Diplomatic Text
28
28
29th August 1779
½ past 9
[1]
My dearest, dearest, dearest Sister, Friend,
I have been greatly afraid that you must have
thought me very impertinent when I sent to you ye. other day
for it looked as if I intended to pry into yr. secrets, and was
resolved to know them thoroughly, however Heaven knows
that was far from being my object, it was only to know whether
you went to L—— or not for that melancholy purpose which I
suspected, or not. As long as ye. idea remained it persecuted me
until I had sent to you to inform myʃelf, yr. answer I think
my Friend was not quite so ingenuous as yrs. generally are,
for it was that you went to ------ L—— in order to enjoy ye.
sweets of L—— D——'s Society, this has not as yet
relieved me totally from my fears, for you must own this
was not quite answering my question, as I know that
L—— D—— is an intimate friend of yrs, this for some time
rather strengthned my fears as I thought it was merely to
converse these matters over with her that you went to pay her
this visit. However I do not think you would, from yr
affection to me, leave me in suspense if there was any ground
for my fears, for you know to what extravagant Lengths
my paʃsion wld.. probably carry me, were I to think there
was any foundation for my ------ alarms. Pardon if I recall
to yr. memory my dearest, dearest, dearest Angel, yr.
promise by which I you bound yrself to me, I hope
you have not found it irksome, ye terms set to it of my
being at liberty can not now be far distant, this is a
still stronger argument which I take ye liberty of
mentioning to you; a little diʃsipation, & ye. bustle &
hurry of a publick life during ye. Winter, will I flatter
myself free you from those Vapors, which I am afraid
at times you are apt to be troubled with, pardon my
freedom, it is that of one friend writing to another, for
where is ye. use in friendship if one can not tell each
other with freedom one's ideas. Be not offended my
sweetest friend if I tell you in ye. vulgar phraise, that
I have still another crow to pull with you,[2] this it is, you
wrote to me in yr. last note that you committed yr. answer
to one former L—— to ye. flames,[3] what could there be in that Letter which
was improper for me to see or to read, unleʃs it was something
you thought wld.. give me pain and in that case I thank
you for yr. tenderneʃs towards me, you must be ye.
best Judge, yrself what there was proper or improper
in it however, I nevertheleʃs lost my answer. I also
complain that you called me Sir throughout ye. whole
of yr. last Note, and concluded with calling me once
only by ye affectionate Name of Friend, let us banish
out of ye. Dictionary such words as, Sir, Yr. R. H.
gracious, and such like nonsensical expreʃsions, which
are only fit for Court friends, which are a disgrace
to Ye. word Friend. Now you must allow it is fair
for me to scold a little in my turn at times, this in
return for ye. affectionate scolding Letter you sent me
some time ago, let me see whether you will be so
ready to correct yr. little failings, as I am desirous
and endeavouring to correct my great faults.
Adieu dearest, dearest dearest Friend
excuse my breaking off so abruptly, but I have
scarce a moment to fold this up, I only beg you will
believe, that there is nobody who has yr. happineʃs
more at heart, or that is more attached to you, or
that loves you[4] to - a greater degree, than
Yr. sincerely affectionate
Palemon.
P.S.[5]
Pray inform me as soon as you
hear any thing of W.[6] or if you
hear anything more of ye impertinence
either of Mr. H. or of W. R. -- encore Adieu, Adieu, Adieu tout ce qui
m'est cher au monde, Votre Palemon toujours de même
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. The two lines giving the time of day appear to the right of the date and the opening salutation.
2. To have a crow to pull with any one and variants were used in sense ‘[...] to have a matter of dispute, or something requiring explanation [...]’ with them (OED s.v. crow n. 1, 3b).
3. This is a clear reference to GEO/ADD/3/83/58, likewise the Prince's complaint below about Hamilton calling him 'Sir' and only using 'friend' once.
4. The author has heavily underlined loves you twice more in addition to the initial underlining of the whole that-clause.
