MY loving countrymen, pray lend an ear,

To this relation that I bring you here,

My sufferings at large I will unfold,

Tho' strange 'tis true as e'er was told.

Of honest parents I did come, tho' poor,

Who besides me had children never more,

Near Temple Bar was born their darling son,

In virtue's paths he for some did run.

My parents in me took a great delight,

And sent me unto school to read and write,

And cast accounts likewise, as it appears, [1]

Until that I was aged thirteen years.[2]

Then to a tinman I was apprentice bound,

My master and my mistress good I found,

They lik'd me very well, my business I did mind,

From me my parents comfort hop'd to find.

My master near unto Moorfields did dwell, [3]

Here into wicked company I fell;

To wickedness I quickly was inclind,

So soon it tainted my youthful mind.

I from my master then did run away,

And rov'd about the streets both night and day,

Did with a gang of thieves a robbing go,

Which fill'd my parents hearts with grief and woe,

At length my master got me home again,

And used me well in hopes I might reclaim,

My father to me tenderly did say,

My dearest child, why did you run away?

If you had any cause at all for grief.

Why came you not to me to seek relief?

Well do I know you did for nothing lack,

Food for the belly, and cloaths for the back.

My mother said, son, I do implore

That you will from your master go no more,

Your business mind, your master don't forsake,

Lest you again to wicked courses take.

I promis'd fair but yet could not refrain,

But to my old companions went again;

For vice, when once, alas! it taints the mind,

Is not soon routed out we find.

With them a thieving I again did go,

But little did my tender parents know,

I follow'd courses that were most wild,

My absence griev'd them, being their only child. [4]

A wicked life I liv'd I must confess,

In fear and dread, and great uneasiness,

Which do attend those actions most unjust,

For thieves can never one another trust.

Strong liquor banish'd the thoughts of fear,

But justice stopp'd us in our career;

One night was taken up one of our gang,

Who five impeach'd, and three of them were hung. [5]

I was one of the five that was tried and cast,

Yet transportation I did get at last,

A just reward for my vile actions base;

So justice overtook me at last.

My father vex'd, my mother she took on,

And said, alas! alas! my son;

My father said, it grieves me to the heart,

To think in such a cause as this we part.

To see him grieve pierc'd my very soul,

My wicked case I sadly did condole,

With grief and shame my eyes did overflow,

I did much rather chose to die than go.

In vain I griev'd, in vain my parents wept,

For I was quickly sent on board a ship,

With melting kisses and a heavy heart,

I from my dearest parents then did part.

1. The fact that his parents could enroll him in school indicated they were not impoverished, and this act, learning to become literate, was what redeemed James and brought his story down to us.

2. By the 14th year and often by the 13th, a boy of the artisan class was expected to be apprenticed to a trade. These were generally not cruel as were the bond conditions of the children of poor parents, who often took payment or had a debt forgiven for the release of their parental rights and had no further recourse. However, the son of a person of modest means and moral quality had the hope of intercession by his father. This was the case some years later with young Benjamin Franklin, who, having been apprenticed to his brother, sought their father as a moderator, though he eventually escaped due to his brother’s physical cruelty, which was in no way evidenced in James’ case.

3. A section of London near the Moor Gate

4. It seems likely—based on a thorough reading of the text—that James’ father was a respected man in the local church congregation, which, in and of itself qualified him for a favorable apprenticeship and for a first forgiveness of acts that vagrant orphans and bastards would not benefit from.

5. The thieves who were executed would have been young adult leaders of the gang, probably in their late teens. Boys of 12-14 were considered ideal for servitude and unlikely to revolt. Someone who had led a gang could not be trusted as a slave.