March 1770 Dear Brother,

You Can't Expect me, (who have stood so many months of the Confines of the World; with my Eye Steadily fix'd on those happy abodes of spotless purity to which my Earnest Soul longd to be admitted) be able to Carry off with a Laugh this instance of imperfection. No! my Soul suffers a rack, but not of angry passions, be assured of my heartiest wish well to your whole Existance.1 My Exceeding low State is to Pittied & treated tenderly therefore tho' I cant talk on this Subject yet dont Stand aloof, it will now Torture me. Come in frankly an Converse Easily and by an unreservd Behaviour Sooth my Trembling Nerves. The will of heaven must be compli'd with & if I recover to any degree of usefullness be assur'd I shall Endeavour to prove my frequent assertion that I am your affectionate Sister,

E. Paine

Pray be carefull what you say in your rattling vein & save the Poor Girl all you Can if only for your own Honour. Forgive any Error in this proof of my love tis anguish Strengthens me to do it.

RC ; endorsed.

1.

In his diary RTP records in shorthand that he "Heard Sally Cobb with child by me" on Feb. 25. He went to Attleborough, where the Cobbs lived, on the following day, and on Feb. 28, in an entry later erased, he wrote in his diary: "This Day I was published to Miss Sally Cobb." The intention was recorded in Attleborough on Mar. 8, and the marriage took place on the evening of Mar. 15. Their ten-pound son Robert was born on May 14. Sally Cobb, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia (Leonard) Cobb, was born on May 15, 1744 and died on June 6, 1816 (Paine Ancestry, 41). Gen. David Cobb (1748–1830) was her brother.