By being disappointed of the opportu=
=nity of Conveyance
of the foregoing, I have opportunity
on the same paper thankfully to acknowledge the
receipt
of the favour of the
honble Trust of
May 1st 1772
& of yours
of
May 15th
&c
June 10th
& with the enclosed.
I am much refreshed that my hon.
d Patrons are satisfied
with my doings
M.r Occom since his recovery from his last Fall appears with
a
much better Temper than he has ever done since he came
from
London —
your
^the^ agreeable Letters you transmit for
my perusal speak the
same
I am glad you have dealt so plainly with him, & wish
you had done it earlier — He has appeared exceeding proud
& haughty — his Sail was too high for him in
London. I feard
he would be wholly useleſs, & nothing better than a Thorn to me
&
this School — he has appeared rather as a
Dictator and
Supervisor to me & my Affairs than a Brother, Companion,
& Helper in them — And I have tho't him cruel, uncharitable
& something bitter in his Surmises, Censures & Threats in
Cases & about that
[illegible] which he knew nothing of, nor
used any
proper means to be informed in. And has said (I have been
told) that he
was desired to inspect my conduct before he
came from
England — and this kind of treatment I have had
from him without
the least expreſsion of Brotherly
Sympathy Care pity &
Compaſsion towards me or my
Family, while I was struggling under Floods of Sorrow
& an insupportable weight of Labour Care & Fatigue
and all with a single view to save his poor perishing
Brethren
— How wounding such things have been to me
you cant concieve
unleſs you had experience of the like.
But I have lately had a Letter from him of
another savor,
and acco
ts which have much refreshed me. I hope he will
be
be my Helper in Christ Jesus. tho' God sees it best for me
that I should have
nothing below himself to lean at all upon
Bleſsed be his holy name. I shall rejoice to encourage
M.r Occom.
I percieve you have given Ear to Representations which
appear to me to be groundleſs cruel & vile Slanders, respect=
=ing my Government of my
Son, & my having been in
fluenced by him & his false Friends &c — By the grace of
God I think I have known neither wife, nor Son,
nor
Nephew in these Affairs for many Years, nor may I know y
m.
I never was quite blind to
my Sons
Imperfections, but on
the contrary my Government of him has been much too
severe, & I continued it till too late his Physicians advised
me that if I did not alter my hand it would
kill him.
and yet he neither has, nor ever had that I knew or
heard of, any blot
of moral Scandal upon him. He has
long been sorely broken under Gods holy hand. & his case is now
looked upon as incurable — he lives in
Connecticut
& I am
credibly
informed
^told^ is exemplary for patience & a humble
Submiſsion to God under Trials — If he were as much
concerned to vindicate his
Character (whatever may be
the slander you have received of him) as his
Slanderer
s has been to blacken it, I make no doubt it would stand
in
another Light whatever the consequences
may
^would^ be to
others; but he seems fully content to refer
these matters
to the decision of the great day. on the whole it gives
me much uneasineſs that I know not what you mean,
nor what I have to amend or mo
^u^rn for, more than I have done.
You are also my hon
d Sir much mistaken as to my
being influenced by
D.r Whitaker. I have no connection with
him. it is above two years
since I saw him, but I must
in Justice say that I suppose his Characters moral
and
ministerial are good among good people in
New
England—
and what his offence in
England was I never knew —
M.r Occom would have told me I suppose, but I percieved that his
mind was prejudiced &
sowered against him, & therefore dis=
=qualified to give the Relation.
By Acco.
ts
& hints from
M.r Avery of plotting & Machi=
=nations in the Country where he has been against me
and this Cause, you may possibly (when all matters
are ripened) hear something as
sho
[illegible]cking as any
[gap: tear][guess: thing] you have yet heard — in which it is said there is a Combination.
but God is my Refuge — I ask your pardon for this
unproffitable Scrawl —
I take this opportunity to renew my thanks to you for the
repeated