Diplomatic Text
30
Hawley Dec: 30 1782
Though I hope it will be very
soon my dear Friend, that I shall have
an Opportunity of conversing with you de
Vive Voix, I will first return you my best
Thanks for your kind Letter, which I received
a few days before I left Deal, which was
on Fryday last. I am at present at dr.
Pennington's about 16 miles from Town
Which I hope to reach on Wednesday
& the first Time in my power after
some neceʃsary Busineʃs which must be
dispatched, I will make some Appoint
ment for seeing you. Let me know by a
Line whether it will be most agreeable
to you for me to come to you, or if you
will be so good to call on me. I am to
have the Same Lodgings as last Year.
(At Mr Sutton's Chapel Street May Fair). There
you shall find a good Fire, & a quiet Break
fast & we shall converse I hope as comfort
-ably & cheerfully, in my little Room, as we
used to do in a palace.
I am persuaded you will
proceed with every proper degree of Considera
tion in your plan of Establishment. I do
not, in general, think such an Alliance as
you mention, often proves succeʃsful. However
so far as I have seen of Miʃs Clarke,[1] She
appears to have so much good sense, good
Temper, & Simplicity of Manners, that such
a Scheme may promise to succeed better
with her, than most other people. But
all these points, we will discuʃs more
at Leisure When we meet.
Though I cannot help feeling hurt at
the disappointment of my wishes for you in
one Respect,[2] I rejoyce in the noble Senti
ments, which you expreʃs on your Situation
& I persuade my Self that with Such a Turn of
Mind, & such Resolutions you must be
happy.
I deferred mentioning the Pills till
I had sufficient Tryal of their Effects
They made little or no Alteration in my
Head: but I found them Sufficiently
beneficial to my Stomach, to make
me wish to continue them. You will
be so good, ------------------------------
------------------------------ to Expreʃs my Gra
titude to her Majesty in the most
respectful Manner, & to intreat for me the
additional Favour of the Prescription, as
I should be glad to get another Box as
soon as I can after I get to Town: for
I was so vexatiously careleʃs to leave what
I had remaining, in the Country.
I rejoyce in the Hope you give me
of Seeing you next Summer at deal, where I
flatter my Self you will be pleased with my
little peaceful cheerful Retreat.
Adieu my dear ever affectionate[ly]
E Carter
[3]
[4]
To
Miʃs Hamilton
At Richard Glover's Esqr
Albemarle Street
London
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. Technically, ‘Miss Clarke’ should refer to the eldest sister, Isabella, but the more likely referent is Anna Maria.
2. Could this be an allusion to the absence of a pension or monetary gift from the Queen? (see MS Eng 1778 29 p.2).
3. Remains of a seal, in blue wax.
4. Stamp reading ‘31 DE’, indicating that the letter went through the post on 31 December 1782.
Normalised Text
Hawley December 30 1782
Though I hope it will be very
soon my dear Friend, that I shall have
an Opportunity of conversing with you de
Vive Voix, I will first return you my best
Thanks for your kind Letter, which I received
a few days before I left Deal, which was
on Friday last. I am at present at dr.
Pennington's about 16 miles from Town
Which I hope to reach on Wednesday
& the first Time in my power after
some necessary Business which must be
dispatched, I will make some Appointment
for seeing you. Let me know by a
Line whether it will be most agreeable
to you for me to come to you, or if you
will be so good to call on me. I am to
have the Same Lodgings as last Year.
(At Mr Sutton's Chapel Street May Fair). There
you shall find a good Fire, & a quiet Breakfast
& we shall converse I hope as comfortably
& cheerfully, in my little Room, as we
used to do in a palace.
I am persuaded you will
proceed with every proper degree of Consideration
in your plan of Establishment. I do
not, in general, think such an Alliance as
you mention, often proves successful. However
so far as I have seen of Miss Clarke, She
appears to have so much good sense, good
Temper, & Simplicity of Manners, that such
a Scheme may promise to succeed better
with her, than most other people. But
all these points, we will discuss more
at Leisure When we meet.
Though I cannot help feeling hurt at
the disappointment of my wishes for you in
one Respect, I rejoice in the noble Sentiments
, which you express on your Situation
& I persuade my Self that with Such a Turn of
Mind, & such Resolutions you must be
happy.
I deferred mentioning the Pills till
I had sufficient Trial of their Effects
They made little or no Alteration in my
Head: but I found them Sufficiently
beneficial to my Stomach, to make
me wish to continue them. You will
be so good,
to Express my Gratitude
to her Majesty in the most
respectful Manner, & to entreat for me the
additional Favour of the Prescription, as
I should be glad to get another Box as
soon as I can after I get to Town: for
I was so vexatiously careless to leave what
I had remaining, in the Country.
I rejoice in the Hope you give me
of Seeing you next Summer at deal, where I
flatter my Self you will be pleased with my
little peaceful cheerful Retreat.
Adieu my dear ever affectionately
Elizabeth Carter
To
Miss Hamilton
At Richard Glover's Esqr
Albemarle Street
London
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 30
Correspondence Details
Sender: Elizabeth Carter
Place sent: Hawley, Kent
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: London
Date sent: 30 December 1782
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton, looking forward to their next in-person meeting, whether in town or in Deal. Carter comments on Hamilton's plans for sharing an establishment; although she does not believe such an arrangement ‘often proves successful’, her first impressions of Miss Clarke are favourable. Carter has tried the Queen's pills: they have no effect on her headaches, but they seem beneficial for her stomach.
Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Hawley, 1782 December 30.
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
