Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
With Regard to the Uneasiness between myself & your Family shall without any farther Preamble confess myself to blame in a twofold manner.
First—For proceeding so Rashly & Inconsiderately in the affair between Miss Peggy & my self.
Secondly—for some imprudent speches I have been guilty of since that affair Happned; For both which, if I know my own Soul, I'm sorry. Yet Let us Lay aside Rashness & Consider deliberatly; Must a man Die for one peice of Rashness. Must he be Dragd. to the place of Execution & suffer Myrterdom for a peice of Imprudence. Must he be cut in peices393because at one time he thot. one thing & at another time thought another thing. (This is Contrary to the Oracles.)
When I Return'd of my Journey my Ears were fill'd with proclamations of Disdain. I thot. had the world been on fire there Could not be a greater Flame, amongst the warmest of which I took Care not to Burn my Fingers. I can safely say I was very Cautious of Medling; untill I had heard ten thousand Cruel asseverations Comeing from your Family some of which Doubtless were falshoods others in all probability were undeniable matters of Fact; which I allow Exasperated me to that Degree that I spoke somthings which I should not have said in Cool Blood, and am Ready to Confess & make all proper Recantations for Every thing in the whole affair wherein I shall be between Christian & Christian & Judgd. Blame worthy. What more Can or shall I say By way of Retribution.
Common fame is a lyar, & Solomon observes that the words of a Tale bearer are as wounds, therfore I have been carefull of Believing Either, & with Truth in my Right hand Can say that the Cheif of the tittle tattle that I have heard concerning the present affair has gone in at one Ear and out of the other. But some things which I have had Tollerable Evidence to support Lay with weight upon my mind a Few of which I shall Relate.
1st. With Regard to what Mr. Thos. Leonard Declar'd in Comp
2ndly. That my being Treated like a Gentleman at their House was so Contrary to my Taste & Disposition that I could not bear it & Left the House upon that account; I think wt.out vanity I can acquaint Mr. Leonard that I was brought up in as Gentell a manner as he was & have kept as good Company as He not withstanding my being thus asspersd. & Ca11'd Every Dirty Rascall that His Rhetoric would admit of.
3rdy. With Regard to Mr. Leonards saying I was a fool I have nothing to say Only would observe that Human Nature is Subject to various Infirmities but notwithstanding the above Cruel Assertions of Mr. Leonards shall Treat Him like a Gentleman Whether He Uses me so or not & shall Esteem him a man of Sence & Gentillity; and after he has prov'd me a Lyar shall Esteem him a man of Veracity. With Regard to what Mrs. McKinstrey has said Derogatory to my Charecter it would weary my patience to write & yours to Read. So would Dismiss that after observing what She said Concerning my sister Nabby (who was as Innocent in this affair as the Child unborn) Viz: that she was a Lying False Deceitfull394Tatling Mischeifmakeing Crettere, these assertions are heavy Even for a Relation to bear, much more for the person offended, & I Doubt whether an unprejudisd. person would assume to say that of Five persons in Taunton, but thats between Mrs. McKinstry & She so I shall say no more upon that Head.
Again I Heard that you said I Run about villifiing your Charecter this I absolutely Deny For I always heard you was very Cautious of speaking save in one affair, & that I beleive you will Readily Remember Viz: what you observed to a young Gentleman that you thought I should not Stand it above two or three years this never put me much out because I knew my own affairs best.
I have heard that Mr. Paine Has made very Light of name & Charecter with Regard to that I would give you a short account. Last summer he was at our House & when he was going away I askt him to take frequent oppertunities & visit me. Likewise I asked him why he did not Come oftener. He answerd me in a very Friendly manner as I thot. Thus, I Can assure you Mr. Leonard it is not out of any Disregard to you or yours but mere Hurry of Buisiness; this I thought very Friendly in Mr. Paine but Ever since he has been growing Colder & Colder towards me. Till at Length he will Hardly Take any notice of me as he passes, this arose from what I know not. He knows best.
However to Cut Short I beg the matter may subside & no more be said for I'm sure I scorn to be so Much at varience with a Townsman as not To bow To them as I pass them, & to be so bigoted to one's own way as not to Take notice of their Fellow Cretures is not the Christian.
Sr. with Regards to those of the Family I Remain yours to Serve,
PS, Sr., give me an answer to this and you'll oblige him who is Yrs. as before,
This letter was sent to Dr. William McKinstry of Taunton, who later turned it over to RTP. Apollos Leonard (1744–1799), the writer, was the son of Maj. Zephaniah Leonard of Raynham and a 1765 graduate of Yale. He established himself as a lawyer in Taunton and in later years held many public offices (Dexter, Yale Biographical Sketches, 3:134; Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 16:188–189).
