Name/Title
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Eliza Hamilton SchuylerEntry/Object ID
HHV 005.20Tags
Accessioned object, PairDescription
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Eliza Hamilton SchuylerSubject
Paper, weather, garden, flowers, mail packet, Washington Irving illness, Brevoort illness, packet Cunard, marriage of Mary Mason Jones Trobriand, balls relating to marriage in Paris, social protocol, Grandee and Diplomat class, bal costumé given by Duchess de Peñaranda, The Spectator, The Kamkatscha (Kamkatcha, a steamship), Lewis F. Linn bill on Oregon Territory, house of Cervantes, Spanish Cortes, speculation on upcoming marriage of Isabella II, theaters, balletSubject Person/Organization
Alexander Hamilton III, Eliza Hamilton Schuyler, Washington Irving, Henry Brevoort, George Lee Schuyler, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler, James Alexander Hamilton, Mary Mason Jones Trobriand, Madame Moulton, Isabella II, Prince NapoleanSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Madrid, Spain, New York, Paris, France, Oregon, Dobbs Ferry, NYCollection
Hamilton CollectionCataloged By
Tara R. IacobellisCategory
Documentary Artifact
Communication Artifacts
Acquisition
Source (if not Accessioned)
J.C. HamiltonNotes
J.C. Hamilton : Donor
Credit Line: Source: J. C. HamiltonLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
LetterNomenclature Primary Object Term
CorrespondenceNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsTranscription
Transcription
March 18th 1843
L’embarass du choix, my dear E., is almost as / bad as no choix at all; having within a few days / rec’d from Paris a huge supply of paper of all sorts / petit poulet, grand coquille, poulet d’ecu, +c +c, I have / been hesitating some time which to honor with these / lines to you: with your penchant for these things / you would be forced to scribble will ye, will ye / after an examination of the reams and quires on / the table near me:
Such delicious weather _ [? en revandu] / for the rain and chills of February, we have within / four days an anticipated month of June: I / am writing in the largest salon in the house (40 / feet long) both windows open on the Garden / and the sunshine partly excluded: The grass al: / :ready of the richest green, rose bushes fairly in / leaf, buds bursting + swelling and more than all/ a magnificent tulip of the richest red directly / under our eyes in the open air _ I am looking / forward with much pleasure to the “belle saison” / of Madrid; before the time comes out with a [?unrecovered] / sword to cut away every thing like verdure.
We have had for the last week a very / disabled legation: Mr. Irving is still confined to his /
As personal favor that he would not go to the ball, inasmuch / as the other Diplomats were [^ being] excluded, it would be improper +c. +c. / The poor Secretary urged in vain that he went in costume, that / be could not disappoint the ladies, the cotillion would be / broken up: The Minister persisted and the Secretary in / distress went to the young lady who in turn visited the Duchess / and she to get over this difficulty invited the Portuguese / Minister + family; this invitation [^ (thus extorted)] the [opposition?] say she / had the “lassesse” to accept; but the difficulty could not / end here; what was to be done with the other representatives? / after much debate it was decided to invite them (Sunday / morning) for the Ev’g and invitations were accordingly / issued _ It had been left too late in the opinion [^ of many] and / the foreign Gentlemen could not comprise official [???] / by attending under such circumstances _ It was as: - / :certained afterwards on comparing notes, that the French / Legation were [^ only] invited at 9 p.m. for a ball at 10. / The English ditto, besides the additional offence of omitting / my pretty friend Mrs. Scott + her husband, while Mr. / Irving & I (strange to say) had been horrified to appear / at ½ past one in the morning: this was one of the / mysterious circumstances connected with this strange affair _ Bad is it was with the Foreigners, matters / were still worse with the natives: The Duchess I / suppose in despair, commissioned an old gouty Count / on Sunday to ask in her name several persons of / the very bluest blood, and when the old gentleman /
[END OF PAGE 5]
Reported progress, either she had changed her mind or had / been misunderstood since she told him to undo his / morning’s work: he remonstrated: she was firm and / with a heavy heart he set about his task and about / the hour these grand dames were thinking [^ of their] dresses for / the bal, they rec’d notice that they would have no occasion / for them: _ this was the coup do grace; revenge was / now the only thing thought of: some had already com - / posed the bitter notes in answer to any future invitations / from Mad. Peñaranda, some too impatient to wait for / this, now pass her on the Prado, and instead of the / friendly not + wave of the hand, look daggers with / their sharp black eyes: _ In short their last “bal costume” / promised to be an epoch to future generations _ All / this seems stupid enough on paper, but here on the / spot it is very amusing to see such confusion about / nothing among that Proud + vain Class [^ in] which they / are [^ all] connected or related, and as a matter of course / [batoyer?] one another.