5. The large letters P.S. appear to the left of the salutation and signature.
6. GPW regularly enquires and speculates about the Royal Household's plans to travel to Windsor throughout this series of letters.
Normalised Text
My dearest, dearest, dearest Sister, Friend,
I have been greatly afraid that you must have
thought me very impertinent when I sent to you the other day
for it looked as if I intended to pry into your secrets, and was
resolved to know them thoroughly, however Heaven knows
that was far from being my object, it was only to know whether
you went to London or not for that melancholy purpose which I
suspected, . As long as the idea remained it persecuted me
until I had sent to you to inform myself, your answer I think
my Friend was not quite so ingenuous as yours generally are,
for it was that you went to London in order to enjoy the
sweets of Lady Dartrey's Society, this has not as yet
relieved me totally from my fears, for you must own this
was not quite answering my question, as I know that
Lady Dartrey is an intimate friend of yours, this for some time
rather strengthened my fears as I thought it was merely to
converse these matters over with her that you went to pay her
this visit. However I do not think you would, from your
affection to me, leave me in suspense if there was any ground
for my fears, for you know to what extravagant Lengths
my passion would probably carry me, were I to think there
was any foundation for my alarms. Pardon if I recall
to your memory my dearest, dearest, dearest Angel, your
promise by which you bound yourself to me, I hope
you have not found it irksome, the terms set to it of my
being at liberty can not now be far distant, this is a
still stronger argument which I take the liberty of
mentioning to you; a little dissipation, & the bustle &
hurry of a public life during the Winter, will I flatter
myself free you from those Vapours, which I am afraid
at times you are apt to be troubled with, pardon my
freedom, it is that of one friend writing to another, for
where is the use in friendship if one can not tell each
other with freedom one's ideas. Be not offended my
sweetest friend if I tell you in the vulgar phrase, that
I have still another crow to pull with you, this it is, you
wrote to me in your last note that you committed your answer
to one former Letter to the flames, what could there be in that Letter which
was improper for me to see or to read, unless it was something
you thought would give me pain in that case I thank
you for your tenderness towards me, you must be the
best Judge, yourself what there was proper or improper
in it however, I nevertheless lost my answer. I also
complain that you called me Sir throughout the whole
of your last Note, and concluded with calling me once
only by the affectionate Name of Friend, let us banish
out of the Dictionary such words as, Sir, Your Royal Highness
gracious, and such like nonsensical expressions, which
are only fit for Court friends, which are a disgrace
to The word Friend. Now you must allow it is fair
for me to scold a little in my turn at times, this in
return for the affectionate scolding Letter you sent me
some time ago, let me see whether you will be so
ready to correct your little failings, as I am desirous
and endeavouring to correct my great faults.
Adieu dearest, dearest dearest Friend
excuse my breaking off so abruptly, but I have
scarce a moment to fold this up, I only beg you will
believe, that there is nobody who has your happiness
more at heart, or that is more attached to you, or
that loves you to a greater degree, than
Your sincerely affectionate
Palemon.
P.S.
Pray inform me as soon as you
hear any thing of Windsor or if you
hear anything more of the impertinence
either of Mr. H. or of William Ramus -- encore Adieu, Adieu, Adieu tout ce qui
m'est cher au monde, Votre Palemon toujours de même
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/3/82/28
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: c.29 August 1779
notBefore 28 August 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 29 August 1779 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, on the reasons for her visit to London, and criticising her formal language in her last letter.
The Prince responds to Hamilton's answer that she went to London 'in order to enjoy the sweets of 'L. D's society' [?Lady Dartrey], and reminds her of her promise not to depart until the Prince was also free to do so. He writes 'let us banish out of the Dictionary such words as, Sir, your R H, gracious, and such like nonsensical expressions which are only fit for Court friends, which are a disgrace to the word friend'. In postscript he asks Hamilton to tell him if she hears anything about [Windsor] and 'anything more of the impertinence either of Mr H or of W R'.
Written in the morning, ½ past 9.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 1 sheet, 694 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