borders of Germany, I would now in God's name continue and finish my journey, which I did, and thus, thanks to the Most High, I have escaped this great temptation. For I came to see that all that I had been told and shown in Holland with respect to my family had been untrue, as I found my wife and child safe at home. If I had believed those seducers of the people, and had returned to England and America, not only would this account of my journey not have been published so soon, but I should, perhaps, never have met my family again in this world. Those frequently mentioned men-thieves, as I subsequently learned, gave an accurate account of me and my wife to the merchants in Holland, and the newlanders tried a second time to persuade my wife to follow them. The merchants no doubt thought that, if I returned home, I should reveal their whole nefarious traffic and the deplorable condition of the numerous families that emigrated and rushed into their ruin, and that I should thereby cause great damage to their shipping interests and their traffic in human flesh.
I must state here something that I have forgotten above. As soon as the ships that bring passengers from Europe have cast their anchors in the port of Philadelphia, all male persons of 15 years and upward are placed on the following
