Diplomatic Text
[1]
X
3
1780
Indeed, my dear Miʃs Hamilton,
it is by no means a sinecure place,
that you have contrived for an aching
Head, when you appoint me to write
Criticisms upon Books, which I often
find it difficult even to read. Yet as I
likewise find it difficult to refuse
any Request, which you think proper to
make, I may as well take up that Tor-
-ment a pen, & do my best, in telling
you my Opinion of The Sorrows of Werter.[2]
The first point by which the
Merit of every writing ought to be
Estimated is its' moral Tendency. No
Force of Genius, no Elegance of Diction,
ought ever to seduce the Approbation
of a Reader, where this first & most
Sacred Obligation is, in any Degree
violated:
3
violated. The Character of Werter is
such as ought to inspire nothing but
Horror. His mind appears to be in a con
stant State of Rebellion against God, &
of the most savage pride & ill Temper
towards Men. Instead of endeavouring
to subdue an unwarrantable paʃsion, he
gives himself up to a gloomy discontent,
& thinks he is authorised to quit the World,
Whenever theits' Institutions happen to thwart
his wild Inclinations. The horrid Act
which terminates his Life, is not an Effect
of Sudden Frenzy, but a Consequence of
the deliberate principles of a mind im
patient of all Controul. It would have
been much better, that such a work should
not have been published: but the pub
lisher is at least highly censurable
that he did not add some Cautions a
-gainst the mischief, that it might pro
duce. It may perhaps be supposed that
the display of such a character as
Werter's, would counteract his Example,
[3]
X
But this is a dangerous position. But the
writers of novels & Tales, have treated the
paʃsion of Love as something so sublime,
& Superior to all common Rules of Actions,
that it is supposed to dignify every Extra
vagance, & to authorise every Breach of
Duty. The young & the Thoughtleʃs, who
have not sufficiently considered the Tendency
of such ------ pernicious Representa
-tions, must be reminded, before they
will recollect, that the man who hangs
or shoots himself because he cannot get
his neighbour's Wife, is as much a Rebel
to God, & an Offender against Society, as
if he was to hang or shoot himself because
he could not get his neighbours House
& Gardens, or his Service of plate.
It seems to be supposed by the Editor
that Werter was in a state of Insanity. It
is often hard to judge from whence this Calamity
arises. But it is very neceʃsary for every one
to be convinced, that without any unavoidable
Corporeal disorder, it may be brought on,
& seems to be so in Cases like his, by a
voluntary Indulgence of every paʃsion,
& an unbounded Compliance with every
Humour.
The Behaviour of Charlotte is
Surely very exceptionable. Her manner
of conversing with Werter, when she
was engaged to Albert was at least
very imprudent; but after she was
married to him, utterly unjustifiable.
Adieu my dear Miʃs Hamilton
till Breakfast, when I hope your Coffee
will clear my Head, which is sufficiently
confused by all this criticising. Yours
affectionately EC.
Ap: 17. 1780
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Four lines from MS Eng 1778 3a are visible behind the sheet at the top of the image.
2. This was the title given to the first English translation (1779, by Daniel Malthus) of Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774).
3. Once again, four lines from MS Eng 1778 3a are visible behind the sheet at the top of the image.
Normalised Text
Indeed, my dear Miss Hamilton,
it is by no means a sinecure place,
that you have contrived for an aching
Head, when you appoint me to write
Criticisms upon Books, which I often
find it difficult even to read. Yet as I
likewise find it difficult to refuse
any Request, which you think proper to
make, I may as well take up that Torment
a pen, & do my best, in telling
you my Opinion of The Sorrows of Werter.
The first point by which the
Merit of every writing ought to be
Estimated is its moral Tendency. No
Force of Genius, no Elegance of Diction,
ought ever to seduce the Approbation
of a Reader, where this first & most
Sacred Obligation is, in any Degree
violated. The Character of Werter is
such as ought to inspire nothing but
Horror. His mind appears to be in a constant
State of Rebellion against God, &
of the most savage pride & ill Temper
towards Men. Instead of endeavouring
to subdue an unwarrantable passion, he
gives himself up to a gloomy discontent,
& thinks he is authorised to quit the World,
Whenever its Institutions happen to thwart
his wild Inclinations. The horrid Act
which terminates his Life, is not an Effect
of Sudden Frenzy, but a Consequence of
the deliberate principles of a mind impatient
of all Control. It would have
been much better, that such a work should
not have been published: but the publisher
is at least highly censurable
that he did not add some Cautions against
the mischief, that it might produce
. It may perhaps be supposed that
the display of such a character as
Werter's, would counteract his Example,
But this is a dangerous position. But the
writers of novels & Tales, have treated the
passion of Love as something so sublime,
& Superior to all common Rules of Actions,
that it is supposed to dignify every Extravagance
, & to authorise every Breach of
Duty. The young & the Thoughtless, who
have not sufficiently considered the Tendency
of such pernicious Representations
, must be reminded, before they
will recollect, that the man who hangs
or shoots himself because he cannot get
his neighbour's Wife, is as much a Rebel
to God, & an Offender against Society, as
if he was to hang or shoot himself because
he could not get his neighbours House
& Gardens, or his Service of plate.
It seems to be supposed by the Editor
that Werter was in a state of Insanity. It
is often hard to judge from whence this Calamity
arises. But it is very necessary for every one
to be convinced, that without any unavoidable
Corporeal disorder, it may be brought on,
& seems to be so in Cases like his, by a
voluntary Indulgence of every passion,
& an unbounded Compliance with every
Humour.
The Behaviour of Charlotte is
Surely very exceptionable. Her manner
of conversing with Werter, when she
was engaged to Albert was at least
very imprudent; but after she was
married to him, utterly unjustifiable.
Adieu my dear Miss Hamilton
till Breakfast, when I hope your Coffee
will clear my Head, which is sufficiently
confused by all this criticising. Yours
affectionately Elizabeth Carter
April 17. 1780
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: Houghton Library Repository, Harvard University
Archive: Elizabeth Carter and Hannah More letters to Mary Hamilton
Item title: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: MS Eng 1778 3
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Carter
Place sent: London (certainty: medium)
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 17 April 1780
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton, giving her critical judgement on The Sorrows of Werter (1779), the first English translation, by Daniel Malthus, of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774), the epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832). Despite her headache, she is unwilling to turn down one of Hamilton's requests. In sum, Carter is horrified by the immorality of Werter's behaviour and especially his suicide.
Carter closes by looking forward to breakfasting with Hamilton and writes ‘I hope your Coffee will clear my Head’.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Clarges Street, 1780 April 17.
Length: 1 sheet, 538 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 13 January 2026)
Cataloguer: Bonnie B. Salt, Archivist, Houghton Library
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 7 April 2026
