Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
I1 take up my Pen in doubt whether to act or not. Modesty on the one hand forbids, Gratitude on the other entiseth; however it being my Duty to return you my most heart thanks for the notice you have taken of me, in granting me your Favour of the 20ult:,2 I imbrace this oppertunity, relying intstrike a damp upon one, who was oblig'd to ware the Yoke in his Youth, which was the reason of my departing from Taunton so soon. You observe in yours something concerning my Honour, What shou'd I have done, my Friend, if I had not proceed'd thus? E'en the meanest Vagabond upon the Earth wou'd have dispis'd me. Honour it was indeed on which dependend all my future happiness, and had I refus'd this, I shou'd never have expected any more peace from Men whatever I shou'd from God. However, it is past, and as Pope says "Here then we rest". In the Freedoms of conversation which you used with me concerning the difficulty's of Life you observe that you little thought that the Crisis was so nigh, and that I must needs feel what you said, but I can assure you that few were the Emotions that it caused in me, and the thought of it's being so nigh was far from me. The reason of my expressing so much anxiety for life in our conversation, was not that I wanted to git prepar'd for a Wife (Asides a wife, that's a big name, I must clear my throut for that, Aham then) but that whether fortune wou'd be propitious, and not to set their smoaking in the chimney corner, which I am certain has been the ruining of Thousands, but to proceed, You observe that Man's life is a Subject of much Speculation to you, then, no doubt, I have had the fortune to pertake of it, and I suppose a very curious Subject it has been. As to Rebuff's I never had the good luck to have one, & they being the means of many a Man's Greatness, I doubt whether they have not been the means of ruining as many. I am confess'd a Husband, Worthy Sr., at your Service, & which, no doubt, was very dejecting to my friends, and much more so to my Parents, & as you take notice it wou'd been better to have deferr'd it for a few years, but if it had, God knows I shou'd have made neither an Organist or Physician. You are pleas'd to compare the Musick of a wedded life to that of an Organ, tho' vastly superior, if so, I greatly wonder Sr. you being a great Musician, that you have not suppli'd yourself with an Instrument before now, but as you observe, excuse the freedom of speech, many a man has owed his greatness to a Rebuff. Marriage is honourble, as the Apostle402say's, & if am allow'd to give my opinion, I think's it is as agreeable, tho' their may be some objection offer'd, to a person in my situation because I am not troubled with a wife every night, for one visit a Month is, or must be, at present Satisfactory. As to being embaras'd in my mind, to speak to you as a real Friend, big indeed have been the reflections upon the past time, & how much more so, must those be of the Future, but to thro' aside these commotions, I am determin'd to be content in whatever state Providence see's fit to place me, and as I am at present seated at the feet of Hippocrates it will be my greatest endeavour, to find that Quoddam commune vinculum,3 & make myself, if possible, in a small Degree, master of the Theory, before I enter upon the Practice, and as the time is but short that I have to stay here I shall improve it with the greater Diligence, throughing aside, in a great measure, the affairs of a Domestic life, & strive, with the help of God, to shew the difference between a regular Phyn. & the opposite, tho', no doubt, that has been the determination of many who are of the Opposite.
Your advise, Worthy Sr., always was & always will be highly priz'd by him, who thinks it, without a Compliment, his greatest honour to have an acquaintance with one who he has reason to think is the greatest of Friends, & as such I hope always to find you. Excuse my not being more particular, as I have hardly time to write my name & much more a letter, as their are two Young Gentln. living with me and all in one Chamber, wch. makes it very difficult, and is the reason of my not writing before but as their being gone out this Evening afford'd me an oppertunity, wch. I receive'd wth. pleasure. Hopeing you'll overlook mistake's, it being wrote in great haste and now seeing the Evening is almost spent, it being just upon twelve I take the Freedom to subscribe myself Your Sincere Friend & Greatly Obliged Humble Servant,
Pleas'd to give my Duty to my Parents, and compliments to all inquring Friends perticular the Dr. and Lady. Sr. Adieu!
David Cobb (1748–1830), born at Attleborough, the son of Capt. Thomas and Lydia (Leonard) Cobb and the brother of RTP's future wife, Sally Cobb. He married Eleanor, daughter of Ebenezer and Eunice (Cook) Bradish, of the Blue Anchor Tavern, in Cambridge. Clifford K. Shipton in his fine sketch of Cobb points out that "the first child of David and Eleanor was born ten days after the letter to Paine." David Cobb finished his apprenticeship in medicine under Doctor Joseph Osgood of Andover in May 1767 and opened his practice in Taunton. Never completely happy in his medical403 career, Cobb became active in politics, served as lieutenant colonel of the 16th Massachusetts Continentals in the American Revolution, and became an aide-de-camp to General Washington. In 1785, he was appointed a major general of militia and took an active part in putting down Shays's Rebellion. After serving a term in Congress, 1793–1795, Cobb became the resident agent for William Bingham, who had purchased a large tract of land in Maine. After some 25 years in Goldsborough, Maine, Cobb returned to Taunton, where he spent his remaining years (Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 16:337–351).
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A certain common bond.
I1 receiv'd your very kind letter of the fourth Instant,2 and the amiable verses Inclosed; some of which, are really Poetical painting; particularly the three first. The third verse I have some where read, and took it as an extract from Milton. Indeed they are all Miltonick, Picturesque, & Striking; and I am greatly obliged to you for the pains which you have taken, to give me the pleasure I have receivd in the perusal of them. That Juvenile production of mine, in a
Daniel Hathway of Dartmouth, Mass., described himself as a "Practioner of Physick," when he assigned his power of attorney to RTP on Mar. 12, 1771 (RTP Papers). He later served as a surgeon during the Revolution (Mass. Soldiers & Sailors, 7:511, 529).
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Samuel West (1729/30–1807), a 1754 Harvard graduate and minister of the First Congregational Society of New Bedford. He was characterized in later life (1801) by Josiah Quincy as "celebrated for the strength and metaphysical acuteness of his mind . . . Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 13:501–510).
Thomas Reid, An inquiry into the human mind, on the principles of common sense (Edinburgh, 1764). Reid attributed his philosophy "not to genius but to 'time' and the arguments of Berkeley and Hume" (DNB).