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tember 1807, and that he was now once more under the protection of his father, who had received him with great kindness, and was inclined, if he continued honest, to take care of his future fortune; but added, with a shrewd shake of the head, that he could never reconcile himself to confinement on a shop-board, and feared he should very speedily make a push at some higher enjoyments. Having agreed to dine together, and by mere accident named the house at which I had lately supped as the place of meeting, we parted with some little regret.
Bromley was punctual to his time, and during the two hours I allowed for dinner, we became more fully informed of each other's circumstances. When I was on the point of leaving him to return to my duty, two or three of my Botany-bay acquaintances dropping in, forcibly detained me; urging that I might for once stretch a point, and spend the afternoon with them, ridiculing with too much effect, the idea of a man like myself being confined to certain hours like a schoolboy, &c. As I was somewhat elevated with the liquor I had drank, and had really no business at the office which could not be easily deferred, I consented in an evil moment, to join the party which was forming, consisting of nearly a dozen persons, most of them recently returned either from the Hulks, or New South Wales. It is needless to describe the nature of our conversation, or the various characters of which the party was com-
