Because My Father Was Often Absent On

The Fact Is I Am Growing Old Too Fast, Alas! I Feel It, And Yet Work I Will, And May God Grant Me Life To See The Last Plate Of My Mammoth Work Finished.

Great Men Show Politeness In A Particular Way; A Smile Suffices To Assure You That You Are Welcome, And Keep About Their Avocations As If You Were A Member Of The Family.

There Is The Morass, Wherein You Plunge Up To Your Knees, Or The Walking Over The Stubborn, Dwarfish Shrubbery, Whereby One Treads Down The Forests Of Labrador; And The Unexpected Bunting Or Sylvia Which Perchance, And Indeed As If By Chance Alone, You Now And Then See Flying Before You, Or Hear Singing From The Ground Creeping Plant.

On Landing At New York I Caught The Yellow Fever By Walking To The Bank At Greenwich To Get The Money To Which My Father's Letter Of Credit Entitled Me. The Kind Man Who Commanded The Ship That Brought Me From France, Whose Name Was A Common One, John Smith, Took Particular Charge Of Me, Removed Me To Morristown, N. J., And Placed Me Under The Care Of Two Quaker Ladies Who Kept A Boarding - House. To Their Skilful And Untiring Ministrations I May Safely Say I Owe The Prolongation Of My Life.

If I Can Procure Three Hundred Good Substantial Names Of Persons, Or Bodies, Or Institutions, I Cannot Fail To Do Well For My Family, Although I Must Abandon My Life To Its Success, And Undergo Many Sad Perplexities And Perhaps Never See Again My Own Beloved America.