This family quarrel with other members of the Leonard family seems to have been ignited by his ill-treatment of "Miss Peggy," probably Margaret Leonard (1741–1769), McKinstry's sister-in-law. In 1769 she married Robert Luscombe, and upon her death a few months later was characterized in the395
Boston News-Letter (Jan. 4, 1770). "By the meekness, humanity, and modesty of her deportment, she discovered a mind possessed of that meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price: And which rendered her peculiarly engaging and amiable to all who knew her."
Through the complications of colonial genealogy, Apollos Leonard was a second cousin of David Cobb and RTP's future wife Sally (through their mother Lydia Leonard); as well as a third cousin of McKinstry's wife Priscilla Leonard, "Miss Peggy," Judge George Leonard (1729–1819), and Daniel Leonard (1740–1829), the loyalist. The latter two also became his brothers-in-law after the three had married sisters (NEHGR 5[1851] 403–414).
I do myself the Pleasure of inclosing a Pamphlet1 which I hope you will be kind enough to lend to those who may be concernd in enslaving or keeping Negroes; which as it will be agreeable to your own Humanity will also much oblige Yr. Hble. Servt.,
Edes & Gill inform me that the Author of this Pamphlet ordered them to present each of the Representatives with one, & that they were given to the House last Saturday.
If you incline to suspect me of as the author of this Piece (which for a trifling Reason I should not chuse) to own) I can swear to your Worship I am not.
Considerations on Slavery. In a Letter to a Friend (Boston: Edes and Gill, 1767), a fiery attack on slavery, was written by RTP's Harvard classmate Nathaniel Appleton (1731–1798), a leading Son of Liberty, and caused Appleton to be ranked with the prominent anti-slavery leaders of his time (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12:355–359).
Dr. McKinstry has disclos'd to me a Letter wch. he recd. from you being moved thereto because a very perticular notice is therein taken of me & my Conduct; & is further justify'd in so doing in that he has undoubtedly as good a right to Shew the Letter after he had recd. it as you had before you sent it, wch. that you did is evident for that it is not in396yr. handwriting & so must at least pass under the inspection of Some other person if there was not a Consultation in the Composition. In yr. P:S you desire an Answer, most surely I have a right to answer what relates to my self, & as the Dr. declines meddling with the affair (& I think for wise reasons) I shall may take Notice of a few things by way of answer to the whole. Your Lugging me into this Dispute is just like your Conduct towards me in the Vizary you made before this now in dispute yr. indiscreett behaviour & unguarded speeches was such as creatd me some trouble & obliged me to naturally produced Coldness towards you since which yr. peculiar turn of Mind & Disposition so very manifest by yr. Speeches & Behaviour have Satisfyed induced me to think that no Satisfaction can arise from an Acquaintance & that the Peace & Safety of him who is not disposed to Quarrelling consists in having Nothing to do with you. I am not Sensible that I have neglegted the common Civilitys of Life towards you, if my Complaisance has ever gone beyond that, you'll consider every one has a right to choose his own Company, & phaps. if I had Shown you the Curtesy you seem to expect you wold have construed it as Submission in me to prevent your putting into Exdare say trust there is no Uneasiness unless What Naturally arises from a disdain of Such Conduct & Compassion towards yr. person; An unhappy affair truly; rash & inconsiderate was yr. Conduct you Confess, imprudent have been the Speeches you have made on the Occasion you acknowledge; & having done this you exclaim of hard usage; but the difficulty doth lay here, the Rumour is gone forth, trumpetted by yr. self from whom only the first knowledge of the affair matter took air, you could not keep yr. own Council, if you had it might have been Settled among yr. Selves & buried in Oblivion, but this phps. you reckon as part of yr. rashness;
1 but however sorry you are for yr. Rashness now, in the time of it you endeavur'd to extenuate it if not exculpate yr. self by throwing the blame on the Ladys freinds, & roundly asserterd to this in Substance that they Sollicited you to the match, that you were inveigled by them, that they took advantage of yr. youth & in Short that you did not know what you did but was like a Log pushed down Stream; & further have gone on to tell the conversation and the civility shown them you at Norton to their disadvantage. All this hath been publickly talk'd off & some have been induced by yr. plausible account of the Matter to believe & Say very disrespectful things of that Family in this affair & of Some of them on whom you are very bitter in yr. Letter in a perticular manner, & I have been obliged Repeatedly to
there Representations of the Matters, & not always with Success, I might have said abusive Representations for had they been strictly true which would
