exclamation, “Yea ſacred Powers, what had I committed, that ſuch a wretch ſhould enter into my ſhip to heap vpon me ſuch a deluge of miſeries!" But ſoon recollecting his paſſion, “Young man,” ſaid he, “if you do not go back, depend upon it, wherever you go, you will meet with diſaſters and diſappoiniments till your father’s words are fulfilled upon you.” And ſo we parted.
I thought at firſt to return home; but ſhame oppoſed that good motion, as thinking I ſhould be laughed at by my neighbours and acquaintance. So ſtrange is the nature of youth, who are not aſhamed to ſin, but yet aſhamed to repent; and ſo far from being aſhamed of thoſe actions for which they may be accounted fools, they think it folly to return to their duty, which is the principal mark of wiſdom. In ſhort, I travelled up to London, reſolving upon a voyage; and a voyage I ſoon heard of, by my acquaintance with a captain who took a fancy to me, to go to the coaſt of Guinea. Having ſome money, and appearing like a gentleman, I went on board, not as a common ſailor or foremaſt man; nay, the commander agreed I ſhould go that voyage with him without any expense; that I ſhould be his meſsmate and companion, and I was very welcome to carry any thing With me, and make the beſt merchardiſe I could.
I bleſſed my happy fortune, and humbly thanked my captain for this offer; and acquainting my friends in Yorkſhire, forty pounds were ſent me, the greateſt part of which my dear father and mother contributed to, with which I bought toys and trifles, as the captain directed me. My captain alſo taught me navigation, how to keep an account of the ſhip’s courſe, take an obſervation, and led me into the knowledge of ſeveral uſeful branches of the mathematics. And indeed this voyage made me both a ſailor and a merchant; for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold duſt for my adventure, which produced at my return to London, almoſt three hundred pounds. But in this voyage I was extremely ſick, being thrown into a violent calenture through the exceſſive heat, trading upon the coaſt from the latitude of fifteen degrees north, even to the line itſelf.
But alas! my dear friend, the captain, ſoon departed this life after his arrival. This was a ſenſible grief to me: yet reſolved to go another voyage with his mate, who had now got command of the ſhip. This proved a very unſuccessful one; for though I did not carry qyite a hundred
