Diplomatic Text
30
Wrote Sunday sent Tuesday ½ past 9 oClock
7th Decbr- 1779
My Friend
▼
I sat down immediately to write an answer to yours -- ▼
the subject I own embarraʃses me but I will endeavour
wth. ye. utmost candorur u to give my sentiments. -- you have
not at all surprised me by ye. declaration -- you have
pleas'd me by your confidence -- you have hurt me
by your caution -- you have in some measure afflicted
me by proving yt your character will turn out what I
apprehended. -- Now my dear friend wth. respect to
ye. present object of your paʃsion & fancy -- I know not
what to say -- let me however take ye. liberty of sayingpointing
out that a female in yt. line has too much trick &
art not be a very dangerous object -- I do not reprove
you for having fix'd your affections -- for you tellwill tell
me -- beauty is aimiable as well as interesting -- how
was it poʃsible then for my Young friend to steel
his heart against ye. united forces of Beauty & innocence
when under (even ye. mock) appearance of distreʃs --
& likewise when yt. beauty & innocence cld- for his sake
& to attract his regard, condescend to use ye. common
little arts of her sex & profeʃsion to captivate & fix
a heart so much worth her while to conquer --
-- you desire me to “comfort” you -- what need can
you poʃsibly have for comfort -- I do not mean
to make you vain or presumptuous -- but I think
you may endulge ye. pleasing certainty that ye-
lady is so much in love returns your loveaffection ##[1]
-- you desire me to “pardon” you -- for what? have
you been to blame !? -- is not your fault an
involuntary one? -- you desire me to “pity” you
Can I refuse my pity to a person in your
unhappy situation -- that wld. be cruel indeed --
-- -- -- you say “Heaven knows when this paʃsion
will be extinguish'd” -- tho I think Heaven has nothing tdo do --
in ye- affair -- yet I cannot imagine why my friend
shld. be at all solicitous to extinguish a flame so pure --
refin'd -- & honorable. -- I wd. ad - vise you however to be ------------------ u ------------
upon yor. guard -- & not plunge yourself into misfortunes heedleʃsly. There is no irony in this.[2]
Adieu let me have your confidence -- I am &
Ever will be your friend -- & as long as you chuse
to allow it will expreʃs it. Adieu Adieu
Adieu.
I own my curiosity is rais'd to know why yo. find less time for
writing in yT—— than in ye. C—— are not yor. occupations ye. same? do not
suppose I mean to lay a tax upon yo. -- no -- I wd. have yo. be aʃsured my pride wd prevent my
soliciting for any involuntary act of friendship[3]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. There is apparently a symbol here, so far unexplained.
2. The ironic passage 'yet I cannot imagine ... honorable' originally ended mid-line, so that 'Adieu' commenced a new paragraph below. Subsequently, in a smaller hand, Hamilton inserted 'I would advise you however to be' to the end of the line and continued the passage to '... no irony in this.' as an extra line above 'Adieu ...'. For clarity of display the extra line has not been tagged as interlinear.
3. This line is written vertically along the right margin.
Normalised Text
Written Sunday sent Tuesday ½ past 9 o'Clock
7th December 17
My Friend
▼
I sat down immediately to answer yours -- ▼
the subject I own embarrasses me but I will endeavour
with the utmost candour to give my sentiments. -- you have
not at all surprised me by the declaration -- you have
pleased me by your confidence -- you have hurt me
by your caution -- you have in some measure afflicted
me by proving that your character will turn out what I
apprehended. -- Now my dear friend with respect to
the present object of your passion & fancy -- I know not
what to say -- let me however take the liberty of pointing
out that a female in that line has too much trick &
art not be a very dangerous object -- I do not reprove
you for having fixed your affections -- for you tell
me -- beauty is amiable as well as interesting -- how
was it possible then for my Young friend to steel
his heart against the united forces of Beauty & innocence
when under (even the mock) appearance of distress --
& likewise when that beauty & innocence could for his sake
& to attract his regard, condescend to use the common
little arts of her sex & profession to captivate & fix
a heart so much worth her while to conquer --
-- you desire me to “comfort” you -- what need can
you possibly have for comfort -- I do not mean
to make you vain or presumptuous -- but I think
you may indulge the pleasing certainty that the
lady returns your love ##
-- you desire me to “pardon” you -- for what? have
you been to blame ? -- is not your fault an
involuntary one? -- you desire me to “pity” you
Can I refuse my pity to a person in your
unhappy situation -- that would be cruel indeed --
-- -- -- you say “Heaven knows when this passion
will be extinguished” -- though I think Heaven has nothing to do --
in the affair -- yet I cannot imagine why my friend
should be at all solicitous to extinguish a flame so pure --
refined -- & honourable. -- I would advise you however to be
upon your guard -- & not plunge yourself into misfortunes heedlessly. There is no irony in this.
Adieu let me have your confidence -- I am &
Ever will be your friend -- & as long as you choose
to allow it will express it. Adieu Adieu
Adieu.
I own my curiosity is raised to know why you find less time for
writing in Town than in the Country are not your occupations the same? do not
suppose I mean to lay a tax upon you -- no -- I would have you be assured my pride would prevent my
soliciting for any involuntary act of friendship
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/3/83/30
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 7 December 1779
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales, on his declaration of his love [for Mary Robinson].
Hamilton writes that the Prince has pleased her by his confidence, and advises that 'a female of that line has too much trick & art not to be a very dangerous object'. Hamilton questions why the Prince has less time to write.
Written Sunday, sent Tuesday at ½ past 9 o'clock.
[Draft.]
Length: 1 sheet, 453 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: 10 December 2021