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27 myself; of which more hereafter. I merely pursued this intricate study by way of exercising my ingenuity and gratifying my curiosity.

I must here inform the reader, that these various pursuits and studies were not confined to the short term of my continuance in the employ of which I am now writing. After I quitted the office of Messrs. M——— and P———, and during the course of a wild and dissipated life, they formed one of my favourite domestic amusements; as did in fact reading in general: and throughout the most profligate stages of my future career, which I shall hereafter narrate, a portion of my time was always devoted to the perusal of books, and a part of my money, however hardly or dishonestly obtained, to the purchase of them: and to this moment I still consider them the most valuable property a man of my disposition can possess.

About three months after my arrival in town, I began to grow less regular in my manner of life; my expenses increased; and I became negligent of the office hours. I had contracted an intimacy with several young persons of both sexes, which unavoidably engaged me in a course of expensive dissipation, to which my means were inadequate. Though I occasionally derived small supplies from my grandfather, yet as he had no idea of the extent of my expenditure, they were comparatively trifling. Mr. P——— finding I was not to be reclaimed by