Lancaster Feby. 17th. 1755 Dear Eunice,

I recd. the things & Letters by Capt. Richardson. I am sorry that Cato has left the Point before another place was found for him, but hope you may provide for him without Trouble. As for yr. other Letter I have not Leisure to give it such An Answer as it deserves. I look upon it as a specimen of the Volatile Wit of a City Girl, who always think their Persons & Labours Meritorious of Jointures & Dowers, wn. perhaps the whole Employmt. of their Lives don't derserve two Old Sermons; unless they be by way of reproof & therefore wn. I have a Coople of Sermons that suit yr. Case, I may, from my known principle of doing Good, send them for you perusal. As for their not being worth copying, I am surpriz'd you should surmise that, unless you judge them Patch-Work from the Author's ragged Jackett, Patch'd Gown, & Brass Buttons covered with Blue Cloth (a contrivance that is Worthy the Ingenuity of a Sea Captain who when he sells a Vessell with a worm eaten Bottom, will put on a good Coat of Tar); But whatever you may think of the Suddeness of the Change, it was very regular, & much aproved off. As to the Performance, I satt out last Sunday about 3 oClock AM, Accompanied by Capt. Levi Willard, & Dr. Edward Flynt,1 as Armer Bearers; & Mr. Manassah Divol.2 as chief Pilot & Introducer. I found my Parish Chh. in the Middle of abt. 30 Acres of Shrub Oaks. Upon my appearance the People, who were sunning themselves under the House repaired to their Seats, & upon my Passage thro' the Alley, pd. Obeisance & presented me three Notes, one for a sick Child, & two relating to Hours of Peril. I unexpectedly, felt the same Serenity & Calmness; as I should do if I had been in Bed, & Entertain'd them the whole day from Levi: 19: 30 vs. The people gave good attention & seem to be a goodly Folk. I must delay telling you many Circumstances, Occurencys &c., but can tell you that it might be of dangerous Tendency if I should pull the white handkerchief out in the Pulpit, & might hurt my Cause more than preaching good Works & Peace. The Sugar Plumbs will be of no Service to me till the N: England Rum be gone, unless you sent them Allegorically, to show that my preaching must be Sweet in the hearing & have a small tendency to expell Wind, which would render it as agreable as Sugar plumbs to Children, which do neither good nor hurt.

Upon search I can find but one plain shirt; pray write if you sent them243both. I live abstracted from all Worldly Thoughts, except such as the Law infuses into me, which I pound upon Night & Day. Keep my Ministerial Excursion a Secret, & Remember to no Female Freind upon Earth, & excuse my Sending this Letter in such a manner, for paper fetches a 4£ per sheet. Yr. Mindfull Brother.

ROBT. LORD SHIRLEY

RC ; addressed: "To Mrs Eunice Paine Semstress Boston"; endorsed.

1.

Edward Flint (1733?–1818) served as a surgeon in the regiment under the command of Col. Timothy Ruggles in the expedition against Crown Point in 1755. Flint was later a physician in Shrewsbury (Andrew H. Ward, History of the Town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts [Boston, 1847], 275–276; Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 9:199–223).

2.

Manassah Divol (1716–1797), a Lancaster yeoman, was quartermaster for Col. Abijah Willard's regiment in 1755 and 1759 (Voye, ed., Massachusetts Officers in the French and Indian Wars).