Diplomatic Text
23
1782
Let me begin my dear Friend, by
sincerely condoling with you on the Loʃs of
Lady Hamilton.[1] The death of real & virtuous
Friends is one of the heaviest Tryals of this
uncertain World. But it is a delightful
Consolation, when they leave us poʃseʃsed of
all our Esteem, & that our Thoughts can
follow them with joyful Hopes of their
Complete Happineʃs.
I return you Mrs Sheridan's
pretty Verses[2] Which I had not seen before, &
for which I am much obliged to you.
I can give you no Information about
Miʃs S. only, that I believe the marriage is
delayed by the Slowneʃs of the Lawyers. I
had a Note from her not long since relating
to Busineʃs, in which she mentioned that She
was settling her Affairs. There was a few lines
besides which I answered, in the Manner
which appeared to me to be right: but I did
not trust my own Judgment, till I had consulted a Friend,
on whose Judgment, & whose principles, I could rely.
I am obliged to you, my dear, for your Advice. My
Situation with Regard to her at present is, that
I forgive her, & pray for her. I have never I
thank God, been led into saying or doing any
Thing that should render any future Intercourse
with her impracticable, if I should ever find it
proper. As present I do not. Whatever wish she
may have uttered of being upon different Terms
with me, it has never been in a manner
that I can accept. I have never in the least
Degree Whatever given any provocation to the
Manner in which I have been treated. The
------ Breach has been intirely her own operation
in every particular: & a Regard both to my
own Character, & to my Friends, requires that
this should be fully & fairly acknowledged.
I will not endeavour to leʃsen her in Your Es-
teem, or to encourage & heighten my own pain
ful Feelings by dwelling on the Injuries, I
have received, particularly with Regard to the
Child. -- I cannot bear a Subject which always
Stabs me to the Heart.
You say you think “there will
come a Time when she will need the Comfort of
being restored to my Affection”. -- If there ever
was to be any occasion, in which my Friendship
could be really neceʃsary to her Aʃsistance, IShe
would certainly find it. But she is, - if her
own Account is to be taken, & She must know,
perfectly easy & happy, & long may she con
tinue so. -- Indeed I think you should answer
her Letter.
/ I am obliged to you for mentioning
that good Mrs Delany is in such prosperous
Health. I hope she will give us the pleasure
of such another Day with her as we spent
together at her House last winter, if it please
God we all live & prosper till the next.
Adieu my dear Friend. I am ever
your obliged & affectionate
ECarter
Deal Sept 21. 1782
Be so good to remember
me most affectionately to dr Lady
Ch: F. & Mrs F.[3]
[4]
PS. I have finished the History of
Sophia.[5] It is difficult to givepaʃs any
general Judgment on a Book of such
Extent & Variety. The Author is a
Genius of a very high Claʃs. The Cha
-racters are admirably well drawn
& supported. Some of them are perfectly
original: but none of them unnatural.
It delighted me to find that my dear
Friend Cornelius Puf was at last
united to the best Character, except
himself, in the whole Company. I think
the Author has left his Readers very
unkindly in the dark, with Regard to
the History of Lef. -- & indeed of
Sophia her self.
The Capital Fault in the
Book is, I think, that the young women
are perpetually falling in Love without
any previous Addreʃs, & plaguing & worry
ing the poor Men to Death to marry them.
This surely is not natural. The chief Fault
in the Writing, is sometimes a Tediousneʃs
in the Conversations.
I must just mention Herr Gros
He appears to me a most excellently well painted
Character. That same Spirit of pride, which
influenced him in his infidel State, operated
with equal Force after his conversion, & how
-ever sanctified or baptized, was pride Still. His
disgracing his poor foolish Wife by a Shabby
caʃ --- Caʃsock, was as unlike true Humility
as the ragged Cloke of a Cynic. But this
is too just a Copy from real Life, in which,
it is so often seen, that people mistake their
own natural dispositions, for the Christian
Virtues to which they are the most opposite.
In all Respects, but this outrageous pride, Gros
is a very noble Character.
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Lady Catherine Hamilton had died in Naples on 25 August 1782. Sir William had written on 27 August to inform Mary Hamilton (see HAM/1/4/4/1).
2. Cf. Houghton MS Eng 22 p.2.
3. This postscript begins level with the dateline.
4. This page is blank.
5. For the German title of the book that Carter variously calls ‘Sophia’ or ‘The History of Sophia’, aee MS Eng 1778 17 p.3n.
