slacken'd, and the point was carried by a majority in the House.
My friends there, who conceiv'd I had been of some service,
thought fit to reward me by employing me in printing the money;
a very profitable jobb and a great help to me. This was another
advantage gain'd by my being able to write.
The utility of this currency became by time and experience so evident as
never afterwards to be much disputed; so that it grew soon to fifty-five
thousand pounds, and in 1739 to eighty thousand pounds, since which it
arose during war to upwards of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
trade, building, and inhabitants all the while increasing, till
I now think there are limits beyond which the quantity may be hurtful.
I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, the printing of the
Newcastle paper money, another profitable jobb as I then thought it;
small things appearing great to those in small circumstances;
and these, to me, were really great advantages, as they were
great encouragements. He procured for me, also, the printing
of the laws and votes of that government, which continu'd
in my hands as long as I follow'd the business.
I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it blanks of
all sorts, the correctest that ever appear'd among us, being assisted
in that by my friend Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment,
chapmen's books, etc. One Whitemash, a compositor I had known in London,
an excellent workman, now came to me, and work'd with me constantly
and diligently; and I took an apprentice, the son of Aquila Rose.
I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under for the
printing-house. In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman,
I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal,
but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I drest plainly;
I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing
or shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work,
but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal; and, to show that I
was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper
I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow.
Thus being esteem'd an industrious, thriving young man, and paying
duly for what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery
solicited my custom; others proposed supplying me with books,
and I went on swimmingly. In the mean time, Keimer's credit
and business declining daily, he was at last forc'd to sell his
printing house to satisfy his creditors. He went to Barbadoes,
and there lived some years in very poor circumstances.
His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed while I work'd
with him, set up in his place at Philadelphia, having bought
his materials. I was at first apprehensive of a powerful rival
in Harry, as his friends were very able, and had a good deal
of interest. I therefore propos'd a partner-ship to him which he,