Diplomatic Text
Sunday Morng ¼ before
10 o'Clock
My dear Friend,
It is impoʃsible for me my
Miranda to find time to write you
any thing longer during ye. whole
Course of ye. Winter, longer than
a common Note & sorry am I to dʃay so -
but so Fate has ordained, even the
time for writing this little Billet
I am obliged to take from yemy resting
time, therefore you see how distreʃsed
I am for time. I was delaighted at
ye. Play last Night, & was extremely
moved by two scenes in it, especially
as I was particularly interested in
ye. appearance of tbhe most beautiful
Woman, yt. ever I beheld, who
acted with such delicacy yt. she
drew tears from my eyes, she perceived
how much my attention was taken
up with her, not only during her
acting but when she was behind
ye. Scenes, & contrived e --- very little
innocent art to captivate a heart
but too susceptible of receiving
every impreʃsion she attempted
to give it, & Alas. My Miranda
my friend, she did but too well
succeed, consider wh. is almost
impoʃsible, & allow wh. is next
to impoʃsibility for ye. lively &
strong & lively passions of a Young
Man glowing with ye. utmost Warmth
of desire, & yet feeling himʃelf
incapable of gratifying his darling.
Her name is Robinson, on or
off ye. Stage for I have seen her
both, she is I believe almost ye
perfectest greatest & most perfect
beauty of her sex. Yr. friendʃhip
my ever dearest Miranda, requiring
of me from yr. own ingenuousneʃs
& from my voluntary promise, ever
thing relating to me, therefore you
shall hear every thing relating to
this affair, this paʃsion has laid
dormant in my bosom for some
time, but last Night has kindled
it again to such a degree for what
can be more moving interesting, or aimiable than exquisite
beauty in distreʃs)[1] yt. Heaven
knows when it will be extinguished.
Pardon me, pity me, comfort me,
my heart is already something easier
by having imparted to you My Miranda
what I have not another Friend
I can strictly call so to whom I
cld. with implicit confidence
impart it. But to you I can
in whose honor I put such credit,
un.because I know every secret of mine
lays as secure in yr. Bosom, as in
ye. silent grave. However pardon me
my dearest Sister if I desire you to
be particularly cautious about this
for were it ever to reach My Parents
ears, I am fearful tho' so dear to me they
never wld pardon me. I can now only add
yt. yr. correspondance affords me
more delight than ever, & you have
highly offended me you saucy
Puss in supposing yt. I was grown
tire of it, let me hear no more
of this you gracious Madam
however to clear up all doubts
you may have for ye. future upon
this head, believe me when I say
that mon amitié pour vous est
indiʃsoluble. God Bless you &
preserve you. I am
Yr. very affectionate
Brother Palemon
P. S. I am happy to hear such
good accounts of dear M. G.[2] I despise
all foolish Stories as beneath me My
Miranda I like however to know ym.
A. A. A. toujours chère Oh! Mrs. Robinson
[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
My dear Friend,
It is impossible for me my
Miranda to find time to write you
any thing longer during the whole
Course of the Winter, longer than
a common Note & sorry am I to say so -
but so Fate has ordained, even the
time for writing this little Billet
I am obliged to take from my resting
time, therefore you see how distressed
I am for time. I was delighted at
the Play last Night, & was extremely
moved by two scenes in it, especially
as I was particularly interested in
the appearance of the most beautiful
Woman, that ever I beheld, who
acted with such delicacy that she
drew tears from my eyes, she perceived
how much my attention was taken
up with her, not only during her
acting but when she was behind
the Scenes, & contrived every little
innocent art to captivate a heart
but too susceptible of receiving
every impression she attempted
to give it, & Alas. My Miranda
my friend, she did but too well
succeed, consider which is almost
impossible, & allow which is next
to impossibility for the lively &
strong & lively passions of a Young
Man glowing with the utmost Warmth
of desire, & yet feeling himself
incapable of gratifying his darling.
Her name is Robinson, on or
off the Stage for I have seen her
both, she is I believe almost ye
greatest & most perfect
beauty of her sex. Your friendship
my ever dearest Miranda, requiring
of me from your own ingenuousness
& from my voluntary promise, every
thing relating to me, therefore you
shall hear every thing relating to
this affair, this passion has laid
dormant in my bosom for some
time, but last Night has kindled
it again to such a degree for what
can be more moving interesting, or amiable than exquisite
beauty in distress) that Heaven
knows when it will be extinguished.
Pardon me, pity me, comfort me,
my heart is already something easier
by having imparted to you My Miranda
what I have not another Friend
I can strictly call so to whom I
could with implicit confidence
impart it. But to you I can
in whose honour I put such credit,
because I know every secret of mine
lays as secure in your Bosom, as in
the silent grave. However pardon me
my dearest Sister if I desire you to
be particularly cautious about this
for were it ever to reach My Parents
ears, I am fearful though so dear to me they
never would pardon me. I can now only add
that your correspondence affords me
more delight than ever, & you have
highly offended me you saucy
Puss in supposing that I was grown
tired of it, let me hear no more
of this you gracious Madam
however to clear up all doubts
you may have for the future upon
this head, believe me when I say
that mon amitié pour vous est
indissoluble. God Bless you &
preserve you. I am
Your very affectionate
Brother Palemon
P. S. I am happy to hear such
good accounts of dear Miss I despise
all foolish Stories as beneath me My
Miranda I like however to know them
Adieu Adieu Adieu toujours chère Oh! Mrs. Robinson
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/3/82/74
Correspondence Details
Sender: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: c.5 December 1779
notBefore 4 December 1779 (precision: medium)
notAfter 5 December 1779 (precision: high)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from George, Prince of Wales, to Mary Hamilton, on seeing the play and his passion for the actress [Mary] Robinson.
The Prince describes Robinson as the 'greatest & most perfect beauty of her sex', and asks Hamilton to be particularly cautious about keeping his secret as he does not believe his parents would pardon him.
Received Sunday morning ¼ before 10 o'clock.
Signed 'Palemon'.
Length: 2 sheets, 548 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited 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: Transcription and XML version created as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1.
Transliterator: Cassandra Ulph, editorial team (completed February 2020)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021