New-York tribune., 1866-12-31
ETHICS or SVTNDLING.

downs disappears for season, and then, at
the universal call of mankind, is generous and
forgving enough to come back again; truth
and Justice are resorted to by distracted and
despairing society, as the passengers OF
foundered ship betake themselves to life-pre-
servers; but--there is no question about 1t
half mankind love to cheat, and the other half
find an equal though evanescent satisfaction
in being cheated 1t isn't our infantile conf
dence in each other which is so sad; the
mournful matter is our fatal confidence in our
selyes-our over-estimate of the profundity of
our own perceptions; our belief that Mercury
himself could not cOzen us. While we thlnk
we stand, we stumble; while we feel armed at
all points against fraud, we are mcontlnently
reduced to state of r0ast-pigeOn BROWNIES;
as every man must eat his peck of refuse so
every man must expect to have some other
man "come it over him" in that one fatal see
ond when he is off his guard. How should it
be otherwise when all the power and dignity
and grandeur of Government itself cannot save
it from yOraciOus shaTpers, and there Is howl
in all the public offices over whisky frauds"
with the cOncOmitants of private stills, menda-
cious brands unfaithful inspectors, and lquorfa-
tai to the bowels of the toughest drnker; frauds
upon the income tax, by which some wicked per-
son undervalues his resources. and for the truth
of his lying statement appeals to his Creator
until he is sable of cOuntenance; and the fine old
venerable Custom House frauds backed up by
antique and staple peIjuriesg But all this seems
to be dull and stale in comparison with the
brilliant exploits of the Jeremy Diddlers of
met
Of whom we are about to speak, who lately
reduced to a state of discOnSolate discourage
ment. the too confding citizens of st. Joseph.
Iic was colonel. They are always colonels,
OF majors, or captains, or military magnafes
oi some degree, starting with the meek vlr-
tue of Capt John Gilpin, and ending as un-
scrupulous Rinaldo Rinaldinis. In an eyilhOur
the great Col Brantley (regiment unknown
appeared in St Joseph; began instantly
to speculate in real estate with pluck and en-
terplise and everything except money; called
upon bewildcred men of substance to lndorse
for him, and straightway they did indorse;
called upon other men of substance to discount
the notes. and forthwith they discounted them,
until, having made about thirty thousand dol
lars by the exercise of his genius, he disappeared
like the vision of dream, "cut stick" as the
phrase is, "yamooSed the rancho" rs they say
in Califonia-absconded to speak without any
idiom. But for once, we are gratihed to say,
he mscalculated. He fully cOmprehended the
crcdulity of mankind, but he did not make fit
allowance for the speed with which those who
are mounted upon their injuries may pursue
the ingenious fugitive, especially when 1t is
supposed that he has the ill-gotten gains still
in his pocket book The Colonel, albeit swift
footed. was caught and carried back again and
Gagged. and ultimately we presume, will be con-
victed.
Now. if we NAV be allowed a bull, the rarity
of such cases is in their frequency DE Foe
might have dressed up such stale story, and
made il fresh and presentable; newspaper
can do no more than give the naked out
lines The boilers are such a numerous COM
pany, darting away from every point of the
compass, by rail. by steamboat in their own
vehicles, on foot, that public journal can
only present their exploits in outline and leave
the rest to- the Imagination of the gentle
reader. We can give general wall over
that fatal confidence of man III man
which it would please ms better to find
less generally and less successfully prac-
ticed upon by the designing. Confidence may,
in the happy primeval times, have been
plant of slow growth but in this wicked cen
tuly, by kind of practical paradoN. Il springs
up and increases and spreads like the gourd OF
Jonah. Does man announce the discovery OF
some miraculous tncture, with novel name
and a nasty taste, and warranted to Danish
pain aud prol0ng existencel He is believed,
and armies of valetudinarians swallow his mix
ture without n cough. You can hardly open a
newspaper without finding appeals TO the poor
and needy 10 put down two dollars and takr
mn twenty thousand InnumeTblc are the de-
vices resorted to by the foxes to persuade the
geese that something can come OF nothing
Alas! it is always comini The business o.
half mankind is to set traps for the other
mOity.
Ii may be supposed, having made mention OF
the mischief lust now so active and so widely
spread. that we have some remedy to propose
but we have no inclination ourselves to mdnlge
i'm the charlatanry which we condemn. Keep
"your eyes peeled is rude but useful maxim
for those who are capable of that kind or opt-
cal flaying: and there are other like proverbs
which are too popular to need quotation. The
trouhle with these morsels of visdon is, that
they are as well known to the wicked as TO the
virtuous, and, like two-edged sword, cut both
WAYS. The world is a knowing world, but 1t is
no match for the wide-awake Colonels. They
are sure to come to grief mt last, but they are
equally sure to leave behind them grooming
company of phlebotomized mOurner wailing
their misplaced trust and their plundered
pockets. The best we can do rs to offer
little arithmetical formula, the morning and