"I once heard a man say, he would part with anything he had on earth for money, but his wife. My father, I believe, would have not only parted with his wife and children for money, but himself too, if he had thought he should profit by the bargain. "As might be expected, the first thing he tried to impress on the minds of his children was the necessity of getting money. "To be sure, he did not tell us to steal, as the word is generally understood; for he wanted us to keep clear of the clutches of the law. Could we only succeed in doing this, it mattered little to him, how the desired object was secured. "He found in me an easy convert to his doctrine, so far as the getting of money was concerned; but in the propriety of hoarding the money as he did when it was obtained, I had no faith. "The best use I thought that money could be put too, was to spend it. "Here my father and I were at swords' points, and had it not been that notwithstanding this failing, as he called it, I had become useful to him in his business, he would have banished me long before I took into my head to be beforehand with him, and become a voluntary exile from the parental roof. "The way of it was this. As I have intimated, according to my father's notions all the wealth in the world was common property, and every one was entitled to all he could lay his hands on. "Now, believing in this doctrine, it occurred to me that my father had more money than he could ever possibly make use of, and that if I could possess a portion of it without exposing myself to any great danger, I should only be carrying out his own doctrine. "Acting upon this thought, I set about helping myself as opportunity offered, sometimes by false entries, and in various ways that I need not explain. "This game I carried on for some time, but I knew that it would not last forever. I should be found out at last, and I must be out of the way before the crash came. "Luckily a chance of escape presented itself. "My father, in connection with two or three other merchants, chartered a vessel to trade among the West India islands. "I managed to get myself appointed supercargo. I should now be out of the way when the discovery of the frauds which I had been practicing I knew must be made. "As I had no intention of ever returning, my mind was perfectly at ease on this score. "We found ready sale for our cargo, and made a good thing of it. "As I have said, when I left home, it was with the intention of never returning, though what I should do while abroad I had not decided, but as soon as the cargo was disposed of, my mind was made up. "I determined to turn pirate! "I had observed on our outward passage, that our vessel, which was a bark of about two hundred tons burden, was a very fast sailor, and with a little fitting up, could be made just the craft we wanted for our purpose.