Name/Title
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Mary (Molly) HamiltonEntry/Object ID
HHV 005.69Tags
Accessioned objectDescription
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Mary (Molly) HamiltonSubject
French courier, New Year’s, Christmas, sleigh rides, mince pies, doughnuts, London or Havre packet, “Conquest of Mexico” (book by William H. Prescott), Kohl’s Russia (book), annexation of Texas (against), this session of the Cortes suspended for royal laws and decrees, return of Queen mother delayed, laws to levy taxes suspended but still borrowing heavily, perfume from Baltimore (from Mama?and Rebecca?), death of Bulwer’s mother Mrs. Lytton, Brevoort traveling in Holland, Brevoort to return to NYC, courting and “beaux”, “sending round cards” for the seasonSubject Person/Organization
Alexander Hamilton III, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler, Johann Georg Kohl, Ramón María Narváez y Campos, Jasper Livingston, Fanny HoneSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Madrid, Spain, Nevis, London, UK, Havre, France, Baltimore, MD, Andalusia, Spain, Bayonne, France, Portsmouth, UK, Holland, New YorkCollection
Hamilton CollectionCataloged By
Tara R. IacobellisCategory
Documentary Artifact
Communication Artifacts
Letter Details
Letter Date
Dec 31, 1843Primary Language
EnglishTranscription
Transcription
Madrid December 31st 1843.
My dearest Molly :
Through some negligence or / stupidity we have only rec’d notice of the depar: / :ture of the French Courier an hour or two before / he sets off; I can’t resist the temptation / however of writing a few lines on the last / day of the year of grace 43 : _ How has / it ended with you? _ I hope merrily as / usual at Nevis in the midst of the family / and the frolics and sleigh rides and / mince pies and doughnuts and and the ten thousand / good things which belong to the season _ The / accounts of these doings will I expect reach / me before long by some London or Havre / packet :
Here we have been quick and stupid / enough : the Americans dined with us on / Christmas day, but they did not make a very / bright party : I was out of sorts with a /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Cold + cough, and only got up before dinner because / I felt it proper to make an effort on such an occasion / I lossed [^ missed] the midnight mass from the same reason, and / during the week have kept the house, reading / the “Conquest of Mexico” in sheets, and Kohl’s Russia :
We are in an agony of expectation as to the message / which excites much interest in advance generally / I hope the “Northerners” will make common cause against / any proposition to annex Texas which according to some / late accounts, does not seem very anxious to be / swallowed up by her elder brother.
There is a lull in politics after the / late excitement : The session of the Cortes has been / suspended by the Ministry in order, as they are / themselves announcing, to make laws and decrees / by royal ordinance _ Yet the present Cabinet have / a large majority in the Chambers and suspend the / sitting of the legislature to make [^ take] their measures / with greater freedom : In fact tho rule of the sword / is becoming more and more apparent, and Narvaez’ / military / coarse + promptness is said to be disagreeable / to the Moderados themselves : He is in fact the / gov’t which would not in all probability maintain /
[END OF PAGE 2]
Itself 5 days without him _ The Queen mother / seems hesitating as to her return, which has been / politicised together with two millions Dollars to keep / the machine in motion : _ For the last year there has / been no law to authorize the levying of taxes and the / Congress has been suspended without remedying this illegality / How they contrive to get on at all passes every body’s com: / :prehension: they keep borrowing in advance and putting / off the evil day :
I received by a Mr. Partridge of Balt’e / [Lecky’s?] pretty little flacon form John Bryant, in / excellent order, and found the perfume delightful _ It / amused me in the note to think of Mama’s wishing to / send some cake; which would probably have arrived / in a state of petrifaction :
It has been quite cold (for Madrid) and / the ice has formed about half an inch think on the / duck pond in the retiro : It is now raining and / seems trying to snow which the weather will say / is a prelude to the warm weather of Jan’y and / February _ we certainly enjoyed delightful days / last year during these months :
A party of my young friend sets / off in three weeks for Andalusia : Livingston, a / young Belgian Count Merdoz, and a Belgian attaché /
[END OF PAGE 3]
Baron Beeckman, the two last the most agreable young / men I have met here _ Bulwer is expected daily / having reached Bayonne on the 26h _ I hear of a pleasant / young bull in his suite _ We have just heard of the / death of his mother Mrs. Lytton.
I have a letter from Brevoort dated / Dec. 20 at Portsmouth; the day before sailing _ He / has been travelling in Holland and writs amusing / notices of his tour = I hope you will meet him in the / city this winter _ His accounts of Madrid are already / tho nearly a year old; but you will learn more / from him the [^ you did from] the Young Trojan.
So you see company tomorrow in / town, and the rising generation of beaux are / to pass in review - are there no bright lights / among them to keep pace with the clever and / accomplished young damsels who are flashing / into Society? _ I must write to Fanny Hone for / a catalogue which I am sure would be amus - / ing enough _ The compliments of the season / to you! _ Here instead of running about with / red noses + cold fingers we do the things more / genteelly by sending round our cards : Adios / thine A.H.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
H 903General Notes
Note Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Condition: GoodCreated By
tiacobellis@hudsonvalley.orgCreate Date
July 31, 2024Updated By
cmonaco@hudsonvalley.orgUpdate Date
October 17, 2025
