70 Life of Count Rumford. 



"BOSTON, Jan'y nth, 1775. 



" HON? SIR, Last evening I had the pleasure to receive 

 your kind Letter of the gth instant, for which I return many 

 thanks. 



" As to my return to Concord, it is what I most ardently 

 desire and wish for, could I do it with safety. But in the pres- 

 ent distracted state of affairs, I fear I could have no security 

 that might be depended on, especially if things should proceed 

 to such extremities as they at present bid fair to do. And as to 

 any concessions that I could make, I fear it would be of no 

 consequence, for I cannot, possibly, with a clear conscience, 

 confess myself Guilty of doing anything to the disadvantage of 

 this Country, but quite the reverse. 



" As to Mrs. Thompson's coming to live with me, I appre- 

 hend that it will be so far from embarrassing my affairs, that it 

 will lessen my expenses, as Mrs. Clark will let us have house- 

 room sufficient for our small family for a very trifle, and we can 

 live upon our own provisions, which can easily be brought from 

 Concord in a sled ; and as to wood, I have enough of that en 

 land of my own, which my Father Pierce will transport for me 

 on easy terms. 



" And as Mrs. Thompson's Company is almost the only 

 thing that can be any alleviation of my present troubles, and as 

 my being absent from her is the greatest unhappiness of my 

 present situation, I hope I shall be so happy as to obtain your 

 consent for her leaving Concord." 



In compliance with this earnest appeal, his wife, with 

 her infant, joined him at his mother's home in Woburn, 

 though i: required of them a ride of more than fifty 

 miles in midwinter. They remained with him till the 

 last of May, 1775, after which he never again saw his 

 wife. My friend, Mr. George Rumford Baldwin, the 

 only surviving son of Colonel Baldwin, informs me that 

 he has been told that, at the time, Major Thompson 

 was mostly with the army at Cambridge, though I 



