Diplomatic Text
1789
Madam
I never since the first
hour that (the universally & deservedly
respected) Mrs. Carter first solicited me
to make acquaintance with you ever
deviated in attention or politeneʃs
towards you wch. I can certainly prove You have done towards me -- from the idea she gave
me of your character I entered into a
friendship with you & you appeared
upon further knowledge to merit the
confidence I placed in you. When
the misunderstanding took place between
you & Mrs. Carter I did not interfere as you are pleased to affirm & she can tell you,
but acted with as much delicacy as
was poʃsiblye. I was Madam glad
to hear of your having made overtures to
Mrs. Carter for a reconciliation because
I thought you owed it to her, & to yourself.
In answer to some parts of your last
letter I will only say that hearingas soon as I heard Dr. B &
You were at Bath I apprehendedimagined your
were there for ye. benifit of your health
& desired Mr: D: to enquire -- & also to after this
desired I requested he wld. call & beg'd
beg Mrs. Rundell would expreʃs my
concern when I was informed of Dr- B——
illneʃs & my ------ apprehension for what you must
------------ suffer & what I apprehended you wld- suffer from
his loʃs[1] -- I should have
been indeed been divested indeed of feeling &
common humanity had I meant to
have insulted (as you Madm. are
pleasedchoose to say) the memory of Dr. B.
for whom I coud have no other than the
proper respect of a stranger who had
heard him it favorably spoken of
I did I not think a reperusal it would
hurt you, I would return your last letter
-- wch. is rude you must pardon me if I
say is the most illbred I ever recd from
any person who had a titleclaim to ye. appellation
of a Gentlewoman. & that your accusations
are void of foundation & truth.
I can aver Madam that I never
saw you when I was last in Town, except
one day when I was at Ld C.s in Stanhope Street standing
at ye. window of yr. Drg Room I then made yo. a courtesy wch. you did not
return. It was you Madm: who chose to decline
my acquaintaince -- for on ye. 17th of
Feby 1783 you wrote to thank me for
my good wishes &c desired a friendly
intercourse might continue[2] &c -- on ye.
Eveg of ye. same day sent an excuse for
not waiting on me -- hoped you shld. have
“better luck” ye. next time I was at
liberty[3] &c. &c I sent again -- you was
engaged & from that time I never
heard any thing more from you.
I canshall not conclude my letter Madam
as you did yours in saying I am your Obdt.
Humble. Servt. but with truth in charity & Christianity
that I am your well wisher
M: D:
You need not Madam be under any
apprehensions that I mean ever to attempt
a renewal of of acquaintaince
I shall only continue to regard you
as I have done since ye. Year 1783
as one of ye. many instances of ye-
imperfection & fickleneʃs of human
Nature
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Dickenson had reported as follows: ‘I met Mrs. R[undell] upon the parades She has been much taken up with aſsisting Mrs. Beavoir whose
Husband is dead & I found her giving orders for the funeral’ (see HAM/1/2/19 p.3).
2. See HAM/1/22/55.
3. See HAM/1/22/57.
Normalised Text
1789
Madam
I never since the first
hour that (the universally & deservedly
respected) Mrs. Carter solicited me
to make acquaintance with you
deviated in attention or politeness
towards you which I can certainly prove You have done towards me -- from the idea she gave
me of your character I entered into a
friendship with you & you appeared
upon further knowledge to merit the
confidence I placed in you. When
the misunderstanding took place between
you & Mrs. Carter I did not interfere as you are pleased to affirm & she can tell you,
but acted with as much delicacy as
was possible. I was Madam glad
to hear of your having made overtures to
Mrs. Carter for a reconciliation because
I thought you owed it to her, & to yourself.
