Diplomatic Text
56
4th. Novbr. 1779 recd-
wrote ye. 3d. recd- ye 4th
Novbr 1779
Thursday Morng
9 oclock
Novbr 1779
Thursday Morng
9 oclock
Oh my dearest, dearest, dearest, Sister, Friend, my
Miranda,
It is not now a time for me to tell you yt. yr.
last Letter affronted me, yt. is too trivial an expreʃsion
but to tell you yt. it made a deep impreʃsion upon me
is telling you ye. truth. Now then my Miranda, do I
after having thoroughly examined my heart & Soul,
Swear & declare to you here, on my knees, before ye
presence of Our Almighty Father, yt. I will
eternally, both in this life & in ye. World to come
be yr. real, true, sincere, best & staunchest Friend.
Such is my disposition my Sister. I never slightly[1]
form connections, (nor have I ever formed any but one
& yt.[2] is with you, I mean as to ye. most perfect friendʃhip
but when I do, I look upon myʃelf as bound by ye. most
sacred bonds for life. Cld.. I give you a stronger proof
of ye. continuance of my friendʃhip towards you, than
before I had known you had written anything like such
a Letter to me, my promising to write you a circumstantial
account, of an affair whh.. causes me so much pain
& trouble. Since I have now answered ye. most preʃsing
interesting subject yt. can affect my heart I will now
enter upon my narration.
You must know then to resume a little
higher, yt.. my Mother had been remarkably kind to
me during ye. whole of our séjour. Ye Night
before last Ye. whole party went to drink Tea,
at ye. R—— T——r[3] where Ld. & Ly.. C——n & their
4 S——s were. My B——r E——d had formed a particular
intimacy with ye. two middle ones, You must
excuse my mentioning these particulars as you
will find them of consequence in some parts of my account
My B——r E——d had behaved very improperly during
ye. whole of his ʃtay & I had winked at several parts
of his conduct upon his promise of amelioration.
I even went so far as to buy out of my own pocket
something, for whh.. he wld.. have been scolded for
having had not it been known to have been given
to him, accordingly as he wished to have it I bought
it & gave it to him. Such was my kindneʃs to him yt.
he not only told me but every body else, not only
this Stay but ye. last he made when disgraced, yt
I was ye. most good natured Person he ever had
known. But to return to my subject, ye next
Evening to our Visit being last night & his Birthday Ld. & Ly. C——n & their
S——s were invited among other Company. They were
sufficient at both Tables at Cards without me,
so yt. there remained at each end of ye. Musick Room
Myʃelf, Lt. Cl.. L——e & Ma L——, at ye. other end my
B——r E——d & ye. 4 other Boys. Ye. little one
being sent to bed, there only remained E——d & ye. 3 big
ones. Ye ------ cowardice of E——d is inconceivable
for knowing yt. those Boys wld. not strike him
again or punish him, he treated ym- with ye. greatest
insolence, not only striking ym- & pinching ym-
but spitting in their faces & calling ym- all manner
of names, I beheld all this myʃelf from ye. farther
end of ye. Room where I was conversing with ye.
aforementioned persons. Not long after, I went out
of ye. Room into ye. Room where ye. second Pool was
going on, I do not suppose I staid there 3 minutes
when upon my return miʃsing Lt. Col. L—— I asked Ma——
what was become of him, upon which she shewed him to
me talking to ye. Boys, & E——d standing in ye.
Door way to ye. Room where My Father & Mother
were playing. He soon came up to me, & said to
me he hoped I wld.. countenance him, in what he
Part of 56
had been saying to those Boys, wh. was yt. he hoped they
wld.. retalliate and prevent themselves from being insulted
in so groʃs a manner. I immediately walked up to ym-
and told ym- yt. they had my full consent to do what Lt..
