear brother’ that was erased in favour of ‘friend’.
 4. Original ‘let no false pride prevent your doing as I desire’, marked for reversal with numbers above (the ‘10’ inadvertently repeated), plus & inserted, your changed to you, and doing to do.
 5. A strip has been cut off the bottom of the page.

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/3/83/20

Correspondence Details

Sender: Mary Hamilton

Place sent: unknown

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

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 6 November 1779

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales, on the Prince's conduct [regarding the improper behaviour of Prince Edward]; and advising on a reconciliation with the Queen
    Hamilton describes Prince Edward as a 'mean spirited vulgar boy', and that her wish that 'for his sake as well as others that he could be transplanted to either [Eton] or Westminster'. She criticizes the Prince of Wales's passion resulting from the 'mortification of his pride', and refers to his previous behaviour using 'unthinking expressions...before the younger part of the family – & that I have seen him prompt them to act improperly', which she attributes to the Prince's 'uncommon share of animal spirits, & an inherent turn to ridicule'.
    [Draft.]
   

Length: 1 sheet, 497 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 August 2019)

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

Revision date: 17 February 2022

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