In answer to some parts of your last
letter I will only say that as soon as I heard Dr. Beauvoir &
You were at Bath I imagined you
were there for the benefit of your health
& desired Mr: Dickenson to enquire after this
I requested he would call & begged
Mrs. Rundell would express my
concern when I was informed of Dr- Beauvoir
illness & what I apprehended you would suffer from
his loss -- I should have
been divested indeed of feeling &
common humanity had I meant to
have insulted (as you Madam
choose to say) the memory of Dr. Beauvoir
for whom I could have no other than the
proper respect of a stranger who had
heard him favourably spoken of
did I not think it would
hurt you, I would return your last letter
-- which you must pardon me if I
say is the most illbred I ever received from
any person who had a claim to the appellation
of a Gentlewoman. & that your accusations
are void of foundation & truth.
I can aver Madam that I never
saw you when I was last in Town, except
one day when I was at Lord Cremornes in Stanhope Street standing
at the window of yr. Drawing Room I then made yo. a courtesy which you did not
return. It was you Madam who chose to decline
my acquaintance -- for on the 17th of
February 1783 you wrote to thank me for
my good wishes & desired a friendly
intercourse might continue &c -- on the
Evening of the same day sent an excuse for
not waiting on me -- hoped you should have
“better luck” the next time I was at
liberty &c. &c I sent again -- you was
engaged & from that time I never
heard any thing more from you.
I shall not conclude my letter Madam
as you did yours in saying I am your Obedient
Humble Servant but with truth in charity
that I am your well wisher
Mary Dickenson
You need not Madam be under any
apprehensions that I mean ever to attempt
a renewal of acquaintance
I shall only continue to regard you
as I have done since the Year 1783
as one of the many instances of the
imperfection & fickleness of human
Nature
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester
Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers
Item title: Letter from Mary Hamilton to Mary Sharpe (later Beauvoir)
Shelfmark: HAM/1/22/54
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: to be determined
Addressee: Mary Beauvoir (née Sharpe, later Douglas)
Place received: to be determined
Date sent: 24 August 1789
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to Mary Beauvoir (née Sharpe) in which Hamilton writes on the subject of a dispute she had with Sharpe (see HAM/1/22/43 and HAM/1/22/52). She notes that Mrs Carter had initially suggested that Hamilton make acquaintance with Sharpe, and that Hamilton had become friends with Sharpe and placed her confidence in her. When Sharpe had a misunderstanding with Carter, Hamilton did not interfere, 'as you are pleas'd to affirm'. Hamilton adds that she was happy when they reconciled. She continues on the subject of the dispute and describes Sharpe's last letter as 'the most ill bred I ever read from any person' who claims to be 'a Gentlewoman'. She writes that Sharpe's 'accusations are void of foundation & truth'. She refers to an instance 'on ye. 17th of Febry 1783' which Hamilton considers to be a snub from Sharpe (see HAM/1/22/56 and HAM/1/22/57). She concludes with a postscript stating that she will not renew their acquaintance and 'shall only continue to regard [Sharpe] as I have done since ye. Year 1783 as one of ye. many instances of ye. imperfection & fickleness of human Nature'.
Length: 1 sheet, 516 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).
All quotation marks are retained in the text and are represented by appropriate Unicode characters. Words split across two lines may have a hyphen on the first, the second or both fragments (reco-|ver, imperfect|-ly, satisfacti-|-on); or a double hyphen (pur=|port, dan|=ger, qua=|=litys); or none (respect|ing). Any point in abbreviations with superscripted letter(s) is placed last, regardless of relative left-right orientation in the original. Thus, Mrs. or Mrs may occur, but M.rs or Mr.s do not.
Acknowledgements: XML version first created without transcription as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1. Transcription added after the funded period under the supervision of David Denison and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza.
Transliterator: Pete Morris, Artificial Intelligence and Ideas Adoption (AIIA), The University of Manchester Library (Plain text transliteration submitted 22 May 2025)
Cataloguer: Lisa Crawley, Archivist, The John Rylands Library
Cataloguer: John Hodgson, Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 16 October 2026
