felt obliged to apprentice me to a printer in the city. As our dwelling was at the most remote part of the city, it was necessary that I should have lodgings near the office. She gave me many cautions and directions, and shed many tears over me the morning she sent me away from her to my future master. I promised her I would not disgrace her, and this promise I really most solemnly meant to keep, for I had a great deal of pride of character, and thought a great deal of the punishment and shame of sin; but I had never thought of the misery of it. I had no evil intentions, but I had no fixed good principles; I had then no evil passions, but I had no holy purposes; I did not mean to do harm, but I had not resolved to do good. In short, I had no religion; I was like a mariner without a compass upon an unknown sea.

I went to the printing office of Mr- -. As I was very lively and active I was captivated with the busy and animated scene around me; all was enchantment to me, and I was delighted with my new life.

It might be useful for me to relate all the separate steps I took in the ways of wickedness, but I cannot; my mind is absorbed in the contemplation of my final depravity. All I can

recall is the recollection of an habitual carelessness, and forgetfulness of my mother and her instructions, and an entire neglect of my Bible, which she had entreated me to read daily.

I never went to church, except to avoid being alone and because I could do nothing more entertaining, but passed the day in frolicking, or reading bad novels.

There were a thousand little contrivances by which I succeeded in deceiving my master, for I had a great desire for his good opinion; I wished to be thought well of, and took unwearied pains to please; this not only made me a general favorite but gained for me his friendship. Sometimes for a moment something in my heart would whisper that I was doing wrong and that misery would be my final portion, but I chased away this feeling as soon as possible. I ran away from it to some amusement; I tried to keep down my conscience, and I succeeded; but her day of vengeance has come, and the voice that I was once deaf to, is now the only one I hear. But I am getting before my story; it is a brief one, and I will go back to it.

I went on in this way till I was seventeen, when one day some young men of my acquaint

ance invited me to join them in a frolic that they said they were to have in the evening. "We shall have a grand time,' they said, 'and be sure you bring some money in your pocket.' I consented, and met them at the time appointed; they carried me to a gambling house. The thought of my mother did come to my mind as I entered, but I soon drove it away. I happened to be rather fortunate. There was a great deal of laughing and low talk, that was called wit. We played till the day dawned, and just succeeded in reaching home and appearing in our respective places in season to avoid discovery. I was at the office a little earlier than usual, and was praised for early rising. As I took unusual pains that day to please, in the course of it my master observed to me that it was a great pleasure to him to see what a good fellow I was, and to think what a comfort I should be to my mother. This was like a dagger to me, but I soon got over it.

From this time I went frequently to the gambling house. It was a sort of cellar. We went with great secrecy, and we were not found out by our masters, and we never thought of Him from whom we cannot hide ourselves for one instant.

One evening I perceived a new comer; one of the wickedest of my companions whispered in my ear, we have got a pigeon to pluck this evening; he is such a fiery spirit we can do anything we please with him.' He soon became excited and lost what money he had of his own; but he had also a considerable sum of his master's; he had lost all his self-possession, and he ventured that also and lost it. Never shall I forget his shriek of anguish when we told him it was daylight, and that we must return home; he said that he was ruined, and threatened to kill himself. We led him in a state of distraction to his boarding house. The weather was hot; he had drunk a great deal of punch; he was seized with an inflammatory fever, and a week afterwards, notice of his death was sent to our office to be put in our paper. It seems as if it were but yesterday when I opened that little slip of paper and read the death of this young man, whom we had killed by our cruel wantonness. I felt for the first time the gnawing of the worm that dieth not, but it did not lead me to repentance. I was in high favor with my master; I stood well with the world; and I contrived to stifle my conscience.

Then

About a year from this time my mother died

very suddenly. I was deeply grieved at losing her, for wicked as I was I loved my mother. I felt how unworthy I was of her. It had of late been a very painful thing to me to think of her, and after a few months I began to feel it to be a relief to be freed from her troublesome questions, as they were apt to startle my conscience; for I occasionally learned that this witness of God in the soul cannot be entirely silenced, cannot be destroyed, and to tremble at its power. But I did not reform. On the contrary, I sought for amusement and excitement in the hope thus to conquer it.

My wicked gains at the gaming table, many perquisites at the office, and my mother's small property, all together amounted to a tolerable sum; and if I had been so disposed, would have enabled me when I was free to enter into business upon good terms; but I had resolved to go to sea. My master consented to give up a year of my apprenticeship from a real regard he had for me, although my services were important to him; but I convinced him it would be a great advantage to me, and I embarked as a sailor with my little fortune for the East Indies. I had been partly induced to take this step by the persuasions of two of my compan