Wrentham1 July the 27th, 1749. Dear Sir,

I Rec'd yours dated July the 21 &c.,2 at the opening of which, I was not a little suprized; to see your sweet Name, affixed at the bottom of the Lines, wrote to me; to tell the truth, I could hardly Keep in my jumping heart, for it skipped like Lambs upon little Hills, but when I cam to understand the weight and solidity of the same, the wings of my Enthusiastick flame dropt off, and I was then so calm and sedate, that I 053could read with tears in my Eyes for desire of seeing the author of it and the weighty matter of them &c.

I Would enform you, that I am in usual Health blessed be the God of Salvation &c., and that I am here (in eremo subobscura3) have not the fashonable People of the world to converse with, nor no sweet Chum to confabulate with upon a Bed of Ease &c. But I cant help letting you Know one thing, and that is I have no bosom friends in the Night upon my Lodgings. You may give a very good guesse at wt. I mean. But for fear you should be put to trouble (Bed buggs). But you may take it for granted there's Chipping squirrils, moscatoes, bats and Night Hawks anough to make it up &c. But not to dwell upon the Inferior Part of the creation any Longer. I want not food nor Drinkables, we have got considerable Spaw water4 here, in these tents of Kedar.5 And as for my Brood, they are like to grow, by feeding of them with tender meat. In Number I have had thirty seven, but I have constantly but about 17. How many more are a coming out of the Eggshels I know not, some of these have not yet got them off their Backs. I have about eight which read in the way Cap: Hoar told off, and some rather better.

But must not go on here; but with wt. words shall I conclude my letter, to my, Dear Chum, with whom I have layn warm so many Nights &c.

Can't we say, Sr., as the Royal Psalmist, (in some measure) did, By the Rivers, there we sat down, yea, we Wept when we Remembred our parting, (putting our parting for Sion).6 If there were a Chrystal casement in my Breast, thro' which you might espy the inward motions and Palpatations of my heart, then you would be certified of the Sincerity of my heart in all these affirmations. And may it be with you, once my dear chum, Now my absent friend, as it was with those Trees, Jotham speaks of in the 9 chap. of Judg: 8 Verse, (he represents them speaking as men) &c.7 The Olive tree will not leave his fatness, nor the figtree his sweetness, nor the Vine his wine &c., I am apt to think the meaning of which is obvius to you as what I entend by them is Plain, by the following conclusion.

The good Affection you bear unto all Kinds of polite Literature accompanied with your genuine Inclination thereunto, and in Particular to my wellfare at Present, together with those manifold obligements which your Noble self and (Mr. Freeman to whom I shall write, my Servise to him and all that ask after me &c.) have accumulated upon Me, do incite and encourage me to employ that breath and time, which I would have spent 59in Expressions of Gratitude and observance, to beg your good nature to increase the causes of it, and do hereupon beseech you to accept the tender of my regards in this small Present, to grant that your Protection and the Author your Pardon; with favourable Permission to stile himself, Your most Humble servant and well wisher &c. &c.,

ISRAEL CHEEVER

PS, The Reason of my writing so close is for want of Paper, and as for enlardging not is for want of more time for the Barrer is in a great Hurry. Please to commit these to the flames &c., you may depend another from me shortly. My Servise to Mr. Palmer 8 & his wife & Mr. Cranch.

RC ; addressed: "To Mr. Robert Treat Paine att Boston Living in School House Lane QDC"; endorsed.

1.

Cheever had taken a teaching position at Wrentham which Shipton mis-identifies as Waltham (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12:363).

2.

Not located.

3.

Hidden in the wilderness.

4.

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembred Zion." Psalms 137:1. Water from mineral springs (OED).

5.

Water from mineral springs (OED). Reference to the Biblical tribe of Kedar which lived in the desert in black tents.

6.

Reference to the Biblical tribe of Kedar which lived in the desert in black tents. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembred Zion." Psalms 137:1.

7.

Jotham's parable begins "The trees went forth on a time to annoint a king over them, and they said unto the olive-tree, reign thou over us." Judges 9:8.

8.

Joseph Palmer (1716–1788) and his wife Mary (d. 1790), the sister of Richard Cranch, were to became close friends and business associates of RTP and his family. They had arrived in Boston with Cranch in 1746 from England. As a brigadier general during the Revolution, Palmer commanded the Oct. 1777 attack on British-occupied Newport. The failure of the expedition resulted in Palmer's court martial, but a Continental Congress inquest under RTP cleared him of culpability (DAB).

