his visit to America I could merely guess to be the
gratification of curiosity.

My future pursuits must be supposed chiefly to occupy my attention. On
this head I was destitute of all stedfast views. Without profession or
habits of industry or sources of permanent revenue, the world appeared
to me an ocean on which my bark was set afloat, without compass or sail.
The world into which I was about to enter, was untried and unknown, and
though I could consent to profit by the guidance I was unwilling to rely
on the support of others.

This topic being nearest my heart, I frequently introduced into
conversation with my friend; but on this subject he always allowed
himself to be led by me, while on all others, he was zealous to
point the way. To every scheme that I proposed he was sure to cause
objections. All the liberal professions were censured as perverting the
understanding, by giving scope to the sordid motive of gain, or embuing
the mind with erroneous principles. Skill was slowly obtained, and
success, though integrity and independence must be given for it, dubious
and instable. The mechanical trades were equally obnoxious; they were
vitious by contributing to the spurious gratifications of the rich
and multiplying the objects of luxury; they were destruction to the
intellect and vigor of the artizan; they enervated his frame and
brutalized his mind.

When I pointed out to him the necessity of some species of labour, he
tacitly admitted that necessity, but refused to direct me in the choice
of a pursuit, which though not free from defect should yet have the
fewest inconveniences. He dwelt on the fewness of our actual wants,
the temptations which attend the possession of wealth, the benefits of
seclusion and privacy, and the duty of unfettering our minds from the
prejudices which govern the world.

His discourse tended merely to unsettle my views and increase my
perplexity. This effect was so uniform that I at length desisted from
all allusions to this theme and endeavoured to divert my own reflections
from it. When our voyage should be finished, and I should actually tread
this new stage, I believed that I should be better qualified to judge of
the measures to be taken by me.

At length we reached Belfast. From thence we immediately repaired to
Dublin. I was admitted as a member of his family. When I expressed
my uncertainty as to the place to which it would be proper for me to
repair, he gave me a blunt but