Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

Et Ego, etiam, sum iterum felix , my dear Page,
& most earnestly have I wished since my hopes of
such a Change in my situation have appeared well
founded, to see you & to tell how much my heart
rejoices in the Change it feels. — The fruitless hopes
I had long cherish'd, had almost robb'd my soul
of every comfort which could arise from the hope
of being restored to the state I had fallen from.
I considered myself as one whose future prospects
were of the most gloomy, dreary, cast. — This
was the reason, my friend, that I did not dare to
impart to you my plans, which had been some
time fixed, & were ripe for Execution when I
saw you last: despairing of more success in that
Attempt which I then had resolved on, than in
those which I had so frequently repeated in
vain, I wish'd to keep my resolves a Secret
almost from myself; at least until I should
be able to form some estimate of the probabilities
in my favor. — You, my dear Friend, could not
have experienced from your beloved Peggy more
Candour, more Delicacy, or more refined liberality of Sentiment
than I have met with. — Neither the disparity of Age, the
incumbrances of a large family, nor any other Consideration
which might have been expected to operate against me,
appeared to create any Obstacles to my Happiness.
Nothing but the most perfect liberality of mind, united
with a degree of Candour most happily tempered by that
delicacy which distinguishes the Sex, could have rendered
her Conduct at once so amiable & respectable. A coincidence
of Sentiment on the most important points which relate to
our Union promises me every happiness that this Life
can bestow, so long as it shall please heaven to bless us
with mutual health & length of days. — I have no other
Apprehendsion but that, which all who have once encountered
such a Misfortune must ever feel.

In this view of my own Affairs, I seem to have lost
sight of the present interested Epocha at Rosewell. Has
M^rs Page become a Mother yet, or are you still in
Expectation of that Event? — May it prove happy &
fortunate to you both! I am impatient, however, to
hear that it has taken place, & if it has, I beg that you
will both accept my most affectionate Congratulations
on the Occasion. — The Interesting pursuit in which I
have been engaged, will, I flatter myself, excuse me
to you both for not having yet been to Rosewell. I
have resolved to go over the first time your Pe[illegible]
crosses to Williamsburg — but I fear I must decline
the resolution for the present, being obliged up to
Chesterfield to see my son Richard & his Wife, who
are both in an extremely ill state of health — the
latter it is feared is in much danger — I expect their
Carriage down for me in a day or two. When I
return my first Excursion shall be to Rosewell.
But my stay can not be as long with you
as it is us'd to be — My Engagements with the
College encroach too much upon my t[ime]
to suffer me to indulge my Inclinatio[ns]
Adieu ! my friend — Present me with the most
affectionate regard to M^rs Page— And if the
moment most interesting to Parents has arrived, offer
her every sincere wish in my behalf, for herself &
her little one.— Give my Love to Mann, his Wife,
Fanny, Judy & the Boys — Say every thing to Miss
Alice that the most genuine friendship, esteem
& unfeigned Wishes for her happiness can dictate.

My Love to the Doctor.}
Tell him I am happy.}

SG Tucker

John Page esq^r
Rosewell