It was on one of his first Sundays in New York that, after he had been to church, and gone to his brother David's for dinner, his unhappiness was apparent to the family and also to Dr. Mark Hopkins, their guest, whose sympathy was never forgotten, nor his words, "I would not give much for a boy if he were not homesick on leaving home." He has said that many of the evenings during the long summer that followed his coming to New York were passed on the banks of the Hudson watching the boats as they sailed northward, and as he lay by the riverside he pictured himself as on board of one of the vessels, and the welcome that he would receive on reaching Stockbridge. Towards the end of his life Mr. Field began the preparation of his autobiography. From so much of this as serves the purpose of this narrative, extracts will be made from time to time without express credit. In 1835 it took twenty-four hours to go from Stockbridge to New York, and first there was a drive of fifty miles to Hudson on the river, and then a long sail by boat. Almost immediately on reaching the city he entered as an errand-boy the store of A. T. Stewart, which had already a more commanding reputation than any mercantile establishment possesses or perhaps can attain at present. His home was in a boarding-house in Murray Street near Greenwich, where he had board and lodging for two dollars a week, a fact which is in itself eloquent of the difference between life now in New York and life sixty years ago. Stewart's was then at 257 Broadway, between Murray and Warren streets. There the young clerk received for his services the first year $50, and the second the sum was doubled. Even so, and with what would now be the incredible frugality of his living, it is plain that he could not have supported himself by his earnings. Of his life at that time he said in after-years, "My oldest brother lent me money, which, just as soon as I was able, and before I was twenty-one, I returned to him with interest." The letter that follows tells how his first money was spent: "NEW YORK, _June 12, 1835_. "_Dear Father_,--I received by Mr. Baldwin five nightcaps, a pin-cushion, and some wedding-cake, for which I am very much obliged to mother and Mary. "Mary wrote to me to know of what color I would have my frock-coat; tell mother instead of having a linen frock-coat that I would prefer another linen roundabout, as they are much better in a store; I am not particular about the color.