Col. L——e advised them to do. I then walked directly
into ye. Room in wh. my Father & Mother were playing
at Cards, in which I found E——d standing between
------------------------------their Chairs, & I went up to him meaning to desire
him in a whisper to come out of ye. Room to ask these young Gentle=
=mens pardon, but he instead of listning to me, like
a true designing mean, sneaking Coward, cried
out in a loud Voice in order yt. ye. whole Party might
side with him, I never shall mind what you say
to me, naming me for you are always drawing
me into some scrape or other. My Father
then immediately turned round & asked me ye
cause of this Speech of E——d's upon which I in
whisper, told him he had behaved very improperly, & there
it rested until ye. Pool was over, when my F——r
told my M——r just what I had told him, she
shrugged up her shoulders. As soon as My F——rs
back was turned she called me up to her, & asked me
with the greatest anger painted in all her features
how I came to mention any thing of such sort to
my F——r, yt. it was no busineʃs of mine, yt.
she was sure whatever E——d had done was right
yt. it was nothing to her, yt. whatever scrape
he came into my B——r F——k & I always led
him into. upon wh.. I asked her whether I had
been ye. cause of his doing what he was dis=
=graced for, upon wh. she said yt. I was not
ye. immediate cause of it but yt. I had led
him into it. yt. I always wanted to govern
ye. little ones yt. I had not sense enough for it,
& in short she ran on in this cruel manner for
a vast while, however I flattered myʃelf, but
I have forgot to say she then said was any body,
to go tell --- my F——r what my B——r & I had done,
------ & what we now did, she was sure he wld.. be
as much offended with us, as he was with E——d
in short yt. ʃhe wld. tell him every thing she
shd.. hear yt. I did from yt. moment. I flattered
myʃelf, she wld.. be in a better humor this mor:
but finding her still very angry this Morning
& very cool towards me this Evening. I wish
to receive from you my Miranda yr. advice
my Miranda yr.how to regulate my conduct towards her during
this Chryʃis of affairs; as I can not help
saying I am deeply affected by ym——.
Adieu, Adieu, Adieu My dearest, dearest
dearest, Sister Friend, Miranda you shall
have a scrupulous account & examination of
my conduct in my next, during ye whole
of my séjour at W—— I hope you will
not find great reason to disapprove of it.
I am after again having reconsidered yr Letter
unto all Eternity
Yr. sincerely affectionate Brother
& best Friend
& best Friend
Palemon toujours de même.
P.S. pray tell me you believe me on yr. part.
I am very thankful to you for yr. Purse
I admire very much, & shall esteem ye more
as coming from yr. own precious hands. I send
you back M. Gs. Note I have a great esteem for her
pray let me have an answer as soon as poʃsible. Again A. A. toujours chére
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Normalised Text
Oh my dearest, dearest, dearest, Sister, Friend, my
Miranda,
It is not now a time for me to tell you that your
last Letter affronted me, that is too trivial an expression
but to tell you that it made a deep impression upon me
is telling you the truth. Now then my Miranda, do I
after having thoroughly examined my heart & Soul,
Swear & declare to you here, on my knees, before the
presence of Our Almighty Father, that I will
eternally, both in this life & in the World to come
be your real, true, sincere, best & staunchest Friend.
Such is my disposition my Sister. I never slightly
form connections, (nor have I ever formed any but one
& that is with you, I mean as to the most perfect friendship
but when I do, I look upon myself as bound by the most
sacred bonds for life. Could I give you a stronger proof
of the continuance of my friendship towards you, than
before I had known you had written anything like such
a Letter to me, my promising to write you a circumstantial
account, of an affair which causes me so much pain
& trouble. Since I have now answered the most pressing
interesting subject that can affect my heart I will now
enter upon my narration.
You must know then to resume a little
higher, that my Mother had been remarkably kind to
me during the whole of our séjour. The Night
before last The whole party went to drink Tea,
at the R—— T——r where Lord & Lady C——n & their
4 Sons were. My Brother Edward had formed a particular
intimacy with the two middle ones, You must
excuse my mentioning these particulars as you
will find them of consequence in some parts of my account
My Brother Edward had behaved very improperly during
the whole of his stay & I had winked at several parts
of his conduct upon his promise of amelioration.
