Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
I full expected orders last week to make my appearance at yr. place on Collwell:s Affair, but hearing nothing abt. it, & Thursday the 27th. Inst. being a leasure day with me I design to set away from hence so as to be at Mr. McWhorters by night, shall Esteem it a favr. you'l on Rect. hereof make a point to get the Gentn. Refferees to attend sd. Business374earely as possible Frydey Morning so as I may not bee Detaind longer than is necessary from my Business here, wch. requires my being present in it Early & late, & my absence will be a great Damage to me, you'l also Notifie Mr. Caldwell of my coming as above, so that I may not loose my Journey, wch. at this Season is very Disagreeable. I am with Regard Sr. Your most hble. Servt.
They who veiw Promises in the Light we Lawyers do (every one to his way you know) i.e. as Somthing that will bear An Action, are very cautious how they make 'em, & are likewise very careful to perform them before the Action comes. Sentiments of this kind makes me think Seriously of a promise which my Conscience tells me I made when I had Last the happiness of being with you which happiness I Suspect on a critical perusal of the Books will be deem'd in Law insufficient consideration for such a promise. However if I could see never so many ways of Wriggling out by dint of art I can by no means Suppress the lively remembrance of the considerations of my promise nor dissipate my inclinations of complying with it. But on the whole I am determined, since I must comply I I will turn that to my own profit which you may claim as a Debt, & promote my own Satisfaction by expressing my best Regards to you in it, being Sensible that if you make any demands on me it must arise more from yr. great Civility to the Promissor than from any such Value in the Promise. Beloved I am now Composing myself to write a Letter i:e. an Epistle to you, i:e: I, one who has been long laced up in the formalitys of Law & harnessed in dry Commentarys & Reports, am now Composing my self, i:e by an endeavoring by dint of Imagination & almost obliterated Remembrance to call to mind such thoughts Matters as I once thought pertinent to my present Undertaking to write an Epistle i:e to compose form an adress expressive of Sensible Sentiments in the easy familiar respectful & elegant Manner to
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you, i:e. to a pair of Criticks & judicious proficients in the Academy of Belle Lettres & the delicate Science of Letter Writing; was there ever such a Contrast or Undertaking to little purpose. You'll think by this time have I composed my self, Seeing I was Commentator on my own Expressions.
After leaving Portsmouth1with great Reluctance, I arrivd at Boston the Monday after & in a few days at Taunton with the same feeling as we may suppose in a Prisoner who having broke Gaol is taken & recommitd; I could be examine the Truth of the old Proverb "that we return from Pleasure with recruited Spirits to Business," for really I had almost forgot every thing I had to do, but I believe the pleasure the Proverb speaks off relates to mere Amusement & not to those pleasures that Captivate the mind by their intrinsick Value, Pleasures of this kind absorb the Spirit & leave poor Business to go a begging for a recruit, for what connection has the meer drugery of Life, the predicted Sweat of the Brows, with those entertainments of the Mind where "the Heart Opens & the soul o'erflows" wch. require a mind freed from Conceit & which allure Captivate &
absorb the attention. However it seems agreed that this State of Being is not a contemplative one, & almost every thing tells us that the Soul & Body are but poor Mesmates & according to that rule of Practice that the Stronger must Accomodate it self to the weaker, the poor Soul is often obliged to go without food because it can endure fasting rather better than the Body can, or what is most commonly the Case accomodates it self to feed as it were on the Husks & Offal with which the Body is delighted. Miserable is that Soul who is not allowed Sometimes one Glass of Nectar to wash down such insipid fare. My Happiness was on my last Journey to drink deep from Bowls flowing with this Ætherial Liquor & if I became intoxicated, perhaps I may be obliged to abstain full long enough to get sober again.
Upon the whole I feell my self much better on many Valuable accounts the better for my Journey & that the pleasures I enjoy'd when with you were not such mere amusements as to be suddenly forgotten, nor such unphilosophical Raptures as to divert me from my Nature or as 'Dan Prior has it,
Pleasures of this kind my Freinds (as tho' every thing must leave its dreggs) bring with them anxiety, & produce a Sollicitude for the Welfare of our partners in such Entertainments. My Situation from you is Such that I cannot expect frequently to hear of you but an Account of yr. Prosperity & happiness I believe would be more agreable to no one than to me. The pleasure you take in tending the Nursery of Freindship will enduce you to present my particular Remembrances & Respect to those of yr. Freinds with whom I had any Acquaintance. May hapiness attend you all. Thus much I Wrote presently after my Return home while my Conscience was tender but have had No Opportunity of Conveyance Nor been at Boston since I return'd thro' it from Portsmouth. I did not finish it but expecting to be there soon brought to mind many things Portsmo. friends whom I expect to hear from these my Promise & so I make another attempt to Comply with it; a long while has pass'd since I saw you, & how many Occurences have hap'ned I know Not, I hope none but agreable ones. Lets see, really 'tis but about two Months, well, I could have almost swore it was two years, but will you construe that, will you suppose the Time seems long because I have almost forget you, or will you not suppose my frequent thinking of you has Lengthened out the time, the Duration of which Jno. Lock saith is measured by the passing of Ideas in the mind, depend upon it the absence of any thing we desire seems
I intended to have wrote to my Freind Capt. Parker, but he will readily excuse me when he considers percieves in himself that of all Orders of Men that most worthy one of Knights Bachelors are the most taken up with avocations too often to the neglect of their own Felicitys. I am Sorry that by thus excusing my self I put an Excuse into his Mouth. My particular regards to him & to the entire Family. together with Capt. Emerson & Lady Capt. Gray, Brother Clagget4 & any more who will excuse my not writing, perticularly when they consider How much easier it is for 20 to write to one than one to 20. It is time for me to Conclude by Subscribing myself with intire afections & respect yr.,
RTP was in Portsmouth, N.H., from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, 1766. His diary records that he dined with a number of friends during his time there.
From "An Epitaph" by Matthew Prior (1664–1721). Prior's Poems on Several Occasions was first published in London in 1707 and was in its sixth edition in 1766.
RTP reversed the lines in this quote from Alexander Pope's translation of "The First Epistle of the First Book of Horace."
Wyseman Claggett (1721–1784), an Englishman who came to Portsmouth, N.H., from Antigua where he had practiced law for a decade. Served as attorney general for New Hampshire from 1765 until 1769 and again for several years under the new constitution beginning in 1776; also served as solicitor-general for the state (1781–1783) (Bell, Bench and Bar of New Hampshire, 264–267).