Lancaster March 17th. 1755. Dear Sister,

The decency & civility of almost all Ages have supported the endearing practice of complaisant presents & acknowledgements between those, whom long Acquaintance, & the stricter Bonds of Freindship have connected, especially to those, whose sincere Services have rendered their Freinds obliged. But for my part tho' I find my self on the one side involved in Obligations, which raises my Desire, yet on the other side I find my self as unable to produce any Present in the least Expressive of my gratefull sentiments. The utmost I can aspire to, is the withered Productions of a Barren Brain, the cheif Virtue of which, consists in the Curiosity of it. I would willingly comply wth. the Example of Beaux Monde, and present you some of the valuable as well as curious Riches of the World, but upon examining my Stock, I find it more barren than even my Brain, & therefore tho' I send a Homespun Present it may better represent my Affections than the Riches of the World which are Strangers to my Sincerity. But Remember that the most valuable Estates are only to be holden by written Instruments the Productions of Many Brains, & there's many an one draws the Deed of a thousand Times more than he owns, & so if I make a Deed to you 'twill Shew my Regards tho' I leave you to find the Estate. But as I cannot truly Love you without Regarding yr. Posterity, so you will forgive the lncumbrance if I bind the Present with An Entail, for I readily acknowledge that it was chiefly for the Benifit of yr. children that I make it, Providence having supply'd yr. Wants.

Among the various Circumstances & Scituations of Mankind that have presented themselves to my view, I have seen some too rich to be happy others too Poor to be comfortable, & others who have been miserable & Worthless in the midst of a moderate affluence. But I am not sensible I ever saw the Man, whose Circumstances were such but that a true & well regulated Virtue would steer him through the deep seas on the one side & the Shoals on the other, & abundantly conspire to make him happy in the true Enjoyment of easy Circumstances. But however the Case may be with all, there are many I am sure whose Unhappiness is owing to the negligence of those Parents who however carefull to heap up an Inheritance for them neglect to teach them how to enjoy it, & wt. is still as true, take pains to Corrupt them. I cannot, & therefore won't attempt to express the Uneasiness, Anxiety & even the Anger mixt with Pity, that I246have felt multitudes of Times, to see the first Buddings of Human Reason initiated in the Buffoonery of an Ape, & the first Efforts of Actions indulged to the degradation of Human Nature. But as Extreems always follow one another, so the pleasure I take in some Familys where the worth of Souls is known, wears off the Morosity & Antipathy I have elsewhere contracted.

I am perswaded youll not think I flatter if I tell you that yr. Family is one where I always feell a prophetic Joy, arising from the Prospect of a well regulated Posterity, & when I see the Corner Stone of Virtue so deeply & regularly laid, I would fain build the Superstructure of Honour & Riches. But the Riches of this World are no other way serviceable, than as they qualify us for doing greater Good in the World, consequently 'tis not necessary to have them, but the principles of Virtue are the only Guide to Happiness. The Principles I say, for there's many an one has much Virtue with An Atom of Principle. A Rigid, Tyrannical, formal, austerely religious Education, makes excellent N. England Saints but the Saltwater Air & the hot Sun of the West Indies dissolves those Bands; & having been overbrac'd at home, they relax so much the more abroad. But a Principle of Virtue acknowledges Obligations prior to all Education or the Duty to the tenderest Parent; Whoso is Religious from Education only, has his Guardians, Parents &c. for the Object of his Virtue, & consequently his Obligation ceases when distant from their Oversight. But whoso is Religious from Principle, has the Almighty for his Object, whose Eye Superintends all Nature, & therefore his Obligations are always the same. Nothing I believe can be more cutting to a tender Parent, than the dissolute Behaviour of a Religiously educated Child, but in the gen'rall they may thank themselves for it, for the common Religious Education is such a motely mixture of the Severe & the Humour, the Religious & the Nonsensical, that a compleat System of Human Wisdom & Strength, could never seperate the bad from the Good, much less the fluttering Reason of a giddy Headed Youth. Hence then it seems that the principles of Virtue are more necessary to be laid in Children's Mind, than barely to regulate their Actions; by the Principle of Virtue I mean the Obligation of Virtue, to know from wt. arises the goodness or the badness of every Action.

