Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen
were gone, I assembled a number of my play-fellows, and working
with them diligently like so many emmets, sometimes two or three
to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharff.
The next morning the workmen were surprised at missing the stones,
which were found in our wharff. Inquiry was made after the removers;
we were discovered and complained of; several of us were corrected
by our fathers; and though I pleaded the usefulness of the work,
mine convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest.
I think you may like to know something of his person and character.
He had an excellent constitution of body, was of middle stature,
but well set, and very strong; he was ingenious, could draw prettily,
was skilled a little in music, and had a clear pleasing voice,
so that when he played psalm tunes on his violin and sung withal,
as he sometimes did in an evening after the business of the day was over,
it was extremely agreeable to hear. He had a mechanical genius too,
and, on occasion, was very handy in the use of other tradesmen's tools;
but his great excellence lay in a sound understanding and solid
judgment in prudential matters, both in private and publick affairs.
In the latter, indeed, he was never employed, the numerous
family he had to educate and the straitness of his circumstances
keeping him close to his trade; but I remember well his being
frequently visited by leading people, who consulted him for his
opinion in affairs of the town or of the church he belonged to,
and showed a good deal of respect for his judgment and advice:
he was also much consulted by private persons about their affairs
when any difficulty occurred, and frequently chosen an arbitrator
between contending parties.
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