Boston June 24. 1762 Sir,

The 5 & 6th: Volumes of Tristram Shandy have made their Appearance very much of the Advantage of Uncle Tobys Character.1

I intended to have made a large Extract from them which I am sorry my great Hurry prevents however I cannot possibly omit mentioning the following beautiful part of the Story of Le Fever who is an officer taken ill at an Inn in the Village in which Uncle Toby resided & in whose Favour he had greatly interested himself. Uncle Toby insisting that Le Fever should not die & Trim (who is Servant to Uncle Toby) that he would; occasions the following Conversation which is indeed only part of what passed betwixt em.

He shall not drop said my Uncle firmly. A well o day do what we can for him said Trim maintaing his point the poor Sould will die. He shall not die by G— cried my Uncle Toby.

Then follows: The accusing Spirit which flew up to Heavens Chancery with the Oath blushed as he gave it in, & the recording Angel as he wrote it down dropped a Tear upon the Word & blotted it out forever.

Captain Greene is supposed to be taken as he has been out near 12 Weeks & no Account has as yet been recievd of him. Capt. Allen is a passenger with him whom I imagine you have some Knowlege of. The Launcestor Man of War is now here & will shortly sail as Convoy to the Mast Ships, by her a large Sum of Money will be remitted. The Govern-224ment is indeed drawing for £55000 but as they sett their Bills @ £138 when Silver can be got home at a little more than par it will by no means prevent its taking its departure. Gold as it will turn out as high as Bills @ £140 may possibly tarry a little longer.

Mr. Abel Willard was in Town last Week. I had not the pleasure of seeing him.

Cheever has preached for us part of the two last Sabbaths, a trifling Indisposition with which the Doctor is troubled obliged him to procure his Assistance the last Sabbath. There is one Mr. Gordon2 in Town from So. Carolina a preacher I must tell you who is much liked. He came hither for the Recovery of his Health.

Mr. Gessner has published in Germany a poem called the Death of Abel which has been translated in England by Mrs. Collyer,3 a performance which the Reviewers speak very handsomly of & give a Quotation which is abundantly sufficient to recommend it. They introduce what they have to say upon it by observing that those who treat of Subjects which have been already handled by an eminent Writer lie exposed to Comparisons which are far from being serviceable to them. The Pr: now before us has we doubt not (as they go on) sufferd greatly from a Comparison with one of the noblest Efforts of Human Genius Paradise lost which it is easy to see Mr: Gessner has read with Advantage.

Late last Night a person was committed to Goal who had been with Nat Hurd to get a plate cut for the counterfieting Connecticut Bills.4 It seems he went to him in a very free open Manner without taking those precautions which the Nature of his Business required. He told him he had been cheated in that Colony of £500 or 600£ L Mo:5 & it seems he was determined to follow their excellent Example & cheat them in his Turn. I am Sir with great Respect Your much obliged humble servt.,

SAM: ELIOT

RC ; addressed: "To Mr. Robert Treat Paine in Taunton;" endorsed.

1.

Vols. 5 and 6 of Laurence Sterne (1713–1768), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, were printed in London in 1762. Eliot's slightly inaccurate quotation that follows can be found in Sterne's Works (London, 1788), 3:154.

2.

Charles Gordon (d. 1771), a Presbyterian missionary to South Carolina (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 14:431).

3.

Salomon Gessner (1730–1788), Der Tod Abels, was first published in Zurich, 1758. The English translation in blank verse by Mary Collyer was published in London in 1761.

225 4.

This incident was reported in the 28 June issue of the Boston Gazette. The man later confessed that his name was Stevenson and he came from Springfield, Mass.

5.

Lawful money.