Name/Title
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to James Alexander HamiltonEntry/Object ID
HHV 005.37Tags
Accessioned objectDescription
Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to James Alexander HamiltonSubject
Olozaga returns from Paris, Olozaga appointed Minister to Paris, Olozaga Instructor to the Queen, Olozaga Knight of the Golden Fleece, Moderato party, Aristocratic party, voting on Isabella II majority, declaration of Isabella II majority, insurrection continues, Vigo revolt, The Eureka (steamboat venture), strawberries, Alexander's intention to return around June/July 1844Subject Person/Organization
Alexander Hamilton III, James Alexander Hamilton, Salustiano de Olózaga y Almandoz, Manuel Cortina, General Baldomero Espartero, Isabella II, Mary Morris HamiltonSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Madrid, Spain, Paris, France, Galicia, 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 ObjectsTranscription
Transcription
Madrid Thursday Evening Nov 9th 1843
My dear Papa :
I have just finished a long despatch of many foolscap / pages to the government, giving them an account of the late events / here and I will now recapitulate a part of it for your benefit :
On Saturday last after three weeks work the / Chamber of Deputies had united a sufficient number of members / to be constituted and elect a President : Mr/ Olozaga, who had / returned a few days before from his mission to Paris, was generally / designated as the Candidate : I believe I have told you that / the “progresistas” (liberals) and Moderados united to put down / Espartero and after his fuall called themselves the “parliamentary / party” _ Olozaga, the son of an obscure Country physician belonged / to the former, and was with, Cortina his rival, at the head of / the party _ very soon after the provisional government was es - / tablished Corima showed signs of disaffection, and in spite of / all efforts to conciliate him, at length announced “the he did / not accept the situation” or in other words declared himself / an enemy to the gov’t _ under these circumstances Olozaga became / all important to the Moderato party : He was appointed Minis- / ter to Paris, Instructor to the Queen, and at length made a Knight / of the Golden Fleece : this last was a bitter pill to the “Aristocratic / party : the order in question being generally confined to Crowned / heads and royal princes, and only possessed by a very few of / the oldest in Spain _ The provisional Ministry of /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Lopez, it was expected, would retire as soon as the Queen was declared / of age, and M. Olozaga who had been intriguing against, and had / overthrown, some half dozen ministries, would then deign to accept / office and carry on the government.
This was the state of things up to Saturday [^ last] the day / for the election of the President of the Chamber _ all the caucuses which / were held to bring about a union of parties, or rather of factions having / failed in their object _ after balloting twice, Olozaga was elected / by a majority of only six votes more than the number requisite for / a choice _ Cortina being his opponent : It is now reported that Olozaga / with such a feeble support will not undertake the formation of a / cabinet; and as the Lopez and his friends retire, the little Queen runs / the risk of being abandoned by constitutional advisers at the very / time when she will be in the greatest need of them _ It is certainly a / most complicated position _ The Moderados and friends of Christina influence / the army thro Narvaez and the other generals; but tho they assert they / have also with them the majority of the nation, it does not appear / so from the constitution of the popular branch of the legislature where / the progresistas greatly outnumber them _ In all this confusion there / seems very little importance attached to a difference of principle; / men are all things, political opinions _ nothing _ It would be difficult / to say on what points of policy Olozaga + Cortina differ save the / cardinal one of being in or out of office. _ Every body intrigues with / every body else _ sometimes it seems as if they were in opposition from / the mere love of a row; since it has happened repeatedly that both / Olozaga + Cortina have pulled down a ministry would [^ without] being willing / to build up one in its place. _ I am told on good authority that one / of the present ministers is at the same [^ time] in correspondence with Don Carlos / and Gen’l Linage, the Agent of Espartero in Gallicia [sic]; and it is confidently / asserted that Cortina who was bullying the Lopez Cabinet and obtaining /
[END OF PAGE 2]
Whatever he wanted for his friends [^ in Madrid] was at the same time stirring up the / insurrections of the provinces and aiding to overthrow the government which / he had so lately helped to establish :
The President having been elected on Saturday _ on Monday / the subject of the Queens majority was taken up; and after being discussed two / days; the voting by the two chambers united was fixed for Wednesday : long / before the appointed hour the streets leading to the Palace of the Deputies were / occupied by the people; and the tribunes + Galleries crowded with Spectators / The Deupties + Senators sat together promiscuously; the President of the Senate taking / a long time it seemed as if question would pass unanimously, but at length / a no was heard, followed 15 others, all received with murmurs of disapprobation / _ The majority however was very large; the numbers being 193 to 16 : upon the / official announcement by the Secretary “The Cortes declare of age Queen / [page torn]-la 2nd” the Spectators in the galleries broke into loud “vivas” in [wax seal] / [page torn]-ere soon joined by the Senators + Deputies who rose in their pla-[wax seal] / and cheered tumultuously waving their hats in the most uproarious manner / It was a very exciting scene, all who were present taking part in it expect / the foreign representatives _ The session closed amid shaking of hands and / mutual congratulations between members and lookerson; and the news / was soon spread over the city by the pealing of bells and firing of cannon _ / In the Evening there were Serenades and illuminations; and like true Spa: / niards the people are pleased with a “funcion” without thinking much / about the end or object of it :
Tomorrow Friday the 10th is the day appointed / for the ceremony of coronation and taking the oaths _ I have just received an / invitation from the Introducer of Ambassadors, who announces that the Queen / will proceed at 2 pm to the Palace of the Senate and that the ceremony will / be celebrated “de gran gala” _ one of the first acts of the new royalty as I hear / to be a grand dinner to the distinguished strangers who reside at her Court / and who have not for some time been troubled by regal hospitalities _ My / long friend Mr. Livingston goes about with me to the shows and sights and /
[END OF PAGE 3]
Has been fortunate in coming to Spain at such an interesting period.
The Insurrection still drags on at the old points and has lately / broken out in new ones _ Vigo an important port of Galicia having revolted / about ten days ago : It seems likely that the declaration of the Queen’s majority will / have have some effect on these places, who [^ they] affect great veneration for the royal / authority in General and this little Queen in particular.
I am delighted that our [^ domestic] affairs are sharing the prosperity of the country / and look forward with interest to the first performances of the “Eureka”; a / name of good omen at least _
You must think of me this winter, should any / opening present itself; as I have no inclination to defer my return beyond / the period you mention _ June and July next : I begin already to think of Nevis / strawberries from one’s own vines _ Good night _ I must dispatch my package / by tonights mail to the punctual miller, for the steamer of the 29th /
Many kisses to Mama + the Girls Your affectionate son
A.H.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
H 871General Notes
Note Type
DepartmentNote
LibraryNote Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Condition: GoodCreated By
CHannanCreate Date
March 4, 2024Updated By
cmonaco@hudsonvalley.orgUpdate Date
October 8, 2025