Normalised Text
Let me begin my dear Friend, by
sincerely condoling with you on the Loss of
Lady Hamilton. The death of real & virtuous
Friends is one of the heaviest Trials of this
uncertain World. But it is a delightful
Consolation, when they leave us possessed of
all our Esteem, & that our Thoughts can
follow them with joyful Hopes of their
Complete Happiness.
I return you Mrs Sheridan's
pretty Verses Which I had not seen before, &
for which I am much obliged to you.
I can give you no Information about
Miss Sharpe only, that I believe the marriage is
delayed by the Slowness of the Lawyers. I
had a Note from her not long since relating
to Business, in which she mentioned that She
was settling her Affairs. There was a few lines
besides which I answered, in the Manner
which appeared to me to be right: but I did
not trust my own Judgement, till I had consulted a Friend,
on whose Judgement, & whose principles, I could rely.
I am obliged to you, my dear, for your Advice. My
Situation with Regard to her at present is, that
I forgive her, & pray for her. I have never I
thank God, been led into saying or doing any
Thing that should render any future Intercourse
with her impracticable, if I should ever find it
proper. As present I do not. Whatever wish she
may have uttered of being upon different Terms
with me, it has never been in a manner
that I can accept. I have never in the least
Degree Whatever given any provocation to the
Manner in which I have been treated. The
Breach has been entirely her own operation
in every particular: & a Regard both to my
own Character, & to my Friends, requires that
this should be fully & fairly acknowledged.
I will not endeavour to lessen her in Your Esteem
, or to encourage & heighten my own painful
Feelings by dwelling on the Injuries, I
have received, particularly with Regard to the
Child. -- I cannot bear a Subject which always
Stabs me to the Heart.
You say you think “there will
come a Time when she will need the Comfort of
being restored to my Affection”. -- If there ever
was to be any occasion, in which my Friendship
could be really necessary to her Assistance, She
would certainly find it. But she is if her
own Account is to be taken, & She must know,
perfectly easy & happy, & long may she continue
so. -- Indeed I think you should answer
her Letter.
I am obliged to you for mentioning
that good Mrs Delany is in such prosperous
Health. I hope she will give us the pleasure
of such another Day with her as we spent
together at her House last winter, if it please
God we all live & prosper till the next.
Adieu my dear Friend. I am ever
your obliged & affectionate
Elizabeth Carter
Deal September 21. 1782
Be so good to remember
me most affectionately to dear Lady
Charlotte Finch & Mrs Feilding
PS. I have finished the History of
Sophia. It is difficult to pass any
general Judgement on a Book of such
Extent & Variety. The Author is a
Genius of a very high Class. The Characters
are admirably well drawn
& supported. Some of them are perfectly
original: but none of them unnatural.
It delighted me to find that my dear
Friend Cornelius Puf was at last
united to the best Character, except
himself, in the whole Company. I think
the Author has left his Readers very
unkindly in the dark, with Regard to
the History of Lef. -- & indeed of
Sophia her self.
The Capital Fault in the
Book is, I think, that the young women
are perpetually falling in Love without
any previous Address, & plaguing & worrying
the poor Men to Death to marry them.
This surely is not natural. The chief Fault
in the Writing, is sometimes a Tediousness
in the Conversations.
I must just mention Herr Gros
He appears to me a most excellently well painted
Character. That same Spirit of pride, which
influenced him in his infidel State, operated
with equal Force after his conversion, & however
sanctified or baptized, was pride Still. His
disgracing his poor foolish Wife by a Shabby
Cassock, was as unlike true Humility
as the ragged Cloak of a Cynic. But this
is too just a Copy from real Life, in which,
it is so often seen, that people mistake their
own natural dispositions, for the Christian
Virtues to which they are the most opposite.
In all Respects, but this outrageous pride, Gros
is a very noble Character.
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 23
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Carter
Place sent: Deal
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Windsor (certainty: medium)
Date sent: 21 September 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton. She condoles with Hamilton on the death of Lady Catherine Hamilton and returns verses of Mrs Sheridan, before turning to her main topic, Mary Sharpe. After seeking Hamilton's judgement, Carter had written briefly to Sharpe, but without a reconciliation in the absence of acknowledgement of the unprovoked ‘Injuries, I have received, particularly with Regard to the Child [her niece Elizabeth]’. However, giving advice in return, she encourages Hamilton to respond to Sharpe.
A long postscript gives a broadly favourable review of ‘The History of Sophia’ (Sophiens Reise von Memel nach Sachsen), which Carter has at last finished.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Deal, 1782 September 21.
Length: 3 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: 30 September 2026
