You will no doubt be surprized to hear of my separation from Mr. Pyne. You so kindly exerted yourself to bring about this Connection that I feel myself in some measure responsible to you for my Conduct on this Occasion. And as I highly value your Friendship I should be sorry to be lessen’d in your Esteem by any malicious Reports. I therefore think it incumbent on me to inform you briefly of what has principally led to our Separation.
I must first in Justice to Mr. Pyne and to your good Opinion of him, say that I have never had any fault to find with him—he has constantly conducted himself with Propriety and attended to my Concerns as much as his health and strength would permit him. But in this rendering Justice to Mr. Pyne are you not already apprized of the Cause of my Complaints? If you know anything of the Character and the Disposition of—I cannot say his “better Half”, you must need little Explication. But you cannot have been well acquainted with it, or you would not have recommended me to have formed a Family association with one whose Temper is such that we have not been able to preserve a single Servant—longer than till they become acquainted with her Tyrannical Dispositions. You must needs think my Dear Sir, how painful these Scenes must have been to me. I tried every method I could devise to convince her by friendly hints and adminitions that her Conduct and Language to the Servants would by no means do in this Country and to persuade her to alter the same. But alas my Endeavours were fruitless—I thought however I would make another Effort—which I did by remonstrating to her in the Presence of her Husband on the impropriety of her Management and the Public Censure it brought upon us: for you must know that our perpetual changing of Servants, which I had hitherto allowed for the sake of Peace with her, had now become the common talk of all the Neighborhood: and her Temper became universally so known by the Reports of the Servants we had dismiss’d and those we ? , that it was with difficulty I could find any willing to come into our Service. My Representations were by no means well received but I was in hopes they would produce Peace in the house, that my Ears would no longer be assailed with the Clamours of a Scold and that we should preserve the few good Servants we had left. My Hopes were not however of long Duration for shortly after this she returned to her old Way and wanted me to dismiss another Servant of whom no fault was to be found. I endeavoured to assuage her but without success. I then thought it was time I should take upon me the authority of which she had made so bad a use—I told her that I would by no means consent to sending away any other Servant without sufficient Cause, that we had hitherto only lost by Changes, of which I was so sensible that I intended if possible to get by an Augmentation of Wages the last Servant that had left us to return. This so incensed her that ashe made use to me of the most abusive Language and even went so far as to insinuate that there was a private Connection between me and the Girl she wanted to dismiss, or that I should not wish retain her. I treated this with the silent Contempt it merited but understanding afterwards that she had reported this Scandall, I took an Opportunity of mentioning to Mr. Pyne who had been present to the Altercation between his Lady and myself, that he must plainly perceive it was impossible for us to continue to live together as we had done: and I proposed that Mrs. Pyne should no longer have any management of our Family Concerns, or that we should mutually agree to anull our Contract. To this latter he finally consented and we settled our Accounts accordingly but did not sign any Papers to confirm the same.
Here is the only time I have found Mr. Pyne’s Conduct deviate from that of a man of honor. I went to Philadelphia for a Day or two and my Return to my great surprize I found Mr. Pyne would no longer consent to what was before settled between us of an amicable and equal separation but that he expected I should defray his Expences of his removing hither and hence but that I should make him a Compensation for his Services. This his dear Lady had worked him up to in my Absence. For his Good Nature as you will know suffers her to govern him intirely. I might I believe have refused these Demands as I could have taken Oath to our Agreement of Separation and indeed Called on him and his Wife to witness it—but being desirous to avoid all Law suits and to put a stop to any future Demands on the Part of Mr. Pyne I agreed to grant those he had made as a voluntary Consideration for his Services and Removals (for I still renied him right to it)