stated that a quarrel occurred between two persons in Middlebury, Vermont, a few years since, about six eggs, which was carried from one court to another, till it cost the parties $4,000.

I am well'acquainted with a gentleman who was once engaged in a lawsuit, (than which none perhaps, was ever more just) where his claim was one to two thousand dollars; but it fell into such a train that a final decision could not have been expected in many months;— perhaps not in years. The gentleman was unwilling to be detained and perplexed with waiting for a trial, and he accordingly paid the whole amount of costs to that time, armounting to $150, went about his business, and believes, to this hour, that it was the wisest course he could have pursued.

A spirit of litigation often disturbs the peace of a whole neighborhood, perpetually, for several generations; and the hostile feeling thus engendered seems to be transmitted, like the color of the eyes or the hair, from father to son. Indeed it not unfrequently happens, that a lawsuit in a neighborhood, a society, or even a church, awakens feelings of discord, which never terminate, but at the death of the parties concerned.

How ought young men, then, to avoid, as they would a pestilence, this fiend-like spirit! How ought they to labor to settle all disputes should disputes unfortunately arise, without this tremendous resort! On the strength of much observation, not experience, for I have been saved the

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pain of learning in that painful school -I do not hesitate to recommend the settlement of such difficulties by arbitration.

One thing however should be remembered. Would you dry up the river of discord, you must first exhaust the fountains and rills which form it. The moment you indulge one impassioned or angry feeling against your fellow being, you have taken a step in the high road which leads to litigation, war and murder. Thus it is, viz. in a prospective point of view, that 'He that hateth his brother is a murderer.'

I have heard a father for he had the name of parent, though he little deserved it - gravely contend that there was no such thing as avoiding quarrels and lawsuits. He thought there was one thing, however, which might prevent them, which was to take the litigious individual and 'tar and feather' him without ceremony. How often is it true that mankind little know what manner of spirit they are of;' and how often applicable is this striking reproof of the Saviour!

Multitudes of men have been in active business during a long life, and yet avoided every thing in the shape of a lawsuit. 'What man has done,

man may do;' in this respect, at the least.

SECTION XVIII. Hard Dealing.

Few things are more common among business doing men, than hard dealing; and yet few things

reflect more dishonor on a christian community. It seems, in general, to be regarded as morally right, in defiance of all rules, whether golden or not, to get as 'good a bargain' (so called) as possible; and this is defended as unavoidable, on account of the state of society! But what produced this state of society? Was it not the spirit of avarice? What will change it for the better? Nothing but the renunciation of this spirit, and a willingness to sacrifice, in this respect, for the public welfare.

We are pagans in this matter, in spite of our professions. It would be profitable for us to take lessons on this subject from the Mahometans. They never have, it is said, but one price for an article; and to ask the meanest shop keeper to lower his price, is to insult him. Would this were the only point, in which the christian community are destined yet to learn even from Mahometans.

To ask one price and take another, or to offer one price and give another, besides being a loss of time, is highly dishonorable to the parties. It is, in fact, a species of lying; and it answers no one advantageous purpose, either to the buyer or seller. I hope that every young man will start in life with a resolution never to lie, or be hard in his dealings.

'It is an evil which will correct itself;' say those who wish to avail themselves of its present advantages a little longer. But when and where did a general evil correct itself? When or where was

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an erroneous practice permanently removed, except by a change of public sentiment? And what has ever produced a change in the public sentiment but the determination of individuals, or their combined action?

CHAPTER III.

On Amusements and Endulgences.

SECTION I. Gaming.

EVEN Voltaire asserts that 'every gambler is, has been, or will be a robber.' Few practices are more ancient, few more general, and few, if any, more pernicious than gaming or gambling. An English writer has ingeniously suggested that the Devil himself might have been the first player, and that he contrived the plan of introducing games among men, to afford them temporary amusement, and divert their attention from themselves. 'What numberless disciples,' he adds, 'of his sable majesty, might we not count in our own metropolis!'

Whether his satanic majesty has any very direct agency in this matter or not, one thing is certain;

gaming is opposed to the happiness of mankind, and ought, in every civilized country, to be