Name/Title
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to James A. Hamilton and Mary (Molly) HamiltonEntry/Object ID
HHV 005.26Tags
Accessioned objectDescription
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to James A. Hamilton and Mary (Molly) HamiltonSubject
Cunard Steamer, Great Western, French courier, “Master Phil’s conduct”, Visit to Toledo, Brevoort to Barcelona, The Bible in Spain by George Borrow, “Gentlemen of the Road”, Cortés, Life and Writings of Lope de Vega by Lord HollandSubject Person/Organization
Alexander Hamilton III, James Alexander Hamilton, Washington Irving, Philip Paulding, James Carson Brevoort, Antonio Buchini, Isabella II, Infante Francisco de Paula, Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples and Sicily, Manuel José Quintana y Lorenzo, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler, Mary Morris HamiltonSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Barcelona, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Italy, Malta, Toledo, Spain, Madrid, SpainCollection
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 ObjectsLetter Details
Letter Date
Apr 8, 1843Sender
Name
A. H.Address
Cunard Steamer
19h April
James A Hamilton Esq.
(for Miss M.H.)
Nevis
Westchester County
New York.
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
Alexander
Madrid
19th April
1843.Transcription
Transcription
Saturday Evening April 8: 1843
7 o’clock
The weeks fly round pretty rapidly, my dear M, / when one’s time is occupied; and here we are scribbling away [^ again], / for the French Courier who is off at Eight; and is for us almost / the last chance for the Cunard Steamer of the 19th.
We looked to day certainly for the letters by the / Great Western, bit rec’d nothing from home but as old paper of / February 25th:_ I have an expectation that with these letters by the / Western you will again be quietly installed at home, tho I hope not / if the season be as disagreeable as our March weather generally.
Mr. Irving is improving quite are grand galop [sic] within / a few days; this morning the air was so soft and agreable [sic] / that we were tempted to drive out along what is called the / French road, up the valley of the Manzanares, towards the / Mountains _ about a pretty little clump of trees; and there / walked about in the shade enjoying himself exceedingly: he / was so much pleased [^with the spot] that we brought the cushions from / the carriage; made a couch for him on the grass at the / foot of a tree, and near the river bank: It was a very / pretty bit of rurality, and after the confinement of a sick / room appeared [^ to] him a little paradise in which he / reclined a la Turque, listening in a dreamy state to the the /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Singing of birds and the murmer [sic] of the water : already we talk / of pic-nics, and “little baskets”; Mad’e Albuquerque, and her small / family _ He is much troubled with the last news from home, / and Master Phil’s conduct, which I suppose has been duly discussed / by Mrs. Sheldon and the neighbours generally.
We are to [you?] our Young Brevoort next Wednesday / when he sets off for Barcelona en route for Italy and Sicily _ He / has been my daily companion for more than ten months, and has / so many amiable + delightful qualities that I shall feel very / much the loss of his society : I am hurrying him of notwithstanding, / and give myself credit for a Roman virtue in so doing, as I am afraid / he will lose, unless he has a fair start, the visit to Sicily and / Malta _ Sẽnor [Anx-mes?] is not a very entertaining companion / so that there will be no third man in the family for the Minister / or the [Misses?Mysen?] : We must be each other’s daily bread for some time to / come : fortunately we appear to be improving in each others ac - / quaintance as we advance :
Mr. I. is now so much better that he will begin to / see his friends; and I have therefore engaged a Carriage today to / visit Toledo on Wednesday next: _ My party (for I have got it up) / consists of four: Albuquerque, Count [Marnis?] (Belgium), Ames, / and your brother : _ We have a shay and four horses, and will be / absent four days, spending Thursday and Friday, (the great days / of the holy week) at Toledo and returning on Saturday _ I have / a great curiosity to see this picturesque old Town and its glorious / Cathedrals : I suppose you saw in Borrow’s book that the /
[END OF PAGE 2]
Jews of Toledo were [sp–sed?] by the Spaniards on the ground that they / had emigrated from Jerusalem before the brith of our Saviour and of / course had no part in that terrible act of their countrymen :_ Apropos / of Borrow : they tell so many queer stories of him here that one doubts / a very considerable part of his amusing adventures : we have made / the discovery that his squire of the body ‘Antonio Buchini’, is our / cook! _ his own announcement of himself “Je suis Grec; Je suis [frei?frer?] et j’ai des principes” is so far from the fact; unless the prin - / ciples he alludes to, are those of robbing whenever he can get a / chance, that “like Master like man” makes us doubt some of the / amusing [^strange] adventures _ To return to Toledo ) all the world and his / wife are going from Madrid to see the shows, and the Gentlemen of / the Road, unless alarmed at the numbers will have fine picking in / the neighborhood of the old gothic town : It would be a great / cast of their net if they should capture a minister; a chargé, sec- / -retary + so forth at one haul : _
I have a correspondence with Mrs. Ledyard inter alia / about lace scarfs which it seems are very magnifique et pas cheres / here : I shall look out for you Girls if I find any thing pretty / in that way . _ /
The Cortés are sitting and I attends the debates / and learns a little [^ of the] Spanish language and Politics + The Queen / Uncle “Francisco de Paula” has been elected Deputy and takes his / seat in the midst of the Radical Republican party _ The Spaniards / who are very ready with the sobriquets, call him, Paco (the abbreviation / of Francis) Egalité _ He’s a very great simpleton as seems to be a / necessary consequence of his birth, but his wife is a restless political / intriguante, and is busy trying to marry her son to the young / Isabella; This worthy couple had an interview with their niece /
[END OF PAGE 3]
The other day, who according to the paper shed tears of joy in the / arms of her affectionate relations. /
I have been introduced to the famous Quintana; the first / of the living Spanish poets and Lord Holland’s friend of 36 years standing / to whom he dedicated his “Lope de Vega” _ He is very interesting old / man of more than 70 : Has been in dungeons for years, and only / escaped hanging by a miracle, for the cause of freedom and is now /
In a green old age : he also [sic] a Director of the studies of the little / Queen : It is mentioned of in proof of his independence that Godoy at / the height of his power could not induce Quintana by any temptation / to write a single line in his favor :_
I have but a few minutes + must sign, seal and deliver : / What pleasures we look forward to in the receipt of news tomorrow : / We have June suns and the lilacs under our window in flower 👍
Much love to Mama and all
Your affec brother A. H.
[ADDRESS]
Cunard Steamer
19h April
James A Hamilton Esq.
(for Miss M.H.)
Nevis
Westchester County
New York.
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
Alexander
Madrid
19th April
1843.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
H 384General Notes
Note Type
DepartmentNote
LibraryNote Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Condition: GoodCreated By
CHannanCreate Date
March 4, 2024Updated By
cmonaco@hudsonvalley.orgUpdate Date
October 8, 2025
