The Press., 1884-08-28
THE LATEST REVISED VERSION.

"George," sald his father, with coun- tenance more in sorrow than in anger, George, someone has cut down my favor ite cherry tree. Do you know anything about it ?"
 Young Washington did not quail before his fathers accusing glance. He looked him straight in the eye, and an expression eyes and countenance.
 "My father" he said, "I will not de- ceive you. l do know something about it, but that is not the issue at all. You have. in effect, charged me with being privy to the destruction of your favorite tree. Now, the question is, since you have filed infor- nation and laid this charge against me, what do you know about it ?'
 'I know that you have hatchet," re- piled his father sternly. ''I know what 6 boy with hatchet is liable to do, I know that some one has cut down my fa- vorite cherry -tree-'
 ''Stop right there, interrupted the fu- ture father of this country. ''You say this was your tree ?"
 'I do."
 "How came it yours ?"
 s'I planted it.
 this farm before you came here ?"
 'No, sir, it was not.
 "Then why did you say so ?"
 "Why did say what ?"
 ''That's right; evade, qubble, crawl out of it somehow. All right. If you don't want to answer fair, plain question you don't have to-"
 "But didn't say it was on the farm when came here.'' ''Oh, very well, deny it. Is there any other retraction you would like to make p ''I don't retract anything. merely de- clared that never said that tree was on | the farm when came here." "Oh, well, father, don't get excited and talk loud. You may go back on you own entire statement, if you wish. Perhaps you will next try to make us believe that this farm wasn't here, either, when you came"
 "Why. of course it was here. don't" "Didn't you say a moment ago that it wasn't ?"
 1T hat was the tree" "Ah, yes you turn it off on the tree, now. You've been talking about the trees all this time then ?" "Why, certainly I have" .
 ''Then you just admitted that it was here when you came here ?' "No, my son that was the farm" "But not half 8 dozen questions age you admitted that. You said in these very words, Why, of course it was here,' did you not ?"
 'I said those words, but I was speak | ing of the farm"
 "And yet you said but thls very mo- ment that all this time you had been talk ing about the tree. It is useless to con- tinue this examination. My father, of all human vices lying is the commonest, and I doubt not that it is the worst. It blunts our moral sensibilities it leads us to dis tort and exaggerate simple statements of facts it blurs our power of intelligent ob- servation, until even @ man of ordinary scholarship and intellectual development is unable to tell whether he is talking about farm or cherry tree. The com plaint is dismissed. I doubt very much if YOU can ever establish the fact that you ever owned tree. Go to the nursery, a"I if you intend planting tree in the piace of the one you imagine you have lost, you had better take man with you to show you the ground lest you might plant the tree in your hat You may go." l Sadly the old man turned away, but he told the man who helped him plant the new tree that if he had a hundred boys he wouldn't let another one of them study law. -Ru19iaagto1 HuaOkeye ir'