Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
By Our Colln. I send along this congratulation on the success of your Labours. Your Countrys Approbation was a suffecient reward I dont doubt for your fatigues and the additional Eulogium of Chatham will Crown you as a Laurel. I hope Ere long you will have the High seasond pleasure of seeing your Country Free.1
I imagine you will not tarry long at this session at Concord unless you are prevented going to the Southard.2 I Shoud be glad if you cou’d take Germantown in your way home. Mrs. Palmer has many things I Shoud be glad you had in your Garden & she will generously Contribute towards adorning it. I fear your publick Bussiness wont admit of your taking much care of that sort this spring but I hope you can Put Seth in a way to do considerable with Mrs. Paines oversight.
William Pitt the Elder, earl of Chatham, presented a strong speech at the House of Lords on Jan. 20 promoting the reconciliation of the colonies with the mother country. As a first step, Chatham proposed the withdrawal of troops from Boston insisting that civil rather than military means were the only proper solution to the situation, assuring the Lords that “America means only to have safety in property; and personal liberty.” The speech appears in R. C. Simmons and P. D. G. Thomas, eds., Proceedings and Debates of the British Parliaments Respecting North America, 1754–1783 (Millwood and White Plains, N.Y., 1982–1987), 5:268–287.
RTP rode to Concord on Mar. 22 to attend the adjourned meeting of the Provincial Congress. While there, he noted in his diary on Apr. 2 that “News arrived to night at Concord via Marblehead, that the Parliament are determined to enforce the acts.” The next day a coded entry noted that the Congress was “Considering about raising Army.” RTP left Concord on Apr. 8, one week before the Congress adjourned on Apr. 15.
Seth Burns was a servant in the family, frequently mentioned in connection with farming duties by Sally Cobb Paine in her correspondence during RTP’s absence. RTP noted in his diary for Apr. 13, 1772: “Elijah Tisdale went away this morning & Seth Burns came to live with me for 12 Months at £16.” He stayed with the family for seven years and left the household on Dec. 22, 1779.
During RTP’s months at home, his diary records many notes on livestock and on planting crops. On Mar. 7: “Spring comes on fast, the Grass Started & Birds Singing” and within a few days he “planted pease, sowed Lettuce &c.” Long-term planning for his gardens was also underway, and on Apr. 21 he “planted black Heart Cherry Trees from Deacon Luscombes Garden.”