Delaware patriot & American watchman. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1828-1828, 1828-02-26
WILMINGTON, Del TUESDAY, FEBRUARY

'n mentioning my lit'le plan 10 C--he treat
ed it with the utmost contempt. and told ne, in
his turn. that had learned enough, and more than
enough at school, he must be chn,e,ed as havin.
laly discharged hrs dnts $50 indeed he had) and
added that he ha,i been negotiating with his
IN. slnehakGr ut some reapectaollltv who had,
literally. agreed to take me. without fee, as an APP
prentice was So shocked at this intelligence
that did not remonstra;r, but, went in sucnness
ana silence t. my new master, to whom vas snpn
alter bound till should obtain the are of q years
The tariy consisted of four ;ourneymen, two
sous about my own are and an apprentice some
what older III these three there was nothing re-
maiaa6'e, bat, my master himself was the strang-
est creature He WAS a PRESBYTERIAN. whose rea
ding was entirely confined TO the small tracts pub
li>hcd Oh TIC Exeter c0nroversy these lat least
hio por,inn ns theml were all on side, he en-
tettaEc,l 10 doubt Of their nialbiity, and being
NOISY amt Inspirations. was sure to silence his OPP
poncnts. and became il consequence OF it, inioler-
ably arrogant and cunceted. lie was moi howev-
er indebted solely. to his knowledge Of the sub
Jet tor his trumph; ne was possessed Of Fen
nings' Dictionary anu ne made singular use OF
IT. His custom was 10 Tx on word in common
use, and then to est BY heart the synonyme or
pei phrasis by WHICH Il was expressed in the book
This he constantly substituted for the other, and
as his opponents we're commonly ignorant OF his
meaning his victory was compietc
With such man was not likely to add much
TO my stock uf knowledge small rs It vas. aud
Indeed, nothing could well Dc ,macr. At this pc.
riGl bad read nothing but black letter romance
called pGrismus and Paratueaus, ANA few loose
magazines which my mother had brought from South
Mnniton The i}iblc indeed, was well acquaint
ed with, it was the fav0rlte study Of my gra.ismo
;hcI. and reading it frequently with her had i'm
pressed it stsonsi, On nv mind these, then, with
the limitations Of ihoWas kempis, which used
10 read to my moder, on Her death he'd, colsti-
tuted the whole 81 ms literary acquisitions.
As hated my profession witt pc feet hatred
made progress III it, and was consequently
little regarded IL the family, Of which sunk By
de@iees INTO the common drudge. This did not
much di-qnlet me for my spirits were now hum
bled did net. EnWe,er. qnite resign the hope
Of one day succeeding Mr.. Hugh Smerten, and
therefore secretly prosecuted my iavoute study at
every interval 81 leisure.
4 These interval, not frequent and, when
the I male Of them was found out, they were
rendered still less SO | could not guess the mo-
lives for this at first. but at length. discovered
that my master destined his youngest son for Tie
situation to which aspret.
\ | POSSESSED at this time but one book in the
world, it treatise on Algebra. given to me by a
Young oman, who had found il in lodging house
| considered it treasure. but, it was a treasure
locked up. for it supposed the reader to be we'll
acquainted with simple equation. and knew noth-
in of the matter. Nj, masters son hai purchased
Jennings introduction. this was precisely what
\ wanted, but, he carefully concealed it from the
and | was indebted to chance alone foi stumbling
upon his hiding place sat up Tor the Creates
part OF several nights successfully, and, before he
suspected that his treatise was discovered, had
mastered it. | could now enter upon my OWL
and that carried me pretty far into the science.
This was not done without difficulty. In,
not iarthing upon earth nor friend to give me
one: pen ink and paper lin spite Of the fiippan
remark of Lord GXfor'i) were fer the most par
a. completely out OF my reach as crown ant
sceptrc. There was indeed iesnurcc but the ut
most caution and sccrec, were necessary APP
Wing it beat out pieces OF leather smooth a.
possible and wrought out N, pr 'bieus On them will
blunted awl for the rest my memory wa, te
nacous and could multiply and divide by il t
great extent.
Hitherto | had not 20 much .lreamt of poe
try. indeed. | scarce knew II BY name, and what
ever ma, be said OF the force Of nature. certain
" never " isped in numbers Irecolect the nc
cason Of my first attempt. il is. like all the TEST
g my non adventures, O! 50 unlmportant nature
4 that should blush 10 call the attention ot til
dlest reader to it but for the alleged in til
introductory paragraph, person. whose main
y, escapes me, had undertaken to paint SIGN for a
o ae.house. it to be lion, but the uniortunat
artist produced dog. On the awkward affair on
= of my acquaintance wrote copy of what he cal
d led verses | ked it. but, lancied could con
Il pose something more to the purpose tried, an
} by the unanimous suffrage OF my shopmates wa
y allowed to have succeeded. Notwithstanding iii
a encouragement thought no more OF verse, till ;
mother occurrence. a, triilin. as the former. iu
# nishcd me with fresh subject, and 50 | went 0
! till had got together about dozen OF Them
d Certainly nothing on earth was ever deplor;
Ilp rt fI,n.i tl,nx taI.
j. OF in my little circle, and was sometimes invite
It 10 repeat them even out of it. never Commute