those of a clerk, delivering the medicines he bad already compounded.
Notwithstanding his many cares, he did not entirely abandon his favorite pursuit, and in the intervals of study diligently plied his graver, becoming so proficient in cutting initial letters that he was frequently employed for that purpose by other engravers before he was eighteen years old.  In order to take advantage of every spare moment he was accustomed to carry his tools in his pocket together with any block upon which he happened to be engaged.  This practice was continued until he fell downstairs one day, and was severely injured by the sharp point of the graver.  The recompense for his art labors was small, but it was sufficient to keep him decently clothed and to pay for several courses of medical lectures.
   During this period he used his pen as well as his pencil, and in 1793 his first composition in print appeared, being " An Authentic, Surprising, and Wonderful Account of the Unaccountable Old Man in the Highlands of Harlem Flats." He speaks slightingly of this performance, and it is probable it was a very crude effort.
It was about this same time that he seems to have felt the first stirrings of the "divine passion." One

 

"Death's Pulpit," drawn and engraved by Dr. Anderson, after a print by Van Venne.