2 justify yr. Comparing yr. Self to a Log you had all sorts of occasions to tell it till they censured yr. not complying. After all this you expostulate must a Man dye for one peice of Rashness &c. &c. &c. & then go on to Set forth what a flame you found & what Proclamations of Disdain when you returned from yr. Journey; what have the Family to do with all this; the truth of the Matter is, that after you had blaz'd it abroad & made it ten times worse by the398Manner in which you excused yr. self, any person who was not lost to Honour cry'd fye upon you, you was disdain'd for a peice of misconduct which never could have been known if it had not been yr. own fault; that Family have raisd no Clamours agt. you, indeed you did not give them the opportunity; if any of them have expressed themselves with any degree of resentment agt. you, let the World judge whether it was any thing equall to the Provocations, & especially when you attack'd their Conduct in so very delicate a point one would think their tameness could arise from nothing but the Opinion they had of their Enemy, & what is very Surprizing in the midst of all yr. Confessions you Still go on with the same method of Excuse by recriminating on the family Mr. Thos. Leonobserve Say over & above the Observations I have made on their Expressions, that you would be free from the charge of Rashness if you should neglect to find fault with him for calling you a Lyar (if he did) till you have made out the Essential difference between Lying & Promise Braking, & untill you have made out that you were over perswaded by that Family to make the addresses you did; or for saying that your being treated like a Gentleman at their House was so contrary to yr. taste & Disposition that you could not bear it & so left the House, untill you have proved that you behaved as much like a Gentleman as you was treated there & that you left in a genteel manner as for yr. company yr. Education & the Compy. you have kept with him, it is only saying what advantages you have had for being a Gentleman without proving that was. Neither ought you to find fault with his calling you a fooll till you make it appear that your own Acct. of the whole will excuse you from it. All these things you propose should be forgotten as mere rashnesses, & after some acknowledgments you ask "What more can or Shall I say by way of Retribution?"
They will answer you by asking a Question; what shall we do to still the Clamour that is gone forth by yr. imprudence to the disadvantage of us both, if People will disdain you for yr. Conduct can we help that & can we Wipe off the Odium you have brought in the Family? Let me tell you Sr. that Perhaps the only way you have to make Retribution to that Lady is to satisfy acknowledge to the World that yr. Slighting her is no Disgrace, some speeches you have made on that Occasion unless you are lost to Humanity must make you blush at Midnight does not this
question of yrs. Suggest an answer to you. Compensation is the Only Retribution that can be made, & in this Case, Oblivion399is the best Compensation, the Injury arises only from the Rumour & when the Rumour is forgot the Wound will be heald in a genrous Mind. Pray Sr. enter into yr. own breast & consult the Workings of human Nature; how would you have behaved in their Circumstances? Can it be expected they should Smile upon you while they labour under such an Odium by yr. means, Should they Smile, Such Smiles would be construed by a discerning Mind as the sure Indication of Revenge; of that cruel Passion wch. I dont Say you must be Satisfyd finds no harbour with any of that Family. To Still the Rumour if impossible & bury this affair in much desird Oblivion is impossible, but it is not impossible to cease from making Misrepresentations, nor yet to contradict those that are you have made, what signifys private confessions especially when they dont reach the Main Greivance vizt. your being forced by the Family into the affair? Will these private acknowledgements alter the minds of People? Or can the Family feell easy in their minds while such Remours prevail, here Sr. is the Core, I have display'd this Matter purely that you may see the manner in which it is apprenhended, & I do most Sincerely Condole with you (notwithstanding the insults you have or may see fit to cast on me) in this Unhappy Occurence, and wish it was in my power to End it. Reputation is dearer than Life, Honour is like the apple of our Eye, either of which being Wounded are with difficulty restored; & it is of the greatest Importance to a Young Man in his first Setting out to proceed with Caution, reall plain hearted Freinds are thus much wanted however slighted, & when you lived long enough to have gaind any Experience from the Rebuffs of Life the Substance of this Letter will affect you more than it may now, at present I hope it will stimultake some such Reflections as may be Serviceable to you. I have purposely avoided meddling with the dispute & make this represention to you because I thought it was necessary & thought that no Body else wold. How far your Natural Disposition inclines You to Slander & tale bearing I take not upon me to determine & how far yr. Conduct Since you have been for yr. Self hath had a tendency to introduce you to Esteem Honour & Riches the Event will prove, till those things are settled it is hardly worth while to quarrel with Dr. McKinstry & his wife that Family for any Supposed Speeches made by them. If you choose to carry on the Dispute you'll act yr. own pleasure, but I desire my name may not be mentioned in it as I have nothing to do with it, if you treat me with Civility I shall return the Same having no Sort of Grudge agst. you & being your Freind & hble. serv.,
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