Taunton May 28. 1763 Sr.,1

The remembrance I have of our old family Acquaintance & the freindship I have for you & yr. family has induced me to engage myself in an affair which nearly concerns you & which requires yr. immediate attention. It falls to my Lot to make known this affair to you which you must unavoidably know & to inform you of it in such a Manner as to take of that uneasiness Which you might Suffer by hearing it transiently reported. In Short, honest Ephraim, yr. Shamefaced, dutiful Son Ephraim2 is too handsome. A Dighton Girl (Heavens Screen us from the Girls) laid Amorous hands on him, as Joseph's Mistress did on him, but being More good Natured than Joseph She saith he did not resist. And now the fruits of Love begin to make their appearance, She makes her Complaint to a Justice hoping to Scare a poor inoffensive inexperienced Youth into Some disadvantageous Accomodation of the Matter. Poor Ephraim has endeavoured to settle the Matter; but in vain, & this afternoon the Officer appeared on Taunton Green with his Warrant, which was the first I knew of the Matter. Ephraim had confined himself in a252Room, which as soon as I heard of, I went to him Not doubting but he wanted Freinds & Advice. I found him Sr., could you See him in the same Scituation, yr. Tears which are now forced by Anger & Resentment Would then flow from the Most tender relentings, yr. Bowells must yearn towards a son so deeply affected with the frailty & folly of his behaviour & whose inconsolable Grief & even despair was heightned by considering the Grief it must give his honored Parents. Poor Ephraim the greatest Object of Pity I have for a long time seen almost speechless & Stupid with Despair. He had determind to conceal himself till night, & then to flee; any where, to the Worlds End, by Land & Sea, into any Scituation, to avoid the Severity of the Law & the more dreaded Anger of an offended Father. But Sr. I felt for him in some degree that Compassion, which I am certain must melt down yr. resentment (however justly kindled) when you consider his Circustances. I told him the Method he proposed, would not only ruin himself but Occasion a greater grief to his Parents, than his first offense. I therefore grief to his Parents, than his first offense. I therefore discountenacd & forbid his thinking of so desperate an undertaking, & told him he should not want a Freind while I could help him & that I would undertake to acquaint you with the Matter & be a Mouth for his Tears & Contrition, & told him from the Opinion I had of yr. fatherly Tenderness & forgiving Disposition, tho' yr. Resentment might be greatly incensed yet I dared engage you would take him out of under your Patronage & help him out of his difficultys. & this Engagement I made from a real regard to yr. happiness, for what must have been the Uneasiness of yr. Mind to have had yr. son, the Support of yr. Name & one so well fitted to do good in the World (Notwithstanding this Affair) & even to honour yr. family; driven by despair of his Father's Reconcilement & of finding favr. where Nature demands it & forced to seek Freinds & Support Among Strangers in the Ends of the Earth. I considered Sr. what bitter Reflections you must have, had yr. Son gone off as he proposed, when you should be obliged to consider him as an unexperienced Shamefaced Moneyless freindless Youth abandoned to the Vexations & insult of a Merciless World a Mere Vagabond on the face of the Earth, & as One, who to avoid the Resentment of one offense had subjected himself to the very great hazard & almost Necessity of committing ten thousand others ten thousand times greater in Order to keep himself from Starving.

Could you see Sr. how his Countenance revived with this proposal, you253never could deny forgiveness to Any One especially a Son who was so much affected by the Meer Offer of a Freind to seek it. I am sensible you must needs be incensed by this affair, but you will consider the design of Anger & punishment is to produce reformation, but when the Mind of the Offender is already Sufficiently punished affected anger & punishment Seem to be Superceaded—& You'll Consider that to load a Sensible mind with Severe resentment has a Natural Tendencey to break its Springs & depress it below the Power of Reformation, or else to drive by despair to Actions worse than the first Fault. The fact is done & can't be recalled, what now remains but for his Freinds to assist in alleviating this Evil which cant be cured, & instead of venting their resentment in Anger, & bitter chidings turn it into the more profitable Channel of serious Council & Exhortation. Let me observe to you that this method will be most likely to produce the desired Effect, which is sincere repentence & future good Behaviour, as yr. Kindness towards him will render your Councills the more weighty, Compassion & kindness act most powerfully on the human Mind & we are taught to ask forgiveness as we show it to Others. And I would just hint by way of Quære whether an unrelenting unforgiving disposition after proper Submission, would not be a greater Evil than the offence which now kindles yr. Resentment. Relying upon it therefore that you will assist him to accomodate this Matter, I have advised him to conceal himself till something can be done & not suffer him to be taken by an Officer. Money answers all Ends, a Sum of Money or Security will Settle the Matter. It must be done at all Events—pray let me see you to advise on the affair—I should have waited on you but Monday & Tuesday 3 are the last of Service for our County, but I will do you all the Service I can in the affair & If I who am a Stranger & unaffected by the affair am so disposed to serve him, you cant forget yr. own Scituation & that by engaging to reconcile yr. Affectations & procure yr. fatherly Assistance I have perhaps savd yr. son from Utter Ruin.

Dft ; addressed: "To Ephm. Keith, Esqr."

1.

Ephraim Keith (1707–1781) graduated from Harvard in 1729, and was a preacher and farmer in Titicut Parish, Bridgewater. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1762 (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 8:590–591).

2.

Ephraim Keith, Jr. (1739—before 1785), graduated from Harvard in 1762 and practiced law in Taunton. On Jan. 1, 1765 he married a Mary Smith of Taunton who died in 1800 (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 15:269–270).

3.

RTP used zodiacal signs for the days of the week.