Name/Title
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Mary (Molly) HamiltonEntry/Object ID
HHV 005.64Tags
Accessioned objectDescription
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Mary (Molly) HamiltonSubject
“People’s lines”?, “carretela”, Mr. Irving’s carriage, “our fiery steeds, Mayoral + Zagal”, “Guia del Escorial”, a “real Alcoran”, French courier, National Intelligencer, Mr. I. at Versailles, Irving sick again, Irving in Paris, Christino Generals, restriction on ringing of church bells at night, Convent Church + Palace of Escurial, battle of St. Quintin, D’Alborgo’s dinner, white pants on hot days, Jasper Livingston as Madrid attaché soon, secret room where Philip 2nd convalesced before he died, victory of Lepanto, Philip 2 secret seat for Mass, Te DeumSubject Person/Organization
Alexander Hamilton III, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler, Washington Irving, Madame and Monsieur Jose Francisco de Paula Cavalcani de Albuquerque, Carlos Fernando Martínez de Irujo y McKean, Jasper Livingston, Angelica LivingstonSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Madrid, Spain, Escurial, Spain, Puerta San Vicente, Spain, Versailles, France, Paris, France, England, Puerto del Sol, SpainCollection
Hamilton CollectionCataloged By
Tara R. IacobellisCategory
Documentary Artifact
Communication Artifacts
Letter Details
Letter Date
Oct 4, 1843Primary Language
EnglishTranscription
Transcription
My dearest M:
I have been so much accustomed of late to scribble / to some member of the family every two or three days, that it / appears a long time since I wrote last; tho I believe it is little / more than a week : I know that I suffered the last French / Courrier to go away with only a note to Mr. Irving, which is / quite contrary to my usual practice : by the next I must write / for the steamers of 19th and I thus begin to you my notices :
My arrangements are made; bargain struck; + / tomorrow morn’g at 7 precisely I set off for __ the Escurial : / much ado about nothing you’ll say, after passing a year within / 20 miles of it; and to tell the simple truth I cannot quite account / for it myself; but I have deferred it from time to time for good / weather and good company and now I hope I have secured both : neither is it such an easy matter as [^ (it would appear)] in your land of “People’s / lines” + no monopoly”; here you must hire a most antiquated / looking thing called a “carretela”, and you must have relays / on your route; and after all you must occupy 6 or 7 hours in / reaching your destination _ “My party consists of the Brazilian / Secretary “M. Siquiera, a very amiable young gentleman; and a / Belgian attaché : they breakfast with me, and at half past / six we set out in Mr. Irving’s carriage, for the Puerta San / Vicente where our fiery steeds, Mayoral + Zagal, will be in /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Waiting on the road : _ We remain at the Escurial tomorrow and / return on Friday afternoon for the French courier of Saturday and a / “diner monstre” at the Danish Representatives _ I have been studying / the “Guia del Escorial” until I am bewildered with the Statues, pictures, / Courts and fountains _ There is moreover (I believe I’ve not mentioned it / before) a real Alcoran; one of the two or three sacred copies extant about / which there is a singular anecdote : a Turkish Ambassa it was captured / at the Battle of Lepanto where it was in the Admiral’s galley as a sort / of charm against the infidels and when it was afterwards exhibited / to a Turkish Ambassador at the Escorial, he fell on his knees before it _ / went through divers contortions and finally clasping it to his breast, placed / himself in the midst of his suite who with drawn swords were about to / face their way out, with the book as a trophy _ the halbardiers were / called and the Christian dogs made the true believers yield their prize __ / since then to guard against such accidents, a copy has been made which / is exhibited to the multitude as the real original, ?-arley?], which in [^ all] the / mean time [^ while] is [^ in] safety under double locks _ I have a note as an “opne / sesame” to see the book, and shall tell you what it looks like.
