Taunton Jany. 19th. 1767 Dear Sr.,1

My time is short & I must write explicit & you'll be kind enô to concieve it wrote in Love.

I have seen yr. Letter sent to Dn. Luscombe2 containing the Disagreable News of yr. Determination in the Negative. I need not tell you wt. uneasiness this will give, but my design in writing is to inform you of some uneasiness arising from yr. Conduct wch. I did not will think you did not intend, the foundation of wch. is the Manner in wch. you suppose you give yr. Answer. The Church & Town as such have, you being Judge treated you handsomely & affectionately. Their proceedings respecting the Call was formal. You took wt. belonged to you time to Consider their Invitation, & publickly requested a fortnight longer for deliberation. The Town meeting which gave you a Call was adjourned repeatedly to recieve yr. answer, & this day at 1 oClock meets to recieve the same. On yr. side wt. Conduct is analogous thereto. You repaired to Boston & consulted worthy ministers where (as is supposed by yr. freinds) an arbitration was had & Judgment made up ex parte. No matter, here lies the difficulty. Having settled yr. Determination you write a letter to Gentlemen here with whom you boarded setting forth yr. Uneasiness at our Disappointment with in wch. I join you (tho' in point of Delicacy the disappointment should have been Complained of on our side. No matter, it is true enough) & Conclude with some Gratulations to two freinds one of wch. vizt. Dr. McK.3 has already made himself obnoxious in yr. Cause, & must be still more hurt even from yr. freinds by supposing him the chief person worthy yr. Notice in giving yr. Negative; Now Sr. how is the town to be inform'd of yr. Answer. The Dn Robt. Crosman4 & self have voted yr. Letter to oblivion as of pernicious tendancy to be divulged notwithstanding yr. Liberty therefor. The Town met yesterday at Common time of Worship. No ministerer & the doleful Tidings of no Lothrop. What shall be sd. at the Town Meeting, no answer to the Towns Call, nor any Notice taken of them. My Freind I know it was inadvertency in you but how is it Consistent with the benevolence you preacht off, Rending Honor to wm. Honor is due. Homer nodded, what shall yr. friends do. Our opposers merely swagger & wagging the Head cry out, see there the man you doled us. I have wracked my Brains for a Gloss on yr. Conduct that will be popular. You have left yr. Opposers387sword in Hand & yr. freinds without a staff to defend themselves. Must this Record be wrote in the Town Books that Mr. Lothrop in answer to the Towns Call wrote a Letter to Dn. Luscombe that he would not accept. I hope you have some better excuse that I can suggest. Let me intreat of you for yr. freinds sake & what I cant think more dear to you for yr. Honour & Reputation sake to send as soon as possible a handsome answer to the Church Call & to the Town Call Respectively & suggest such Reasons as truth will admit of yr. delay not expressing it as tho you was conscious of any neglect. Excuse my freedom for I love you & Love casteth out fear. I'll do the best for yr. Cause but you have sett me a hard Task. It is necessary for you to leave the Town handsomely, or they'll say you went as you came. Had I time I should write in a different manner but you'll excuse percieve the motive of writing & excuse all the rest. Yours

ROBERT TREAT PAINE

P: S. if you think I am out in my formality it may not be amiss to consult some of the Profession.

Dft ; Addressed: "To Mr. John Lathrop."

1.

John Lathrop (1740–1816), of Norwich, Conn., a 1763 graduate of Princeton. He was a candidate for pulpits at Reading and Taunton, and received a call from the latter but rejected it. Later, he moved to Boston where, on May 18, 1768, he succeeded Samuel Checkley (1723–1768) as minister of the Old North (Second Church) (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 15:428–436; James McLachlan, Princetonians, 1748–1768: A Biographical Dictionary [Princeton, N.J., 1976], 1:432–435).

2.

Robert Luscombe (1709–1801) was a deacon of the Taunton church.

3.

William McKinstry.

4.

Robert Crosman (1707–1799), who operated the town's gristmill, was another deacon of the church (Samuel Hopkins Emery, History of Taunton, Massachussetts [Syracuse, N.Y., 1893], 88).