At Newport we took in a number of passengers for New York,
among which were two young women, companions, and a grave, sensible,
matron-like Quaker woman, with her attendants. I had shown an obliging
readiness to do her some little services, which impress'd her I
suppose with a degree of good will toward me; therefore, when she
saw a daily growing familiarity between me and the two young women,
which they appear'd to encourage, she took me aside, and said:
"Young man, I am concern'd for thee, as thou has no friend with thee,
and seems not to know much of the world, or of the snares youth
is expos'd to; depend upon it, those are very bad women; I can
see it in all their actions; and if thee art not upon thy guard,
they will draw thee into some danger; they are strangers to thee,
and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy welfare, to have no
acquaintance with them." As I seem'd at first not to think so ill
of them as she did, she mentioned some things she had observ'd and
heard that had escap'd my notice, but now convinc'd me she was right.
I thank'd her for her kind advice, and promis'd to follow it.
When we arriv'd at New York, they told me where they liv'd, and invited
me to come and see them; but I avoided it, and it was well I did;
for the next day the captain miss'd a silver spoon and some other things,
that had been taken out of his cabbin, and, knowing that these were
a couple of strumpets, he got a warrant to search their lodgings,
found the stolen goods, and had the thieves punish'd. So, tho'
we had escap'd a sunken rock, which we scrap'd upon in the passage,
I thought this escape of rather more importance to me.
At New York I found my friend Collins, who had arriv'd there some time
before me. We had been intimate from children, and had read the same
books together; but he had the advantage of more time for reading
and studying, and a wonderful genius for mathematical learning,
in which he far outstript me. While I liv'd in Boston most of my hours
of leisure for conversation were spent with him, and he continu'd
a sober as well as an industrious lad; was much respected for his
learning by several of the clergy and other gentlemen, and seemed
to promise making a good figure in life. But, during my absence,
he had acquir'd a habit of sotting with brandy; and I found by his
own account, and what I heard from others, that he had been drunk
every day since his arrival at New York, and behav'd very oddly.
He had gam'd, too, and lost his money, so that I was oblig'd to
discharge his lodgings, and defray his expenses to and at Philadelphia,
which prov'd extremely inconvenient to me.
The then governor of New York, Burnet (son of Bishop Burnet),
hearing from the captain that a young man, one of his passengers,
had a great many books, desir'd he would bring me to see him.
I waited upon him accordingly, and should have taken Collins
with me but that he was not sober. The gov'r. treated me with
great civility, show'd me his library, which was a very large one,
and we had a good deal of conversation about books and authors.
This was the second governor who had done me the honor to take notice