I have just returned from a pleasant visit to your / friends, the Calderons, who are now established at the other end of the / town, near the Albuquerque's _ Don Angel was very anxious to obtain / a number of the National Intelligencer, which contained a notice of his / works and as it arrived this morn’g I carried it to him _ He seems a very / amiable individual, but something of a proser, and Ive an idea Madame / is a little but of that same opinion _ she is lively and agreable and makes / a favourable impression upon every body _ the notice I have mentioned is / supposed to be by Prescott; very flattering, or as [MacGrawler?] would call [^ it] “in the / blustering style” _
I have letters from Mr. I. at Versailles_ not encouraging _ the
[END OF PAGE 2]
Malady was brought [^ back] again with some violence by the Journey so that he / had ot left the house in ten days save in a carriage _ he intends putting / himself under the care of the best advice in Paris _ Brevoort had been out / to see him from Paris before leaving for England _
We are in pretty much the same [^ state] as when I last wrote; the / city being a sory of Entrenched Camp _ The Puerta del Sol is occupied every / night in force; sentinels posted; occasionally camion placed to make the approaches / and all the precautions taken as if in front of a vigilant enemy _ notices even / placed forbidding the formation of groups after dark and Navaez is repor : / :ted to have ordered the troops to fire whenever a crowd was collected; tho / this last I cannot believe _ an attempt was to have been made to raise the / alarm + give the signal of insurrection by ringing the bells of all the churches: / Orders have been issued in consequence forbidding the ringing of bells at / night even in case of fire; so there is now the choice between being burnt up / or blown up : The poor soldiers have hard duty marching + countermarching / at all hours of the day + night; but as they have such excellent bands, I cannot / find it in my heart to pity them _ There is no doubt ample reason for all / this display of force in the well known hostility of a great part of the national / Guard to the present Ministry and especially [^ to] the Christino Generals who support / it and the plots and conspiracies which are openly talked of; for it is one / of the many extraordinary points in this country that a political movement / is generally known some time before it takes place, by way of notice to thseo whom / it threatens and who are usually not a jot better prepared for it = Good / night _ I am tired with running about a good deal today and must prepare / for starting fresh early in the matin _ A.H. Saturday afternoon _ I returned / last Ev’g from the Escurial by moonlight without having met with an adventures / and after accomplishing all the sights connected with the Convent Church + Palace / all in one building _ You know the story about the origin _ Philip 2nd’s gratitude / [^ to] San Lorenzo (on whose day he gained the battle of St. Quintin), to whom he promised / a building in which they should live together and he certainly gave the Saint / the better part of the building : It is a grand pile . about 800 by 600 feet, in the /
[END OF PAGE 3]
Form of a gridiron (to commemorate the broiling of the saint) of which Philip / modestly occupied the [handle?] _ The exterior is gloomy; the windows small and / generally grated give it a good deal the appearance of a prison : There are 10,000 / some odd windows in all _ The principal Church is magnificent and the / effect as fine as in any I have seen _ Saturday Ev’g 10. P.m. _ I was obliged to / stop here inorder to dress for D’Alborgo’s dinner _ having been occupied / great part of the morning with the first despatch under my own sign / manual to the Secretary, the hours passed more rapidly than I / supposed _ the dinner was terrible; only 34 at table _ Ministers of state, diplo: / mats + grandees in rather too close company for 3 mortal hours on a warm / Ev’g,; for altho we are beginning October, the sun is very hot + white pants the / order of the day, on midday, at least _ Mr. + Mad’e D’albuquerque , our half / countryman, Casa-Irujo whose father married a daughter of Judge McKean of / Pennsyl’a; Duke D’Assuna, and a sprinkling of Courts + Marquises, all very fine / folks in their way _ After the heat + discomfort I have been enjoying a drive / on the solitary Prado; by the light of a full moon, in a cloudless sky _ very / pretty + picturesque _ and have just returned to make up my package _
I have [^ more] letters from Mr. Irving at Versailles in which he / mentions the return of his malady _ probably brought on my travelling night and / day _ and his intention to place himself under the best advice in Paris . _ / Jasper Livingston is coming on here in two or three weeks as attaché _ I don’t know / him, but hear he is gentlemanlike + quiet : _ good taste he can’t have, as he does / not admire Miss Angelico _
By the bye I have hardly said anything about the Excurial / but descriptions are bad unless very good, + I shall bring you my guide book : / however I will mention one or two points in relation to Philip 2nd _ on a level with / the first platform below the high altar is a small door with lights, which leads to / a very small apartment or box, + there to his old palace _ here he lay ill with / the gout a year + died in sight of the altar; from his couch he could see the / Mass + months monks [^ priests]; from [^ whom] he was only distant 20 feet _ with the general views / of his character one would suppose he got as near to the Church as possible to es : / :cape the devil. _ In the choir, where the carved seats of the monks range round the / wall, he occupied one in the corner with a concealed door in the wainscot that / he might enter unobserved _ he was seated here during Mass, when a messenger / whispered the news of the victory of Lepanto _ he dismissed the officer /
[END OF PAGE 4]
[CROSSED ON PAGE 1]
Without exhibiting any emotion : but when the ceremony was ended crossed out illegible [^ advanced] to the Prior + asked him to / celebrate a Te Deum in gratitude to God for this signal favor _ if he was a hypocrite as they say it must / be owned he acted well his part _ I hope for letters tomorrow by the steamer of the / 10th Sept. and to hear that you are all well and / happy : _ I shall probably write again by / mail to acknowledge the receipt of your / epistles in time for the packet of / Oct 19th _ A great deal of love to all.
Your affectionate
AHTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
H 898General Notes
Note Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Condition: GoodCreated By
tiacobellis@hudsonvalley.orgCreate Date
July 31, 2024Updated By
cmonaco@hudsonvalley.orgUpdate Date
October 17, 2025
