Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah andRichard Perry, July 22, 1720

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Summary

Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah and RichardPerry, July22, 1720

Robert Carter writes to London merchants, Micajah and RichardPerry, July 22, 1720, concerning bills of exchange and tobaccoshipped on board the Carter, including 9hogsheads belonging to Daniel McCarty. He notes that he has receiveda report of sales they had sent with Capt. Friend, and that he ispleased with the price fetched. He turns to his son John's pleas ofrepentance about his spending and attention to his studies and statesthat he will not remonstrate further if John keeps to his promises.His debt from Edward Hastewell still disturbs him, and he hopes thePerrys will assist John Bashford. He concludes with a remark aboutthe South Sea stock, Parliament's "Falling into a Design that Threatens ruin to the nation, " and that all thingspolitical are presently calm in the colony.

Letter from Robert Carter to Messrs. Micajah and Richard Perry, July 22, 1720

-1 -
Rappahannock, [LancasterCounty, Virginia]

July 22d. 1720

Messrs. Perry

Gentlemen --

Herein comes some first bills of Excha. amounting
as per List to 198 pound which I desire Your managemt. of. Likewise here
with I send You a bill of Lading for 42hogsheads of Tobacco on board the Carter
30 of them Stemd, also You have herein a bill of Lading
for 9 hogsheads of Tobacco belonging to Captn.McCarty which You are
to Account to him for,

I'm now to acquaint You with in this few days
I have received Yours by Captain Friend, I note Your sale of some more
of myTobacco at 11d & 11 1/2 It will please me very well If You
hold out to the End at those prices,

My Son I find is upon the Stool of repentance
It it will bewell he will come to his Senses at last he makes
me largepromises to retrench himself & that he will for the

-2 -

future call upon You for no more by the Quarter Than £37"10/
& will make the best use of his time that he has to stay inEngla [nd]
by a close application tohis Study. These are agreeable
promises If he keeps to them, he has sent me an account
of How the Tailors for £50 odd pound wchIt seems I must
pay he Expects It will cost him some money to be called to
barr which I must not Grudgeat he beggs [sic] of me to forget his past
Extravagancys [sic] and desires I may not Insistupon a particular
Account from him, & that he will give me no more oaccasion of
future Complaints upon these terms Iam willing to Shutt [sic]
up with him Thus You see I am nostranger to the Story In
TheGospel --

I suppose before now You have closed the matter
with The whitehaven Gentleman, My Debt from Hastewell will
never go out of my mind, butthat seems to be more pro=
=perly the care of another Person,Bashfords business has
bin knotty& troublesome & but a trifle in the bottom. If
You canbe the Instrument to help him to his right at
last, You will Doa very Charitable Act & he will be
bound to pray for You,

You say a great deal about the South
SeaStock It is all mysterious to me Its a great wonder
TheLords and commons Should agree in Falling into a
Design thatThreatens ruin to the nation I must lea ve
It to Wiser heads Than mine, asfor my annuity I have
already said Enough about It --

Political Jars here I hope will be laid aside
for some timeat least all things at present carry the
face of Peace a mostComprehensive word of all
Sublunary blessings --

NOTES

Source copy consulted: Robert CarterLetter Book, 1720 July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, ArtCollections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California. Printed:Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . .. pp. 34-35.

Robert Carter generally used a return address of"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his correspondence, especiallyto merchants abroad. The county and colony have been added forclarity.

[1] Edward Hastewell, a London merchant, had been oneof the owners of the Carter .

[2] John Bashford (d. 1735) may have had problems, butin 1726, he was to present affidavits in Northumberland County courtto prove his parentage and marriage because "he had fallen heir toan estate in England." ( "The Heaths of NorthumberlandCounty, Virginia," William and Mary Quarterly, 1st.ser., 24[1915]: 109-115. )

[3] RC refers to the South Sea Company whose stock inJune 1720 was worth £1060 for each £100 share; the crashof the "Bubble" was underway even as he wrote. ( GoldwinSmith, A History of England, p.424. )

This text revised January 16,2009.