Lunenburg Novr. 12 1749 Honored Sir,

Be pleas'd to accept of a few lines as a token of the respect & duty which your much oblidged Son bears towards you....1 It is indeed Sr. with great reluctancy that I realize yr. intended Voyage and altho' it is nott for me to regret yr. intended proceedings yet humane nature has many foibles & the weekness of tender Years needs much indulgence. Indeered Sr. if yr. Health could be served by any other means with vast pleasure should I hear it, but if that & that Method only will avail with profound submission I acquiesce.

I may Nott have an Oppertunity of writing to you or of hearing from 74 you again, therefore as far as words will go I would express my most sincere desire for yr. wellfare hoping that that same good Providence wch. has hither too kept us both will still keep us & preserve us & bring us Again to a happy meeting in this World if it be his sovereign Pleasure.... I hope Sr. I shall never be Unmindfull of the relation I stand in to you either as a Child or as One that Proffesses Christianity.

And Sr. I desire yr. remembrance of me that however Providence orders in this World yet that still we may be happy hereafter... It is the desire of Honored Sir yr. Loving & dutifull Son,

ROBERT-TREAT PAINE

RC ; addressed: "For Mr. Thomas Paine Merct. att Boston QDC"; endorsed. Annotated in another hand: "A note from this when I speak of his father."

1.

The ellipses in this letter appear in the original.

Boston Novmb. 15. 1749 Dear Brother,

Dear Brother, I Cant describe the pleasure I felt at reading your kind Endearing letter, that I Received last evening, the transports of love & Friendship are better felt than describ'd and thesse pasions equally reign in my breast toward My Dear my only Brother in whom I've plac'd So much hopes of of happiness for the remainder of our day which I hope we shall Spend in perfect love and Friendship and not at So great distance.

You may easily judg that I'm under great Concern about our affairs when I tell you that our Dear F——1 Expects to Sayl on Fryday or Saturday. The thoughts of parting with our only parent under So many agevating Curcumstances as his declining years & health and the distance he intends to go affords me many Malencholy reflections, but Since tis not in my power to hinder his going nor to find out the determination of providence in this affair I endevour to quiet my Self by Commending the Case to him who is the great Orderer of all our Changes and who only has the power to Command health & Safety on Sea or land. From him alone we derive all the good we injoy and where else shou'd we go under our troubles but to him, this great truth I hope we are both sensible of and both make it our practice to repair to him and Strive to Submit with Satisfaction to his Divine pleasure.

I am under great Concern for S——r,2 I know not where she is to live for there is nothing done yet. F—— intends to Speak to Doctr. Sewall but whether he'll Succeed I question and if he does not I Suppose he'll Chuse to Leave her with us wc. I nor Mr. ——3 has nothing against but shou'd be desirous of, if she Chose it but, it seems she does not for what reason I know not, but when Mrs. —— kindly invited her to go (by Fathers desire) she Said she intended to be Contented wherever F—— plac'd her and had no more to Say. I wish I could See her pleas'd but I fear if she tarrys with me twill bring many troubles upon us all, but I shall Say no more than I have against it. Her youth and the many temptations that she Stand expos'd to makes her an Object of our pity and prayer wc. is all the Service we can do & I hope we are not wanting in this Duty.

F—— affairs look Smiling; he has escap't Some dificultys in business wc. he fear'd. He has told Several friends of his intended voyage and they aplaude it highly. He Speaks of it frequently but takes no pains to perswade his hearrers to belive it So that tis not Commonly Credited.4 He dont allow us to own it so that we have a hard task to preserve the truth while we Conceal it.

I Expect to meet with many Dificultys in geting my nesesarys for house keeping but my partner wont allow me to be uneasy at it and F——s kindness to him & me wou'd make it highly ungenerous to Complain.

Father often Speaks of you with all the kindness of a tender parent to an only Son. He was much gratified with your letter. Pray write to him again by the first opertunity for we ought to make all the returns in our power to so tender a parent.

Dear Brother, I've wrote a long incoherent letter but you may judg that tis only a picture of my mind and lest I shou'd omit any thing esensial I wrote as I thought with out Striving for method, I Commit it to your Candid perusal and pray acccept the Sincerity and overlook failings.

I hope to See you here before Spring and you may depend upon being received with joy and finding me ready to assist you in any thing within my power in the mean time you have my best wishes for your welfare both as to time & Eternity.

I need not ask your Remembrance of us in your petitions for the Blessing of Providence and Grace for I trust that our prayers often assend united to throne of Grace for each other & for our friends. May we be also united at the end of our lives in Blessing & praising our Great 76 Redemer & Benefactor which is the hearty desire of your Constant Oblidg'd Friend & Loving Sisster,

ABIGAIL GREENLEAF

RC ; endorsed.

1.

Father.

2.

Sister.

3.

Greenleaf.

4.

Thomas Paine's known business reverses prompted many of his creditors to believe that he was taking this voyage not to better his health but to escape his debts. See Joseph Greenleaf to RTP, Dec. 6, 1749.