But thrown on a wide world, among entire strangers,
without a friend or guardian to advise, so young, too, and with so
little experience of mankind, your dangers are great, and still your
safety must rest on yourself. A determination never to do what is
wrong, prudence, and good humor, will go far towards securing to you the
estimation of the world. When I recollect that at fourteen years of age,
the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely,
without a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, and
recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I associated from
time to time, I am astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and
become as worthless to society as they were. I had the good fortune to
become acquainted very early with some characters of very high standing,
and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were.
Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr.
Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What course
in it will insure me their approbation? I am certain that this mode
of deciding on my conduct, tended more to its correctness than any
reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing the even and dignified line they
pursued, I could never doubt for a moment which of two courses would
be in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object through
a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaundiced eye of youth, I
should often have erred.
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