Diplomatic Text
29
1782
Many Thanks to you my dear
Friend for your kind Communication of
the inclosed, which I return, as you desired
immediately. I have so much Confidence
both in your good Sense, & right disposi
tions, as to be persuaded that you cannot
have taken so important a Step, without
Such Reasons, as all unprejudiced persons
will approve: & I will patiently wait
for the particulars of this interesting
Subject, till I am so happy to meet you.
En attendant, I cannot help being solici
tous to know something of your future
Schemes. I rejoyce to find the Q., whose
very respectable & amiable Character,
independently of her Exalted Situation,
renders her good Opinion a very real
Advantage, Speaks of you with
Speaks of you with Approbation & Esteem.
I Flatter my Self that the Generosity of
her Majesty will not suffer you to quit
her Service without Such a Mark of
her Favour, as will prevent your finding
any considerable Inconveniences from
the Change of your Situation. You will not
I am sure attribute my wish of being Satis
fied in this point to idle Curiosity, but
to the tender Solicitude of a Friend. At all
Events I trust you will be under the Care
of Heaven, & provided for in a manner
most Conducive to your real Happineʃs.
-- Your Letter seems to me a proper mixture of
due Respect, & of decent Freedom, in declaring
the Reasons for which you wish to be dismist;
& which I am content not perfectly to under
Stand, till We have an Opportunity of
talking over the Subject together.
Adieu my dear. God bleʃs you & prosper
You in all Your Undertakings. Yours most
affectionately
E Carter
Deal Nov 18. 1782
[1]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Many Thanks to you my dear
Friend for your kind Communication of
the enclosed, which I return, as you desired
immediately. I have so much Confidence
both in your good Sense, & right dispositions
, as to be persuaded that you cannot
have taken so important a Step, without
Such Reasons, as all unprejudiced persons
will approve: & I will patiently wait
for the particulars of this interesting
Subject, till I am so happy to meet you.
En attendant, I cannot help being solicitous
to know something of your future
Schemes. I rejoice to find the Queen, whose
very respectable & amiable Character,
independently of her Exalted Situation,
renders her good Opinion a very real
Advantage, Speaks of you with
with Approbation & Esteem.
I Flatter my Self that the Generosity of
her Majesty will not suffer you to quit
her Service without Such a Mark of
her Favour, as will prevent your finding
any considerable Inconveniences from
the Change of your Situation. You will not
I am sure attribute my wish of being Satisfied
in this point to idle Curiosity, but
to the tender Solicitude of a Friend. At all
Events I trust you will be under the Care
of Heaven, & provided for in a manner
most Conducive to your real Happiness.
-- Your Letter seems to me a proper mixture of
due Respect, & of decent Freedom, in declaring
the Reasons for which you wish to be dismissed;
& which I am content not perfectly to understand
, till We have an Opportunity of
talking over the Subject together.
Adieu my dear. God bless & prosper
You in all Your Undertakings. Yours most
affectionately
Elizabeth Carter
Deal November 18. 1782
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 29
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Carter
Place sent: Deal
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 15 November 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton. She returns Hamilton's draft letter of resignation and writes optimistically of Hamilton being properly provided for by the Queen. She approves of the letter but waits to hear personally from Hamilton to understand her reasons for wishing to leave the Queen's service.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Deal, 1782 November 15.
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: 2 August 2026