I have seen George’s letter in the Spectator / of Feb’y 11th and am highly pleased with these good / accounts of the Kam: I hope the Pamphlet has been sent through [Beasely?]
The passing of the bill on the Oregon territory / in the Senate, seems to me a very improper measure / and I am very glad to see by to day’s paper that /
[END OF PAGE 6]
A packet has arrived with dates to Feby 15th and / that the bill will fail in the House: M’Kenzie’s trial / excited a great deal of interest among us all, tho’ / I have not much anxiety as to the result.
All the people, foreigners + natives are very / kind, and send continually to unique about Mr. Irving. / The English Legation especially show much interest: / In the inc absence of more attracting matter Uncle / Geoffrey now and then looks over the [^ old] papers; and the / Notice of a “Steamboat to Dobbs Ferry every day Sunday / excepted’ makes him feel quite sympathetic/ At this / distance it appears to him an Earthly Paradise.
Have I told you of my pilgrimage to the House / in which Cervantes was born + died, in the street now / called after him? _ with the recollection of the hearty / + sometimes suffocating fits of laughter, which I owed / to him so long ago, I looked with quiet reverence at / the gloomy old Spanish house, and the Medallion in / the Wall, in which was a likeness is bas relief wand / a short inscription _
With these sunny days come thoughts of / excursions to Aranguez + the Escurial, as soon as / Mr. Irving is entirely restored _ I should delight / to have your with on an excursion to the latter / place, which has always struck my fancy [^ and] with / its mixed character of convent + palace, and its / gloomy magnificence, and seemed a good type of /
[END OF PAGE 7]
The [b??igt?] Philip 2nd its founder.
The Elections are part over and the Cortes / meet on the [4th?] next month _ as the time approaches / rumors fly about rapidly and this Ministers / changed every day or so: _ The little Queen is approaching / her majority, and loses [Every day] her childish appearance, and all / the northern powers with France to aid them, are busy / in determining who shall be the happy man, her / husband: _ To initiate [^ her] into the pomp of circumstance / of royalty she goes every now + then in state to the / Royal box reserved at each of the Theatres, and the / now ballet furnishes a topic of conversation to the puzzled / Diplomats at the next “besa manos”.
Prince Napolean is still here, and he’s made / arrangements contrary to his first intention, so remains some / time, he has had an audience + been to a ball at the Palaca and / we are with many [Burleigh?] nods + Whispers, hinting at his / designs: in fact he is very like his Uncle, but of a heavy / ungainly figure _
The Bull fights have commenced: on / Sunday last, they were magnificent, [mai?was?] much as two men / were badly wounded; one of whom was said to be in danger / This was reported to me, for I was not present. _
I send off tonight by the Courier to Ledyard: but / I hope to have letters in time to acknowledge them by this / same packet of April 4th _ Much love to all the / families in Laight Street and many kisses to the little / folks yours ever
Mrs. E.H. S. A. H.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
H 353 a-bGeneral Notes
Note Type
DepartmentNote
LibraryNote Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Condition: GoodCreated By
CHannanCreate Date
March 4, 2024Updated By
cmonaco@hudsonvalley.orgUpdate Date
September 29, 2025
