Litchfield enquirer., 1836-03-10

| "+EE2A !. ~ 'S Weh known that immo. raIlty and sin do not at once poIlute the mind. They steal away the better promn,. ings of our nature ty slow degrees. They ipsidiousIy whisper their honied accents into the ear and lead their victims on from trivial faults to g eater, and 6nalIy to dam- ming crimes. Thus the culprit is not fully conscious of his lapse from virtue-his inc famous career in the path of sin.
 The phrase, He is too honest for a merchant,' must have had its origin in lamentable estimate ofhonesty among ma- ny in the community. I: is believed by some, we fear too many, that to trGde veH. requires subtle cunning, ready wit, and an ability to stretch conscience to e great degree ct tension, without experiencing any Ill effects. This idea, first current among | sellers, has at length inoculated buyers, and when a purchase is to be made there is off ten sharp contest, which shall by somo concealed trickery, get ;he advantage over the other, We must confess that the fault IS often as prominent in the purchaser as in the merchant.
 But straightforward men, who are suspi- cious of no designs upon them, are from ! this sad state of feeling often deceived in their bargains; and the rule that every man has light to use his knowledge to h's best advantage,' has been tortured without remorse into, every customer must be cunning enough to take care of himselC, and fine believes all that is said to him and gets cheated, so much the better for the seller, and the more fool he.' The morality of such reasoning must be evident ] to all.
 Children are often sent to buy articles for their parents, and the very fact of chi!d's being sent, is prima facie evidence in most cases that the buyer reposes confi- dence in the honesty of the seller. Many, however, glory in putting of an article of ! inferior quality upon children.
 The following fact and the connecting circumstances, will bear testimony to our assertion that the rule of which we are speaking has betrayed men, who would shrink from the accusation of dishonesty, into acts which at least bear the complex ion of cuI pability.
 A gentleman from the country placed his son with dry goods merchant in - street. For q time all went on well. At length lady came into the store to pur- chase silk dress, and the young man wait- ed upon her. The price demanded was agreed to, and he proceeded to fold the goods. H. discovered before he had 6n- ished, flaw in tho silk, and pointing it out to the lady said, Madam, deem it my duty to tell you that there is a fracture in the sik.' Ofcourse she did not take it.
 The merchant overheard the remark, and immediately wrote 10 the father of the young man to come and take him home 'foy,' said he, he wiU never make nser- ch0nt.' The father who had ever reposed confdence in his son was much grievcd and hastened to ahe city to be informed of his merchant ? asked he. Because he has no tact, was the answer. 'Only day or two ago, he told lady voluntariiy who was buying silk of him, that the goods were damaged; and / lost the bargain. Pur- chasers must look out for themselves! If they cannot discover flaws it would be fool- ishness in me to tell them oftheir existence
 And is that all his fault 2 asked the pa rent. 'Yes, answered the merchant, 'he's very we'll in other respects. sThen love my son more than ever-and thank you for telling me of the matter; would not have him another day in your store for the world
 We make no comments on the above.- Whether such trade as the merchant would make, is not rather taking advan- tags of the purchaser's ignorance, than making the best use of one's Knowledge we leave to our readers to decide.
 ~. E. Gaiary. l SENTIMENTS. s,
 Agriculture is the nursery of patriotism.
 A wise government will not be slow ip fostering the agricultural interest.
 Let every farmer who has son to edu- cate, believe and remember, that science lays the foundation of every thing valuable in agriculture.
 Science must combine with practice to make q good farmer.
 The opposition against book farming