Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
Pray be kind enough to deliver the inclosed to a Catch-pole,—and when you can give me an Oportunity to cancel the Obligation, please to command truly. Your hearty Friend
How is the Harvest in your part of the Vineyard? Which Side do you take in the political Controversys? What think you of coin?2What, of Writs of Assistance?3What of His Honr. the L—G—r?4 What, of Otis? What, of Thacher? What, of Cooke the Cobler?5 What think you of Bedlam for political madmen? What think you of Patriotism? What think you218of disappointed Ambition? What think you of the Fable of the Bees?6 What,—. Send me your Thoughts on these Questions, and I'll send you 50 more.
Jonathan Sewall (1729–1796), son of Jonathan and Mary (Payne) Sewall of Boston, a friend of John Adams and RTP, rose quickly in Massachusetts legal circles to hold the post of attorney general in Nov. 1767. A loyalist, Sewall sailed in Aug. 1775 for England where he remained until the summer of 1787 when he took ship for St. John, New Brunswick. Except for a few years in Quebec, Sewall lived in St. John until his death (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12:306–325).
Probably a reference to Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson's proposal that silver be devalued in order to check its drain from the Province.
When William Pitt (1708–1778), the British secretary of state, ordered in 1760 that the Sugar Act of 1733 be enforced, the royal customs collectors applied to the Superior Court of the province for writs of assistance to enable them to search for evidence of violations. James Otis (1725–1783) opposed the issuance of these writs. He and Oxenbridge Thacher (1719–1765) argued the case for the Boston merchants before the Superior Court in Feb. and Aug. 1761. It applied to England for instructions which when received supported the legality of the writs.
Thomas Hutchinson.
Sir Edward Coke (1662–1634), judge and law writer, whose chief works are his Reports and his Institutes (DNB). Although himself the great arbiter of English common law, Coke's Institutes were seen as "the doctrinal source of the customs writ of assistance" (M. H. Smith, The Writs of Assistance Case [Berkeley, 1978], p. 18).
Bernard de Mandeville (1670–1733), The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Public Benefits (London, 1714), "designed to illustrate the essential vileness of human nature" (Harvey, Oxford Companion to English Literature, p. 490).
have just recd. yrs. & shall take special Care of the inclos'd. Yr. Quereys demand immediate Answer in which I hope you'll find a Satisfactory display of the Orthodoxy of my mind.
Q:1. how is the Harvest in yr. part of the Vineyard? An: the old Account is reversed, for the Harvest is Small & the Labourers are many & there are many little Foxes that spoil the Vines.
Q:2d. Which Side do you take in Political Controversys? An: the right side.
Q:3d. What think you of Coin? An: What hungry men do of Food, if they can get any never dispute the Quality or the Price.
219Q:4 What of Writs of Assistance? An: Never was more need of them, I shall soon apply for one to get a Help meet.
Q:5 What of his Hon. the L—Gr? An: As the son of Sirach1 said "all things cannot be in Man because man is not immortal. What is brighter than the sun? & yet the Light thereof faileth.
Q:6th. What of Ot ? An: What the Vertuosi do of Lemory's concave mirrour, which burns up every thing which cannot be melted.2
Q:7th. What of Th—r? An: As Jacob of old said of his Son Dan," as a Serpent in the way that biteth the horses heels so that his Rider falleth backward."3
Q:8th. What of Coke the Cobler? An: that he is dignified with that Title wch. many others deserve much more.
Q:9th. What of Bedlam for Political Madmen? An: 'twill by no mean do; being already Occupied by Madmen of a more sacred Profession.
Q:10th. What think you of Patriotism? An: As I do of the Balance Master's Act; Very few have Virtue enough (in the Roman Sense) to keep themselves Perpendicular.
Q:11th. What of disappointed Ambition? An: Consult yr. own mind in having no reply to this Question.
Q:12th. What of the Fable of the Bees? An: it proves that good old word "the Wrath of man shall praise the Lord."4
Q:13th. What—? An: 'tis the Recapitulation of all your Quæres.
Thus I have gone through my Catachism & according to the good Rule of Education the next step is to learn it with the Proofs, in which I shall hardly fail of success if I keep to that standard.
As for yr. 50 Questions more with wch. you threaten me I beg when you execute it you'd Observe a good modern Rule of Answering 'em yr. self as you go along, in the mean time conceve yr. self obliged to answer these small Quæres, what think of our Science? of our Art? of that strange Compound Soul & Body & of mankind? expecting to see yr. agreable Xemonitical Visag I subscribe yr. fellow Gazer & freind,
Jesus the Son of Sirah was the author of Eeclesiasticus, generally known as the Wisdom of Sirach (William Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, 4 vols. [Cambridge, 1872], 2:1346).
Nicolas Lemery (1645–1715), French chemist who attempted chemical analysis through reduction by fire (Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 16 vols. [New York, 1981], 8:172–174).
Genesis 49:17.
Psalms 76:10.