there are not less than five-and-twenty.
He went on, however, with the undertaking, and after having worked in
composing the types and printing off the sheets, I was employed to
carry the papers thro' the streets to the customers.

He had some ingenious men among his friends, who amus'd themselves by
writing little pieces for this paper, which gain'd it credit and made
it more in demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their
conversations, and their accounts of the approbation their papers were
received with, I was excited to try my hand among them; but, being
still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing
anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to
disguise my hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in at night
under the door of the printing-house. It was found in the morning, and
communicated to his writing friends when they call'd in as usual. They
read it, commented on it in my hearing, and I had the exquisite
pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and that, in their
different guesses at the author, none were named but men of some
character among us for learning and ingenuity. I suppose now that I
was rather lucky in my judges, and that perhaps they were not really so
very good ones as I then esteem'd them.

Encourag'd, however, by this, I wrote and convey'd in the same way to
the press several more papers which were equally approv'd; and I kept
my secret till my small fund of sense for such performances was pretty
well exhausted and then I discovered it, when I began to be considered
a little more by my brother's acquaintance, and in a manner that did
not quite please him, as he thought, probably with reason, that it
tended to make me too vain. And, perhaps, this might be one occasion
of the differences that we began to have about this time. Though a
brother, he considered himself as my master, and me as his apprentice,
and accordingly, expected the same services from me as he would from
another, while I thought he demean'd me too much in some he requir'd of
me, who from a brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes were
often brought before our father, and I fancy I was either generally in
the right, or else a better pleader, because the judgment was generally
in my favor. But my brother was passionate, and had often beaten me,
which I took extreamly amiss; and, thinking my apprenticeship very
tedious, I was continually