Now it is well known that the Prejudices of Education have a great Effect upon us, perhaps the whole of our Lives, hence it is we see some247people perform the Cerimonys of Religion that perhaps don't reallize the being of a God. A Church Man will keep Christmas & a Puritan go to Lecture, tho' neither of them have more true Religion than their Horses. Hence we see in the World, many People, some nicely scrupulous, others dissolutely ungarded; some gayly Religious, others sow'rly Virtuous, some free & open, others close & rigid, some unfaithfull in the midst of Religious Dutys, others Honest in the Neglect of them, & more over some addicted to one Virtue some to another, some the Devotee of one Vice others the Prostitute of another, & these Dispositions prevail in them often in spight of Reason & Example. The whole shews the powerfull Effects of Education; & if so, it follows that it is the utmost Importance to give the Mind a proper Bent & the Practice a proper foundation, before bad Habits & prejuced Notions have taken place.

A Carefull Parent will be desireous to initiate his Child in that Art or Skill chiefly, which it is to practice in the World, because Knowledge in that will be most serviceable to it; and as a pious Parent is desireous its Child should act the part of a Christian in the World, for that Reason they Labour to give it a Religious Education. But too often they forget that the Life of Christians tho' one in Effect yet are various in appearance according to their various Circumstances & Stations of Life, and therefore it is a Chance whether the religious Education they have given them will suit their Station & being without Principle they can't alter it. If they have been Educated gay & open in their performance of Religous Observances, that will never suit the Grace solid & decent deportment of a Divine, nor will a rigid austere Education, set well on a private Christian. 'Tis Errors of this Sort that have produced Jovial Priests & Lecture attending day Labourers the inconsistency of which is evident. When People are not mindfull of the obligation of Duty, we often see one interfeering with another, & Sacrifice perform'd while mercy is Neglected. But if those Parents that are desireous their Children should adorn the Practice of Christianity, would first Rivett in their Minds the first Spring & Origin of Virtue & from thence discipline their Practice, 'twould be a Rule that would mould itself into every Shape & bring honor to the Christian Name from every Employment of Life. This would Yeild the true Gravity & Decency of the Divine the venerable deportment of the Sage & Senator, the Honesty of the Merchant & the Industry of the Labourer, it would operate in every Station Civil or Domestic & endow the Magestrate, the248Husband the Wife the Child & the Servant, with their proper Ornaments, & upon the Whole teach, that true Virtue produces the compleatest Gentlemen.

Religion would put on another Face or rather discover its true one. There would be no Drunkards contending for Calvanism nor Vagabonds defending Original Sin, but the true & plain Laws of God would be follow'd rather than the vile prejudices of a debased Education. Form the whole then it appears that the principle of Virtue is the only Motive to good Behaviour, & that to have this the most Effectual it should be Implanted in the tenderest Years.

I need make no Application yr. practice I scruple not is as nice as human frailty will admit, but still 'tis Satisfaction to have Company in a good Principle & Practice, & being 'tis very scarce perhaps mine mayn't be amiss, for we all love Approbation, & if I cant teach I can stimulate. We don't want Knowledge, let's practice: as for the application of this nice Theory, I should be more puzzled to prescribe than you to practice. The Coarseness of my Soul will grind away a Superfluity but it won't polish to a nice Edge. I'm a Weather beaten Batchelor. Action makes every thing brawney, especially fatigue. My Soul was never still; perhaps Matrimony may soften me, at least it may supply me with somebody Soft. However, Principles of Virtue are Principles of Virtue let them be drove in with a Sledge Hammer, or drawn with a pencil. And now least I tire your Patience I will just add that it is not they that Kiss Children most that love them most. Many a man will give a Child a Rattle that won't give it a real Estate. Therefore my Love is the greatest. Upon the whole lets soften our Virtue by Humanity & regulate our Humanity by Virtue. The Effect of this will be, that If I have advanced any thing amiss, or hurt the Cause thro' Ignorance, you'll make allowance, inasmuch as 'twere Difficult to say, which run faster my Pen or my Thoughts. And if you make any Slips in putting your Children into the Possession of this my Estate, I shall attribute it to the incessant difficultys which a troublesome World throws in your way. Thus we shall both of us be establis'd in that Love which will never dye & besides wch. nothing could have thaw'd so much Oeconomy from the Brain of yr. affectionate Brother & true Freind,

ROBERT TREAT PAINE

RC ; "To Mrs Abigail Greenleaf Boston"; endorsed.