Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
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.