I even went so far as to buy out of my own pocket
something, for which he would have been scolded for
having had not it been known to have been given
to him, accordingly as he wished to have it I bought
it & gave it to him. Such was my kindness to him that
he not only told me but every body else, not only
this Stay but the last he made when disgraced, that
I was the most good natured Person he ever had
known. But to return to my subject, the next
Evening to our Visit being last night & his Birthday Lord & Lady C——n & their
Sons were invited among other Company. They were
sufficient at both Tables at Cards without me,
so that there remained at each end of the Music Room
Myself, Lieutenant Colonel Lake & Madame L——, at the other end my
Brother Edward & the 4 other Boys. The little one
being sent to bed, there only remained Edward & the 3 big
ones. The cowardice of Edward is inconceivable
for knowing that those Boys would not strike him
again or punish him, he treated them with the greatest
insolence, not only striking them & pinching them
but spitting in their faces & calling them all manner
of names, I beheld all this myself from the farther
end of the Room where I was conversing with the
aforementioned persons. Not long after, I went out
of the Room into the Room where the second Pool was
going on, I do not suppose I stayed there 3 minutes
when upon my return missing Lieutenant Colonel Lake I asked Madame
what was become of him, upon which she showed him to
me talking to the Boys, & Edward standing in the
Door way to the Room where My Father & Mother
were playing. He soon came up to me, & said to
me he hoped I would countenance him, in what he
had been saying to those Boys, which was that he hoped they
would retaliate and prevent themselves from being insulted
in so gross a manner. I immediately walked up to them
and told them that they had my full consent to do what Lieutenant
Colonel Lake advised them to do. I then walked directly
into the Room in which my Father & Mother were playing
at Cards, in which I found Edward standing between
their Chairs, & I went up to him meaning to desire
him in a whisper to come out of the Room to ask these young Gentlemens
pardon, but he instead of listening to me, like
a true designing mean, sneaking Coward, cried
out in a loud Voice in order that the whole Party might
side with him, I never shall mind what you say
to me, naming me for you are always drawing
me into some scrape or other. My Father
then immediately turned round & asked me the
cause of this Speech of Edward's upon which I in
whisper, told him he had behaved very improperly, & there
it rested until the Pool was over, when my Father
told my Mother just what I had told him, she
shrugged up her shoulders. As soon as My Fathers
back was turned she called me up to her, & asked me
with the greatest anger painted in all her features
how I came to mention any thing of such sort to
my Father, that it was no business of mine, that
she was sure whatever Edward had done was right
that it was nothing to her, that whatever scrape
he came into my Brother Frederick & I always led
him into. upon which I asked her whether I had
been the cause of his doing what he was disgraced
for, upon which she said that I was not
the immediate cause of it but that I had led
him into it. that I always wanted to govern
the little ones that I had not sense enough for it,
& in short she ran on in this cruel manner for
a vast while, however I flattered myself, but
I have forgotten to say she then said was any body,
to go tell my Father what my Brother & I had done,
------ & what we now did, she was sure he would be
as much offended with us, as he was with Edward
in short that she would tell him every thing she
should hear that I did from that moment. I flattered
myself, she would be in a better humour this morning
but finding her still very angry this Morning
& very cool towards me this Evening. I wish
to receive from you my Miranda your advice
how to regulate my conduct towards her during
this Crisis of affairs; as I can not help
saying I am deeply affected by them.
Adieu, Adieu, Adieu My dearest, dearest
dearest, Sister Friend, Miranda you shall
have a scrupulous account & examination of
my conduct in my next, during the whole
of my séjour at Windsor I hope you will
not find great reason to disapprove of it.
I am after again having reconsidered your Letter
unto all Eternity
Your sincerely affectionate Brother
& best Friend
& best Friend
Palemon toujours de même.
P.S. pray tell me you believe me on your part.
I am very thankful to you for your Purse
I admire very much, & shall esteem the more
as coming from your own precious hands. I send
you back M. s. Note I have a great esteem for her
pray let me have an answer as soon as possible. Again Adieu Adieu toujours chére
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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/3/82/56
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 3 November 1779
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, on the improper behaviour of Prince Edward and his fighting with the sons of Lord and Lady C-; and the ensuing argument between Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales.
The Prince refers to his commitment to their friendship.
Received 4 November 1779.
Written Thursday morning at 9 o'clock.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 2 sheets, 1275 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 July 2019)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021