Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
I was extremly surprized to hear that you1 entered a Complaint at Worcester Court on the Return I commenced Lilley et al. vs. Allen, you certainly must remember that I gave you the Writs & informed you of the Nature of the suit, that if I had succeded it would have been no detriment but really an advantage to Allen as it was only a Process on the absconding act2, but what surprizes me more is that you should persist in yr. complaint notwithstanding Mr. Willard3 offered to engage you that he would see the affair honorably safisfy'd, this secured yr. fees to you if you could break through the tyes of honble practice so much in such a Case as to take 'em; but you'll say that Allen insisted on it, if he did
4 it was very base for I wrote him by his Wife the nature of the suit and that it would not be entered wch. was sufficient to have recovered against me for deceit if I had enter'd it & I also told you it would not be entered, & you knowing the affair might & as an attorney ought to have pacify'd the importunity of yr. Client; tis what you would expect in the like Case, for as the Case was left to my sole diriction this affair hapning proves a damage to me. But Sr. as the matter now stands if you were obliged to enter the Complaint to satisfy yr. Client you surely are not obliged to insist on your fees to satisfy him,
you dont give them to him
I would feign perswade myself in yr. favour to think that this notorious violation of honble practice was a mere inadvertency & what you value yr. Reputation too much to do if you had thought of Consider'd the Nature of it, therefore Sr. as some charge has unluckily arisen I propose to you to accept of that & release the rest, the Generosity of which as this thing is Scituated I believe am sure will be more satisfaction to you (if you value yr. self as a generous practiser of the Noble than by fees so basely gain'd by taking the advantage of the Confidence of a brother Practicer; but if you insist on having yr. Whole bill I ask this favour which I think you can't deny vizt the Ex
Ezra Taylor (ca. 1728—?) of Southborough practiced law in Worcester County from 1751 until the Revolution although he may not have been regularly admitted to the bar. He was made a justice of the peace in 1762 and in July of that year commissioned a colonel in the army. There is no record of actual service by him. During the war Taylor removed to Pownalborough, Maine, where he continued his practice (D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, 2 vols. [Philadelphia, 1889], 1:xx; Whitmore, Mass. Civil List, 250).
This act enabled creditors to recover their just debts from "the effects of their absent or absconding debtors" (Mass. Province Laws, 4:168–170).
Abel Willard.
Five illegible words cancelled.
I
1 Mentioned my desire to when you arrived at Kingston, you would inquire concerning the House of Moore & Rutherford, how their affairs were Settled. There was dealing between this house & Thos. Paine of Boston, in the Year 1749 and a ballance due to said Paine. The perticular Papers & accounts I sent by Capt. Coppinger of this Place last Spring directed to the Exr. or Admr. of Mr. James Rutherford late of Kingston, but have heard nothing abt. it since. If Sr. you would give yr. self the Trouble to let me hear from you whether there is any prospect of getting I should esteem it a great favour to yr. Most hble. sevt.,
Several illegible words cancelled.
What shall I say on the dismal Occasion! Shock'd with the News my eager Mind ransack'd its sources for Some fancy'd releif but in vain, the Gulph is fix'd & leaves me only to Share in the deepest Sypathy that Loss which I canot remedy. O Freindship misteri-163ous Tye are thy Joys Sweeter or thy Pangs more severe, like Virtue thou Now strugglest with the keenest adversity that like her hereafter thou mayst shine unclouded, believe me then to feell with you the throbs you endure for a departed Brother & to be rent with those agonys which till now for Years past I have not endured. I assure you, the regular & well approved Freindship which is so deeply rooted for you in my bosom like a Wide Canal lets in your whole Grief upon my Soul & if by this I could mitigate yr. Trouble that very consideration thought would assuage my sorrow, but alass divided sorrow affliction is but encreased Woe, & yet the Sympathy of a Freind may Sooth where it cannot relieve, I flatter myself you make no doubt of the sincerity of my Affections & will therefore
at least recieve from me that comfort which results to all human Nature from being most sincerely pityed, but Sr. as ardently as I love you I might never have intruded on this freedom had the much desired Prosperity attended you, but afflection that unerring loadstone descerner between true & pretended Friendship removes the Obstacles of vulgar ceremony & forces me to tell you that my Greif wants expression. O Earthly Bliss tis all an airy dream. A Brother endeared by Freindship as nearly as by Nature arrived to Manhood & the full prospects of life yr. Freind & yr. Companion is gone, Alass. My soul mounts aloft on the Billows of trouble & calls aloud for Reason to steer it through this boisterous sea. Hush then every irregular passion, for why this burst of Tears & having paid the natural demand of tears let us Quiet our Greif to its just estimate. Why then this disquieting Sorrow, do we weep that it is appointed for man once to dye—do we weep that human life is uncertain—does it greive us we have enjoy'd the comforts of a friend so Long because we can enjoy him no Longer. Indeed Sr. he has but pd. a debt we must all pay & among other troubles of Life has escaped those bitter pangs which by the Laws of Freindship he must have suffered on yr. account had he outlived survived you & I frankly acknowledge to you tis no Small aggravation of my present trouble that it pints forth in vivid colours those dismal Moments when you or I by how much the more we are now connected in the bonds of Affection must undergo the severer pangs of parting; but when or where, Youth & ripened manhood we see are no barriers, but such is the inevitable state of things, resignation then becomes us & to improve by all those
grievous Events is at once the truest mourning & the best preparative for whatever further scenes of Sorrow are alloted for us, 'tis ours to Act, not ours to chuse the part the faithful Actor shares his just desert.
May our Plaudit hereafter be, to have acted well tho' alloted to the most trying Scenes, May Our Virtues be
quickened by this severe scourge, and Our Freindship being ripened to the maturest perfection of mutual Kindness become the vigorous source of Universal benvolence. May our minds be daily improving & our Knowledge become the most useful by Connecting it wth. futurity, may we not delay, lifes urgent business to some future day,
and then my Freind let the faitful Executioner arise him when he will, our days are full & having arrived to the fullness honors of Man's Life wt. more can we desire, for as the book of Wisdom expresses it, honourable Age is not that which standeth in length of time or is measured by Number of years, But Wisdom is gray hair to Men & an unspotted life is old Age; but I must cease,
and must just tell you that my Affairs which call me out of town, without seeing you induce me to give some vent to my Grief in this Manner, I make no Apology unless it be for loving you and as you are no stranger to the delicacys of Freindly intercourse I make no doubt you will keep this secret to your self for tho' we have had a fellow feeling for the Afflictions of Others yet we can not disclose to all as we commune with a friend. Adieu and may we once more meet to share those mutual Endearments which are but a foretast of those future Rewards which await the Virtuos mind.
Not further identified.