Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 1
The Anxiety I have for your welfare, & a desire to hear from you, are the great Motives of my present writing to you. You doubtless Remember, that before I went away I gave you from Time to time a Summary Accompt of my transactions, My prospects & Schemes, & in my last that I had settled a Voyage to N. Carolina &c. The 5 of February I sailed and the 14th. arrived at the Barr &c. As for my Transactions in the Country they are so many, & of so very different Natures that it is impossible I should give you any tolerable Idea of them, only in generall. I was plagued almost to Death, workd exceeding hard & with vast difficulty loaded my Vessell. I had my Health well, & after a Passage of about 14 Days got to Boston the 10th of July. As to the Navigation of the Vessell, I met with no difficulty. When I got to Boston I had but a dull Markett for Pitch & Tar, & the Charges of the Voyage so high occasioned by the Length of the Voyage that we shall loose Money upon the Whole, tho' the Accompts are not as yet made up & so I cannot tell exactly how much. Times here are exceeding dull, no Money, nor any Business, so that I am Not determined where to go next, tho I have many Prospects. Thus, my Freind, you see I still continue to give you Summarys of my Affairs, & it would yeild me vast Satisfaction if you would be as open to me. I do assure you I am very anxious for your Interest & welfare, I understand you have not been to Boston since last Fall; & what Shoks me more than all is, that you are keeping Schooll there. If so; you cant137possibly be in any other Business & consequently crazy, even allowing, that School keeping would mentain you handsomely, (which I deny) yet can you bear to live from Year to Year and get nothing before hand, or can you bear to be the Wash Pot or Rather the Dogg Whipper of Hallifax which Title yr. occupation deserves. There is a flying Report in Town that you are going to be marryed to An Irish Woman down there; don't think I believe it because then I should only have writ you a Letter by way of Farewell. Don't think I'm too harsh, for what can be more disagreable then that James Freeman should marry a meen Woman and keep School for a Living. My Freind, I very much fear that yr. affairs at Hallifax are not attended with much Profit. I really think that with the Stock you have you might carry on Business to much greater Advantage some other way. Mr. Palmer & I talk much about you & it would pleasure us much if some way could be found for you to settle in N:England. For Instance, suppose you should settle at Providence & there open Store, & sell Goods for Provisions of all sorts, those Provisions will purchase any thing in Boston for a Cargoe to send any where, or it self may be sent to the West Indies. In short it is evident that if Goods can be vendered quick for Provisions any scheme of Business may be carried on from that footing. The sd. Goods we imagine we can easily import our selves by Keeping a Vessell going as we have Occasion, we can load at Carolina for London, or any Port of England as Plimouth &c. & for Ireland with Lumber & the West Indies with Lumber & Provision &c. Mr. Palmer & my self have about 700E still lying in Carolina which we talk of sending a Vessell for with enough to make up a Load, & from thence to Plimouth, but how we shall do I cant yet tell. Or if you can propose Any Scheeme of Trade that can be carried only taking in Hallifax in any Shape let us Know it, or if you have Any Scheme of Business let's hear it for surely the talking of it can do no Hurt. Do write me a correct Answer to this Letter, & let me Know exactly what are the Circumstances of Trade there & how yr. Circumstances are. If we could any way be concerned in a profitable Business, I should be much pleased.
All Freinds are well, there is no News Stirring, Ant Eunice is dead.' I am loving Cousin yr. Wellwisher and humble Servt.,
Eunice Willard, the great-aunt of RTP, died on July 25, 1751.