Letter from Robert Carter to Thomas Evans,July 23, 1720

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Summary

Letter from Robert Carter to Thomas Evans, July 23,1720

Robert Carter writes to London merchant Thomas Evans, July 23,1720, thanking him for a shipment of shoes which has not arrived andwhich may have been sent to York River in error. He chides Evans fornot selling his tobacco at 11 pence, and closes with comments on theSouth Sea stock investments and the actions of Parliament aboutit.

Letter from Robert Carter to Thomas Evans, July 23, 1720

-1 -
Rappahannock, [LancasterCounty, Virginia]
July 23, 1720
Mr. Thos. Evans

Sir -- --

I rec'd Yors. of the 9th. of April two Days agon
& thank You forYor. Diligence in sending me the Shoos &c
I have no bill of Lading & know nothing of them more
Than Yor. Lettr. tellsme, I Shall write to York the first
opportunity to gett furtherIntelligence

I am sorry to find in Yor. nex [t] Paragraph
You tell me you could not Sell My Tobo. for 11d
Surely You'l not depretiate below othermen --

The South Sea Stock makes a wonderfull [sic]
Clamour I hope Your fears are greater Than there
is foundationfor, If the Lords & Commons Conspire to
bring ruin upon the nation from whence can come
Its Deliverance we will comfort ourselves wth. hoping
for the best Gods providence is all our Inheritances

I Drew on You to Robt. Biscoe
for £6"3" -- --

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. 38-39.

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] Carter refers to the scandal of the value of thestock of the South Sea and other companies which wild speculation haddriven enormously high in June 1720, and whichwas nearly worthless several months later. Many fortunes were madeand lost. Perhaps the most succesful speculator was Sir RobertWalpole who made a fortune, retired, and then was called to save thenation as prime minister, a post he held from 1721 until 1742.( Goldwin Smith. A History of England. Chicago, etc.: Scribner's, 1949. pp. 422-424. )

[2] Robert Biscoe was one of RC's clerks who wrotehis letters and kept accounts for the business.

This text revised November 2,2009.