Halifax Aug: 26th. 1751 Dear Sir,

I recd. Your letter Yesterday, tho: I had hear'd of your Arival before, but being much hurry'd and perplex'd, & not knowing but time and distance, with great hurry in business, had eras'd any thoughts of Your old Friend oute of your mind, I declin'd to write. But now since more than half the reasons are remov'd, I shall make as particular an Answer, as I am able in my present Lame Circumstances, which you ever this time have heard of as well as of my being abot. Marriage.

I am sorry to hear that you have lost money the first Voige you undertook, but hope you will suffer no anxious Concern to have a Lodging in Your Brest, But press on, tho: by fate you in Striving to obtain the Sadie sho'd loose the Horse.

Your lmaganation that I was Crazy in keeping School was for want of knowing those Circumstances or motives I had. 1st I keept a Private School. Secondly, By keeping a School I was Excus'd from Serving as Grand Jury Man for this Year. Thirdly I keept School no longer than I co'd employ my vacant hours in my Gardin, & had no other good business to undertake. The next Thing is, You hear I am agoing to be married, and art Suppriz'd To hear it is to a Dear Native of Ireland. Pray dont you remember that some time before my Uncles Snow Sail'd, which he went in, that I was to have gone in to dear Ireland, it was said often I was going To get me an Irish wife, and that once at our Table I called it going him! 1to go to Ireland. Now lay all these things Togeather, & the great want I am in of a Wife or a Mestress (either might do) and you will be tempted not to wonder when the news comes of my being a Husband, tho: to a mere Woman! The next thing is Your Concern for my welfair; for which I am verily obliged both to you and Mr. Palmer for I verily believe your Satisfaction would increase, at the Information of my increasing Circumstances in The world. I hope I may never be so unhappy as to want a disposition Carefully to resent it. For your further Satisfaction being urged, I will give you as informing an accot: as I can of my Transaction's Fate &c . for Eleven months past to begin with October. In this month, I got my house boarded and fit to live in, which I did likewise a fine well Dugg, & from the 30th of sd. mo: to Novr. 17th I had a Young man who sicken'd and died with me, which took up all my time, & by watching &c . I had like too had been sick too, which was prevented by a kind139Providence. Novr. the first of this mo. I Let one of my Rooms for 17/ pr. mo. and Continued Till march 1st. In December we had bad weather, I can think of but One Action proper to relate, which is I Killed a Rat which weighed 28. oz. Janr. 23d we had a high wind which blew my little House Fram down, that I had made & rais'd over a Volt.2 Feb. this mo. I must Skipe finding my relation will be too long & miss of being a pleasing Entertainment.

So Ill begin March, the first to the Tenth, I had a Violent Ague and tooth ache, had one Tooth broke in my Mouth, which keept me in pain Night & Day, I2th Your Birth day, had a Visit by Sundry Ladys P.M. at Tea, but forgot that Salutation which they think should begin & Conclude a Visit—vizt. Kissing, which if you remember is a Custom that I pay but little addoration too. April—I dugg and cleard my Lott, the last day & Evening of this mo. I Celleprated the Birth of a Young Lady.

May 13. the Indians did the damage over at Dartmouth, killd about 12. & cairred abot. 10 Souls Captive.3The 20th I fell from my Little house on my back on the Corner of a Stone & had I been but Twice as high as I was, I in all probibility had never told where I was hurt, I was soon Blooded, and in a few days was about. 29. we Set our pump in the Well, & the water proves the best, allowed by all Tasters of any in this Colony. I find I Spin out my relation to an uncommon length, therefor must, wave the Copying from my letter Book a variety of things I have there as it were posted up from my Journal for my Spedier finding them & with a design to have sent them but I find I Cant; vizt. the different Sorts of business, the misfortunes I met with by Cuts & bad weather, the particular accot. of a Jealous Woman whom Fortune sent to Stay with me with her husband for some time, & sundry other odd affairs, I must omitt till we see one another again, for on a particular accot., as you will See in the Close of this Epistle, I Cant do it now—and seing life health & all its numerous attendance are so uncertain that I dare not promise to do it shortly. The first of Augt. or the last of July I enter'd into partnership with a very Sturing young Gentleman, we opened & entered into Several promising Scheems to get money, but fortune, fate or Providence Seems to Say we Shall be Cross'd & denied them all for the 13th Instant, I Come home from the mouth of N. West Harbor & Scaulded my Legg in a very pittifull manner indeed with the water in the Teakittle. Here I must ommitt a particular accot. of my Family, Gardin business &c .—for the same reason above mentioned. And with respect to my leaving this Colony just140now I am so engaged on Sundry accots. that I could not leave it on any accot. tho: am verily obliged to you for your Scheems, but if this place Still grows as it has done, I expect, and if Heaven Shod. Smile on my business I may get me a better footing than any where else I know of. Here I must ommitt a long accot. of my Schems, the reasons why I Cant leave this place &c .—for my partner was taken Sick the 28t. Augt. with a Feaver and purging. Thus all my designs Seem to be Clipt in the Bud, I dare not murmer agst. nor wod. I reproach Providence But seems to me that the Governor of the Universe either permitts Satan to afflect me with One Missfortune on the back of a nother for my Sins & Folys, or fills the viols of his wrath to powr on my head. I am most Tempted to Fling up all, at all adventures, Sell all and Run, but where I know not, & I would if I could hear of the place where Trouble never comes.

