though very young, and without experience, I had
to write all the letters, and carry on every kind of
correspondence, besides mostly making all the pur-
chases and sales. By every packet we had to write
twenty or thirty letters to England

and Ireland, and
to accomplish this, had frequently to sit writing till
12 or 1 o'clock in the morning. I was sedulously
and actively employed in business, and in this way
acquired considerable knowledge of commercial af-
fairs. Our concerns were extensive, and were prose-
cuted with tolerable success, respectability, and repu-
tation. My brother George was, at this time, in
Philadelphia, about 18 years of age. He possessed a
remarkably sensible and comprehensive mind. Al-
though he had no knowledge of business, he was
full of enterprise. By him, in Philadelphia, and by
Eddy, Sykes & Co. in New York, an arrangement
was made, with the consent of General Washington,
to supply the British and foreign troops with money,
who were taken with Lord Cornwallis at York
Town. The money was raised by my brother at
Philadelphia, drawing on us at New York, and the
monies thus raised were paid to the Paymaster of
the British and foreign troops, prisoners at Lancas-
ter, Pennsylvania, for which he received and sent to
Eddy, Sykes & Co. that Paymaster's drafts on the
Paymaster General at New York. By an agreement
made with Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander,
we were paid six per cent. commission. The whole
amount paid amounted to a very large sum, and
proved a profitable contract.

After being some time in business, I kept house in
John street. My most intimate friends, at this time,
were Richard

and Lawrence Hartshorne. I had
formed some acquaintance with Lawrence Harts-
horne's sister previous to my coming to New York,
and then experienced a tender and warm attachment
towards her, and about a year after my coming to
New York, I went down to Sandy Hook in company