Diplomatic Text
17.
Deal July 1. 1782
▼
It was with great pleasure
My dear Friend that I received your kind
Letter, & your Communication of that which
You were so good to inclose. I do not regularly
Correspond --- with Miʃs More, but she was so
good to promise, She would give me some Account
of my Niece. Whether the Child is yet sent to
Bristol, or where she is I am kept in profound
Ignorance. I have heard nothing of her for
Some Time before I left Town: I could not answer
her last Letter, because I knew not where she
was. I forget how far the Letter which
You inclosed might require an Answer: but I
am persuaded it must always be a pleasure to
Miʃs Sharpe to hear from you.
Indeed I often join with you
in the wish, all fruitleʃs as it is, that you
could make one in our party at Deal: yet like
you I acquiesce in Things as they are ordered. If
all who delight in the society of each other, could
always be together, the world would be split into
little separate parties, & all the great & general
plan of Life would be frustrated. We have
all our different Duties aʃsigned us, which
must often neceʃsarily interrupt the personal
Intercourse of private Friendship: but the
Affection may be kept alive in Absence, &
We may ani& those who are connected by virtuous
Sentiments, may animate each other in
the faithful discharge of their appointed
------ Tasks, encouraged by the joyful
Hope, that through whatever various
paths they are destined to tread, all will
unite at the End of the Journey, in that
universal Home, where Toil & Separation
are for ever at an End. In the mean
Time let us thankfully Enjoy whatever
Hours of social Comfort are indulged us
to alleviate the Busineʃs that we have
to perform. I look forward with you
with Cheerful Hope to the Time of our
meeting in Winter. En attendant be aʃsured
of my frequent & kind Remembrance, &
most Cordial good wishes.
I am reading Sophia,[1] the German
Book which the Queen had the Goodneʃs
to lend me, & find it very interesting. I
am provoked however, that of all the Miʃses
who are so apt to fall in Love, not one
of them falls in love with Cornelius puf.
I wish you were acquainted with Cornelius
puf. If I do not find he has Justice done
to his merit by the End of the Book, I
am determined to fall in Love with him
my Self.
Dear Ly. Charlotte & Mrs Feilding
are very well, & think prince Alfred mended.
I have a nephew here about 13 who has
the Honour to be in great Favour with
his R: H: I am in pretty good Odour
with him, & he very graciously holds out
his dear little Hand for me to kiʃs. I
fancy it will be neceʃsary for him to make
a long Tryal of the Sea Bathing, to perfec[t]
his Cure. Both his R: H: & all Lady Charlotte['s]
Family have escaped the Influenza. I am
likewise one of the few whom this
Strange disorder has not attacked. It
has in general I believe been much leʃs
Severe in this place, than in Town.
The Gentleman whom Mrs Dunbar
has chosen, has so excellent a character, such
pleasing manners, & of an Age, Fortune &
Situation so Suitable, that it is strange
people should make such a wondering at
the Match. You mention it in a manner that
does Honour to your Candor.
Adieu my dear. I fear my Letter
may be unintelligible nonsense, as I have
such a Head ach I can neither think nor
see clearly: but I was not willing to deprive
you of Miʃs More's Letter. I know when you
are not too much engaged: you will sometimes
bestow a few Lines on Your affectionate
ECarter
The little prince can say Carter[2]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Deal July 1. 1782
▼
It was with great pleasure
My dear Friend that I received your kind
Letter, & your Communication of that which
You were so good to enclose. I do not regularly
Correspond with Miss More, but she was so
good to promise, She would give me some Account
of my Niece. Whether the Child is yet sent to
Bristol, or where she is I am kept in profound
Ignorance. I have heard nothing of her for
Some Time before I left Town: I could not answer
her last Letter, because I knew not where she
was. I forget how far the Letter which
You enclosed might require an Answer: but I
am persuaded it must always be a pleasure to
Miss Sharpe to hear from you.
Indeed I often join with you
in the wish, all fruitless as it is, that you
could make one in our party at Deal: yet like
you I acquiesce in Things as they are ordered. If
all who delight in the society of each other, could
always be together, the world would be split into
little separate parties, & all the great & general
plan of Life would be frustrated. We have
all our different Duties assigned us, which
must often necessarily interrupt the personal
Intercourse of private Friendship: but the
Affection may be kept alive in Absence,
& those who are connected by virtuous
Sentiments, may animate each other in
the faithful discharge of their appointed
Tasks, encouraged by the joyful
Hope, that through whatever various
paths they are destined to tread, all will
unite at the End of the Journey, in that
universal Home, where Toil & Separation
are for ever at an End. In the mean
Time let us thankfully Enjoy whatever
Hours of social Comfort are indulged us
to alleviate the Business that we have
to perform. I look forward with you
with Cheerful Hope to the Time of our
meeting in Winter. En attendant be assured
of my frequent & kind Remembrance, &
most Cordial good wishes.
I am reading Sophia, the German
Book which the Queen had the Goodness
to lend me, & find it very interesting. I
am provoked however, that of all the Misses
who are so apt to fall in Love, not one
of them falls in love with Cornelius puf.
I wish you were acquainted with Cornelius
puf. If I do not find he has Justice done
to his merit by the End of the Book, I
am determined to fall in Love with him
my Self.
Dear Lady Charlotte & Mrs Feilding
are very well, & think prince Alfred mended.
I have a nephew here about 13 who has
the Honour to be in great Favour with
his Royal Highness I am in pretty good Odour
with him, & he very graciously holds out
his dear little Hand for me to kiss. I
fancy it will be necessary for him to make
a long Trial of the Sea Bathing, to perfect
his Cure. Both his Royal Highness & all Lady Charlotte's
Family have escaped the Influenza. I am
likewise one of the few whom this
Strange disorder has not attacked. It
has in general I believe been much less
Severe in this place, than in Town.
The Gentleman whom Mrs Dunbar
has chosen, has so excellent a character, such
pleasing manners, & of an Age, Fortune &
Situation so Suitable, that it is strange
people should make such a wondering at
the Match. You mention it in a manner that
does Honour to your Candour.
Adieu my dear. I fear my Letter
may be unintelligible nonsense, as I have
such a Head ache I can neither think nor
see clearly: but I was not willing to deprive
you of Miss More's Letter. I know when you
are not too much engaged: you will sometimes
bestow a few Lines on Your affectionate
Elizabeth Carter
The little prince can say Carter
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 17
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Carter
Place sent: Deal
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 1 July 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton. She returns Hannah More's letter and suggests that Hamilton reply to Mary Sharpe. Carter has heard nothing further about the child to be sent to Bristol. She writes with resignation on the topic of friends such as Hamilton and herself being separated by distance. She looks forward to talking over with Lady Charlotte Finch the German book [J. T. Hermes, Sophiens Reise von Memel nach Sachsen] lent to her by the Queen, and jokes about falling in love with one of the characters. She and her contacts in Deal have escaped the current outbreak of influenza. There is brief, approving mention of the forthcoming marriage of their friend Mrs Dunbar.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Deal, 1782 July 1.
Length: 2 sheets, 000 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 26 February 2026)
Cataloguer: Bonnie B. Salt, Archivist, Houghton Library
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 28 July 2026