God be thanked, I have nowise no Copartner to share with me in my Misfortunes, that would add a Perticular sharpness to my misfortunes, and while I am thus, as it were the Man at which Providence Seems aiming, I am resolved to bear all my afflections alone. However notwithstanding all I have said, I dont mean To Charge my Great Creator, my kind preserver & Beneficient Benefactor with any injustice at all, But beleive all is Sent to Correct and bridle my hasty Temper, to Teach me my duty to God & my Neighbours and to punish me for my many Careless ommissions of the dutys I owe to God Daily, to wean me from all Created injoyments, & set me for a World of Glory. & had I not a well Grounded hope that my desirs are more agreeable to the word and will of God, than my actions; I would drop all Striving for life, and The Sooner I co'd give it up The better. However I know I have a Part that Cant die, & oh! that all the afflections which fall to my Lott, may not fail of the Intended effect by my miss.improvment.

I Cant add any more onely it is a Sickly time now among the N. England People, & if before I write or see you, it Should be my Fate to Share with my Fellow men in the Loss of this Clay House may my Soul be rec'd to an House on high & with Yours, enjoy

All the glories that a God can give, Or a Created Beings able to receive.

Remember me to all my Friends and acquantance whom I wish happy with Your Cousin & Servt.,

JAMES FREEMAN 141

P.S. I find there is no Connection with the begining middle & Close of this Letter the reason is, the Frowns of Providence Since I began to write, however I would have you make the best of it for it comes from a very Perplext Cousin.

RC ; addressed: "To Mr. Robert Treat Paine In Boston To be left at Mr. Joseph Palmers In School Street Boston Pr. Mr. Churchill"; endorsed.

1.

Home?

2.

Vault.

3.

An account of this raid is in Duncan Campbell, Nova Scotia in its Historical, Mercantile and Industrial Relations (Montreal, 1873), 108–109.

Phila. Sepr. 23 1751 Gentlemen,

I sailed from Boston the 5th. Instant & arrived at Philada. the 14th.1 I immediately Apply'd to Mr. John Mifflin2 with yr. Letters & understood of him that yr. Cards were all sold at Vendue. I shew'd him yr. Order upon him for your Effects, upon which he immediately offered either to deliver me the Money or to make Returns to you according to my directions, but considering that he will charge 5 pct. to deliver to me as if he shipped to you, & considering the Vendue Man's Commissn. as also the poorness of the Sales to support all these & some other Charges, I choose not to act as a Factor, but rather as a Freind, especially as I can be as serviceable to you in that Capacity as in the other. As to the poorness of the Sales, I have industriously enquired into it & cannot find but it was unavoidable. The Town is full of English Cards, & tho' every Body cryed up the Goodness of yr. Cards yet the Market being Glutted, no Body would give the Value because they will not fetch it again, for as before they were dead in one Man's Hand they now are dead in a great many's. As for Returns, I have laid my self out to find Something, which might in Some measure Retrieve the Loss. Cocoa has been plenty & cheap, but now is scarce & on the rise, I belive I have seen all the Cocoa that is in Town wch. is not a great deal. I can find no quantity of any but Cyan Nuts3 & for them they ask 4£ 10, to 5£ which will by no Means do. Iron is 23£ pr. ton and 5£ OT. frieght. As for Sugars they are plenty they may be bought from 40/ to 45/ but then you know there will be a Bond to be given by the Shipper & a cancell Bond (unless there be Goods142on board before) & an Import at Boston; but whether any of these will do better than Flour at 13/ 1 know not. I design to go to New York, I understand that Cocoa is plenty & Cheap there. If good Cocoa could be got cheap I believe it would Answer well for you, but whether it will be prudent to carry yr. Money there in order to purchase Cocoa I quire, because if it could not be got to advantage, their Flower is not so good as this, and how this Matter is I shall inform my Self if possible. I shall do Nothing without Consideration and in as much as nothing could have been shipped by this Vessell so I have not been hasty in my Conclusion. As for Mackril the Town is full of it, I have stored mine & expect to get 20/ for it. English Goods are plenty & much cheeper than at Boston. I like Phila. Indifferently, the People in general are very low sort of People. I have not Time now to make any Remarks of Any Kind, but theire will a Vessell sail in a few days after this by which I design to write more perticularly as also if possible to have shipp'd yr. Effects. At present I remain yr. Freind & humble St.,

ROBT. TREAT PAINE

LbC ; addressed: "To Messrs. Palmer & Cranch Card Makers in Boston Pr. Capt. Mellon."

1.

RTP noted in his diary on Sept. 3, "This day agreed for a Passage to Philada. on board the Brige. Charming Polly Capt. Wm. Millings. Comr." On the 8th he noted, "This Morning Sat sail for Philada., had an easy & pleasant Passage of 8 days."

William Mellons (1707–1755) was a Boston mariner. The Charming Polly cleared Philadelphia for Boston on the 25th (RTP Diary; Pennsylvania Gazette, Sept. 26, 1751).

2.

John Mifflin (1715–1759), a Quaker merchant of Philadelphia, later a member of the provincial council in 1755. He was the father of Gov. Thomas Mifflin, president of the Continental Congress, 1783–1784 (Charles P. Keith, Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania, 1733–1756 [Philadelphia, 1883], 362).

3.

Probably cayenne pepper pods.