Diplomatic Text
19th. Septr
[2]
I think you have drawn a very just
portrait of yourself character
& portrait of yourself[3] -- happy
supremely happy shall I be
your real, true & affectionate frd-
be, when I may erase the
failings -- my greatest apprehen-
sion on yr acct. is -- that frm the
open̄eʃs & ingenuousneʃs of your
temper will make you a dupe
to a designing, interested, artful
people -- of both Sexes -- I
do firmly believe & the
belief affords me great satisfaction
that you have a good opinion of
me & that you are sincerely
attached to me by ye. sacred
tie of friendship & mine for
you is equal -- I do most
fervently wish I was poʃseʃsed
of very superior talents; that
I had experience, that I had
an uncommon share of penetration,[4]
2
judgement &c -- that I had the
power to guard you from every dan-
ger -- Then with propriety my frd-
might be influenced by my “gentle
admonitions” -- for a Sister a frd-
could not harshly rebuke or use
severity in her reproofs
I will never con --- eal conceal any
thing I hear to your disadvantage
from ye. fear of offending --
I never will suspect you of
unkind or unfriendly behaviour
without telling you of it --
May you do justice to
yourself
The conclusion of Julia de
R——[5] is too Spanish.
I will read no more of these
sort of Books for some time
they interest ones feelings more
than they ought to do -- it is
wrong to waste our sensibility
on imaginary evils -- Adieu
my frd- may you never experiencemeet wth-
real ones to call forth
yours --
[6]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. The first two pages of this letter appear in Anson & Anson (1925: 85-86).
2. Hamilton has drawn two dashed lines across the top of the page, opposite and below the dateline.
3. Presumably a reference to GEO/ADD/3/82/39.
4. A mark below this word may be a cross; if so, its significance is unclear.
5. Henry Mackenzie, Julia de Roubigné. A Sentimental Novel. In A Series of Letters (1777).
6. The last page is blank.
Normalised Text
19th. September
I think you have drawn a very just
character
& portrait of yourself -- happy
supremely happy shall I
your real, true & affectionate friend
be, when I may erase the
failings -- my greatest apprehension
on your account is -- that the
openness & ingenuousness of your
temper will make you a dupe
to designing, interested, artful
people -- of both Sexes -- I
do firmly believe & the
belief affords me great satisfaction
that you have a good opinion of
me & that you are sincerely
attached to me by the sacred
tie of friendship & mine for
you is equal -- I do most
fervently wish I was possessed
of very superior talents; that
I had experience, that I had
an uncommon share of penetration,
judgement &c -- that I had the
power to guard you from every danger
-- Then with propriety my friend
might be influenced by my “gentle
admonitions” -- for a Sister a friend
could not harshly rebuke or use
severity in her reproofs
I will never conceal any
thing I hear to your disadvantage
from the fear of offending --
I never will suspect you of
unkind or unfriendly behaviour
without telling you of it --
May you do justice to
yourself
The conclusion of Julia de
Roubigné is too Spanish.
I will read no more of these
sort of Books for some time
they interest ones feelings more
than they ought to do -- it is
wrong to waste our sensibility
on imaginary evils -- Adieu
my friend may you never experience
real ones to call forth
yours --
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 Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales
Shelfmark: GEO/ADD/3/83/12
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 19 September 1779
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales, on the Prince's just description of his character; and on his good opinion of Hamilton.
Hamilton considers the conclusion of 'Julia de Roubigné' 'too spanish', and states that 'I will read no more of these sort of Books for some time they interest my feelings more than they ought to do...'.
[A section has been cut away].
[Draft.]
Length: 1 sheet, 256 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: 10 December 2021