Diplomatic Text
I can hardly find words sufficiently strong, in
which I can paint my gratitude to my dearest dearest dearest Friend for having been so generously
pardon'd as I was. I believe you will find all these reports
as many calumnies spread about by that noxious little Animal
and that foolish, vulgar meddling Woman. I laid myself
perfectly open to you when I wrote my last Letter, and acted with that ingenuousneʃs, (which
I shall doever do to you, and which I flattered myself I
always had done, I denied what was false, but if I ʃhld..
find tho' I am not conscious of it that any of them ʃhld..
be true I will immediately acknowledge my guilt, and
throw myʃelf upon yr. mercy. What I felt when I last
saw you, to speak to you can not be imagined, I was stung to
the Soul, at ye. cold style in which yr. Letter was written
and at ye. idea of having lost a friend, and such a friend too, a
friend to whom I cld.. lay open ye most secret thoughts of my mindmind was too much for me, I cld.. not indure it, I
was also very much nettled wt ye. idea of having told you anbroke my Word
untruth & honor & towhich I had engaged to you in ye most solemn manner that could be & which I was certain was an utter falsety, such were ye. different
Paʃsions that raged in my bosom when I saw you. I cld..
not be content nor rest in peace, till I had cleared my inno=
=cence to you from every imputation of whatever sort or kind, & until
I had regained that good opinion which it ever has been, ever
was my objectwas and which ever shall be my object to attain & nay that I am sure I have gained it to keep
Yr. last Letter restored that comfort to my too much
wounded heart, to which it had been a stranger from ye. time I received
yr. former it restored comfort to my whole frame, & after
I had read yr. Letter I was quite a different Being than
I was when I began it.
I conjure you my angelick friend never to put me
to so severe a trial again it is too much for me, tell me
another time if there are any more of these villainous calumnies
circulated about, tax me with them, but do not say you believe
them till I have at least attempted to justify myʃelf.
How can I bear ʃupport ye. thoughts of ever breaking
off my friendship with you, I can not, can not support it, I
ever will remain yr. Friend, my attachment, for youmy affection & my love
for you extend wbeyond what ye ideas of Man can convey,
ye. trial was almost too severe for me which I ʃuffered from yr. former
L—— for so short a time but which appeared ages to me judge then how much more bitter ye. Potion wld.. be if it was
for life. Let me once more expreʃs my thanks for having been
so generously pardoned by you, and let me once more say that I
believe you will find all those reports so many untruths, to
what purpose created I really can not sayimagine, unleʃs it be to do mis=
=chief, which is ye. only reason I fancy can be given for such
abominable illnature. My attachment, affection, & love
for you are so firm that nothing upon earth shall ever
alienate them, aʃsure me that yr. sentiments correspond with
mine, & believe me to be My ever-adored Friend,
Votre Palemon.
P.S.[1]
Excuse ye frequent Blottings out in this L——
for I am greatlyvery much hurried, & I have one
favor to ask of you & that is that you
will receive me ye. next time we meet, with a more benign, affectionate & f[r]iendly
aspect, do not trifle with my feelings any more than I will with yrs.. Je vous repéte
encore toutes les douceurs poʃsibles. et croyez que je serai jusqu'à la mort
Vôtre tres sincerement attaché Ami
------ consider and ------
--- me tell me you do in yr. next. Adieu, Adieu, Adieu[2]
[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
I can hardly find words sufficiently strong, in
which I can paint my gratitude to my dearest dearest dearest Friend for having been so generously
pardoned as I was. I believe you will find all these reports
as many calumnies spread about by that noxious little Animal
and that foolish, vulgar meddling Woman. I laid myself
perfectly open to you when I wrote my last Letter, and acted with that ingenuousness, (which
I shall ever do to you, and which I flattered myself I
always had done, I denied what was false, but if I should
find though I am not conscious of it that any of them should
be true I will immediately acknowledge my guilt, and
throw myself upon your mercy. What I felt when I last
saw you, to speak to you can not be imagined, I was stung to
the Soul, at the cold style in which your Letter was written
and at the idea of having lost a friend, and such a friend too, a
friend to whom I could lay open the most secret thoughts of my mind was too much for me, I could not endure it, I
was also very much nettled with the idea of having broke my Word
& honour & which I had engaged to you in the most solemn manner that could be & which I was certain was an utter falsity, such were the different
Passions that raged in my bosom when I saw you. I could
not be content nor rest in peace, till I had cleared my innocence
to you from every imputation of whatever sort or kind, & until
I had regained that good opinion which it ever has been, ever
was and which ever shall be my object to attain & nay that I am sure I have gained it to keep
Your last Letter restored that comfort to my too much
wounded heart, to which it had been a stranger from the time I received
your former it restored comfort to my whole frame, & after
I had read your Letter I was quite a different Being than
I was when I began it.
I conjure you my angelic friend never to put me
to so severe a trial again it is too much for me, tell me
another time if there are any more of these villainous calumnies
circulated about, tax me with them, but do not say you believe
them till I have at least attempted to justify myself.
How can I support the thoughts of ever breaking
off my friendship with you, I can not, can not support it, I
ever will remain your Friend, my attachment, my affection & my love
for you extend beyond what the ideas of Man can convey,
the trial was almost too severe for me which I suffered from your former
Letter for so short a time but which appeared ages to me judge then how much more bitter the Potion would be if it was
for life. Let me once more express my thanks for having been
so generously pardoned by you, and let me once more say that I
believe you will find all those reports so many untruths, to
what purpose created I really can not imagine, unless it be to do mischief
, which is the only reason I fancy can be given for such
abominable ill nature. My attachment, affection, & love
for you are so firm that nothing upon earth shall ever
alienate them, assure me that your sentiments correspond with
mine, & believe me to be My ever-adored Friend,
Votre Palemon.
P.S.
Excuse the frequent Blottings out in this Letter
for I am very much hurried, I have one
favour to ask of you & that is that you
will receive me the next time we meet, with a more benign, affectionate & friendly
aspect, do not trifle with my feelings any more than I will with yours. Je vous repéte
encore toutes les douceurs possibles. et croyez que je serai jusqu'à la mort
Vôtre tres sincerement attaché Ami
------ consider and ------
--- me tell me you do in your next. Adieu, Adieu, Adieu
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/3/82/30
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: c.2 September 1779
notBefore 1 September 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 2 September 1779 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, asking her to disbelieve rumours.
The Prince refers to 'calumnies spread about by that noxious little animal and that foolish vulgar woman', and asks Hamilton to refrain from believing them until she has spoken to him first. In postscript he requests that Hamilton receive him in a more affectionate manner the next time they meet.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 1 sheet, 698 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