Groton August. 12: 1749 Kind Sr.,

I have waited near a month impatient to hear from You & am now almost ready to conclude that the old proverb i.e. out of sight out of mind is verified with regard to you tho' I find quite the reverse with regard to my self; for altho' I breathe a different Air and Am Entertain'd with Conversation heterogenious to old Harvard's Yet I am not so destitute of filial and fraternal Affection as never to spend a Thought or Groan out a Sigh for Alma Mater & her Sons; Especially for such with whom I had the happiness to Contract an intimacy; dum fortunus fur,1 among whom You 60have by no means the lowest place in my Esteem & regard. Consequently my being deprived of your Company and Conversation seem'd like the dislocation of a Joynt or rather like the removal of some main Stud in my Sciential Ædefice which has given the whole building a tremendeous shok which may be attended with bad Consequences if you persist in so sudden a seperation and therefore must crave this favour of you that at least you would lend a generous hand by makeing me a visit or send me a letter cramed with knowlede, but what would be most serviceable & delectable to me is for you to pitch your Tent near me upon the top of some of these Lofty mountains (e:g: Wauchusitts2). Understand there is there a flock of Lambs Which are with out a shepard and it is probable they will stray away unless you will Undertake to feed them. I am already Engaged in the common Cause and am Obliged to make daily provision for about Seventy or Eighty.

But to speak no more metaforically I should be glad if you would Send me a line and let me know whether you would be willing to Engage in Luninburge School: for it is infallibly Vacant at present.

Please to let me know the Success and Effect or your late Voige.3

If you'll take the Trouble to ride up to See me I'll go with you to Lunenburge if you desire it.

Sr., I understand our very good friend Dodge has Disappointed Sutton4; so fickle a thing is man! It came by a credible person however dont reporte it;— Richardson5 is to Keep Sudbury school—please to say what buisness Wigglesworth6 & Appleton7 are Engaged in.

I have the good fortune to board with Madm. Prescott Senior Sophister Prescotts mother.8

Thus Sr., I have scribbled over a few lines Just as I thought of anything to inform you of without Order or Niceness but perhaps in this Chaos there may be some Ingredients wc. may be diverting to you or at lest may beget in you a thought of writing to me which if they do they'll Accomplish the Desire of Dear Sr. your Hearty friend & humble Servt.,

SAMUEL HAVEN

P:S: Please to give my duty to your Revd. Father with my humble Service to your Sisters and to Mr. Freeman. I Enjoy a better state of health than when I was at your House through divine goodness. Mr. French9 is Engaged in Littleton School for another Quarter: how uncertain it is waiting for other men's places!

61

N.B: I beleive I shall go to Framingham the week after next and tarry a day or two.

RC ; addressed: "To Mr. Robert-Treat Paine att Boston These"; endorsed.

1.

Perhaps, while you are fortunate as a thief.

2.

Mt. Wachusett, altitude 2018 ft., is near Princeton, Mass., in Worcester County.

3.

Accompanied by 13 others, including his classmate John Wiswall, RTP had gone to Falmouth (now Portland), Me., July 9, where he lodged with Maj. Joshua Freeman and visited the schoolmaster, Stephen Longfellow, great-grandfather of the poet. He returned to Boston on the 19th (RTP Diary).

4.

Although Shipton refers to this as an attempt for the vacant pulpit at Sutton, there was in fact no clerical opening that year, and Dodge probably aspired to the school mastership, which turned over quickly during this period (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12:368; see also William Addison Benedict, History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts [Worcester, 1878]).

5.

Gideon Richardson.

6.

Edward Wigglesworth (1732–1794), graduated with RTP from Harvard in 1749 and later became the second Hollis Professor of Divinity there (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12:507–516).

7.

Nathaniel Appleton (1731–1798).

8.

Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, mother of Oliver Prescott (1731–1804), a 1750 Harvard graduate, who later became a noted physician (ibid., 12:569–573).

9.

9. Samuel French (1729–1752), a 1748 Harvard graduate, kept school at Littleton and Hingham, but died young while studying for the ministry (ibid., 12:267).