Robert Carter writes to London merchant Micajah Perry, March 25, 1723, commenting briefly on whether laws recently passed by the Assembly will be allowed to stand by the Crown, and that he has noted in Perry's account current what has been paid to William Cage for the rent for the Northern Neck proprietary. He complains mildly that Perry has not responded to questions that he had sent concerning lands for which he is being sued by Cary. In stronger terms he takes Perry to task for "smiling" at Carter's proposal that he take the £1,500 coming from Carter's annuity and pay Carter 5% interest, and for complaining that Carter expects interest when he had not paid Perry interest for the money Perry had advanced to obtain the post of secretary of state for Carter's son John. Carter points out that a check of the firm's books will show Perry that his firm has often had the use of large balances of £3-5,000 in Carter's sccount over many years without being asked for interest. He chastises Perry for complaning that Carter has not complimented him enough for his "respects & kindness" to John which Carter states emphatically is not so, and notes that Perry of all the London merchants is his "darling." He sends "fresh acknowledgements" for Perry's kindness to John. He concludes that the barber Perry had recently sent probably will not prove to be very good as he has been in the army, and reminds Perry of his requests for "other tradesmen."
I am glad to find you acknowledge
yourself obliged to Virginia -- that you
will always be readie
to stand
up in its service when there is
occasion. What is written to me
about our laws I can't tell
how to form a judgement of.
Some say the imposition acts
will be allowed to us and the
Tobacco Law will not. The opinion
of others ++++++ them is just the re=
=verse.
In your account Currt I observe
what you have
paid
to Colonel Cage
and
you tell me he would take the rest
after Chistmas and that it is his
fault if he has not had it sooner,
so that there can be no blame at
my door, which has been
always my
desire to you to taken care to avoid.
As to Lloyd's affair, I am sorry it
I now come to the subject that
brought you to a smile. You had told
me my annuity of 1500 pound would
be paid off at a certain time and
desired me to think of a way to dispose
of that money; upon which I made
you the offer of it at 5 PCt. I confess
I can't measure the reason how this
came to put you in so merry a hu=
=mour. You then grow angry that
I should expect interest for my money
and you should have none for the money
you advanced for my son's place,
which
I shall now endeavour to set in
such a light that it may come within
the reach of your comprehension
and not appear so wonderful a
paradox; & this I shall do by going into the
You wrong me egregiously to charge
me with want of acknowledgement
for your respects & kindness to my
son. I am sure I have often said & I
believe it is to be seen in some of my
letters, that I took it as a lasting
obligation that I should not easily
forget; and I am sure I have not failed to
serve your interest since, where it has
a fling at my darlings, but if you would
look back you would find yourself
to have been the occasion of dividing my
concern and nobody else. If I have any
darling in the trade among the London
merchants it is Mr. Perry -- and so I be=
=lieve he will continue to be if he
does not give me new occasions of
dissatisfaction; and I think this year
will sufficiently demonstrate it. As
to your fresh respects to my son in ap=
pearing so early his friend as you men=
=tion in your letter, I give you my
fresh acknowledgements.
The barber, by Holladay,
is with
me -- am afraid he smells too
much of the Camp
to prove good.
As for those other tradesmen I wrote
for, I hope you will exert yourself
to get [them?]
when you have op=
=portunity.