appear'd now not so clever a performance as I once thought it;
and I doubted whether some error had not insinuated itself unperceiv'd
into my argument, so as to infect all that follow'd, as is common
in metaphysical reasonings.
I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings
between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity
of life; and I form'd written resolutions, which still remain
in my journal book, to practice them ever while I lived.
Revelation had indeed no weight with me, as such; but I entertain'd
an opinion that, though certain actions might not be bad because they
were forbidden by it, or good because it commanded them, yet probably
these actions might be forbidden because they were bad for us,
or commanded because they were beneficial to us, in their own natures,
all the circumstances of things considered. And this persuasion,
with the kind hand of Providence, or some guardian angel, or accidental
favorable circumstances and situations, or all together, preserved me,
thro' this dangerous time of youth, and the hazardous situations I
was sometimes in among strangers, remote from the eye and advice
of my father, without any willful gross immorality or injustice,
that might have been expected from my want of religion. I say willful,
because the instances I have mentioned had something of necessity
in them, from my youth, inexperience, and the knavery of others.
I had therefore a tolerable character to begin the world with;
I valued it properly, and determin'd to preserve it.
We had not been long return'd to Philadelphia before the new types
arriv'd from London. We settled with Keimer, and left him by his consent
before he heard of it. We found a house to hire near the market,
and took it. To lessen the rent, which was then but twenty-four
pounds a year, tho' I have since known it to let for seventy,
we took in Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, who were to
pay a considerable part of it to us, and we to board with them.
We had scarce opened our letters and put our press in order,
before George House, an acquaintance of mine, brought a countryman
to us, whom he had met in the street inquiring for a printer.
All our cash was now expended in the variety of particulars we
had been obliged to procure, and this countryman's five shillings,
being our first-fruits, and coming so seasonably, gave me more pleasure
than any crown I have since earned; and the gratitude I felt toward
House has made me often more ready than perhaps I should otherwise
have been to assist young beginners.
There are croakers in every country, always boding its ruin.
Such a one then lived in Philadelphia; a person of note, an elderly man,
with a wise look and a very grave manner of speaking; his name
was Samuel Mickle. This gentleman, a stranger to me, stopt one day
at my door, and asked me if I was the young man who had lately
opened a new printing-house. Being answered in the affirmative,
he said he was sorry for me, because it was an expensive undertaking,