Judith Sargent Stevens to Judith Saunders Sargent (her mother)
Letter 24 To the Same Gloucester January 1776
Ever since this day with which I had the happiness to pass so sweetly with you, and during which I experienced such frequent proofs of your maternal goodness — since that period, I say, delighted with the pleasing Retrospect, I have sighed for leisure, to address you, and in such language as my heart told me you desired — Often, dearest and most revered of Women, have I taken up my pen; when overwhelmed by my subject, conviction hath compelled me to subscribe tacitly, by my silence, to the insufficiency of words [—] Gratitude stamped in characters indelible triumphs in my bosom, where it will flourish coeval with the soil —
I have experienced, since I had the felicity of seeing you, such embarassing confusion; a constant succession of company consisting, you will conclude altogether of gentlemen — I am not fond of a croud, but I ought to acquiesce in whatever may contribute to the emolument of my husband — Yet, my soul pants for the calm uncrouded rural scene, and it is my ardent wish effectually to say — “Hence busy World with all thy Cares” —
We have as residents with us, the commanding officers of the captured Brig* — They are literally sea Men but, although rough they are humane, and obliging — What a contrast the present winter, to the preceding — Then, surrounded by sentimental friends, and indulged with frequent opportunities of listening to the glad tidings of peace — which sounded most sweetly in my ears — Need I say how greatly I deplore the change — Remember me to Fitz William — May God forever bless the Dear Boy, and may he be continued, a dutiful, and affectionate prop to the declining years of his affectionate Parents.
*Probably the Brig Henry and Esther, "mysteriously swallowed up on January 26 crossing Ipswich Bay from LeHave, Nova Scotia, for Boston ... Captain Nellis was treated with the gallantry due his station." (Guns Off Gloucester by Joseph E. Garland, pp. 152-53)
On January 1, 1776, George Washington had appointed Winthrop Sargent, Judith's father, "to the post of Continental Agent in Gloucester." Among his duties, "he was to board all prizes brought into Cape Ann, send their papers by express to headquarters in Cambridge, inventory their cargos, and take precautions against their embezzlement. Because Gloucester Harbor was not considered safe for laying up prizes for any length of time, he was to have them sailed up to Beverly in care of Agent William Bartlett.
To his agent at Gloucester George Washington ... [ordered] that he was to treat all prisoners for whom he had any responsibility 'with the utmost humanity and tenderness.' In those few words, the tall Commander-in-Chief at Cambridge said much about himself." (Garland, Guns, pp. 122-23)