On the other hand, we have the high-minded "drummer," with honor for his chart, taking his country friend by the hand without guile, deeming it morally wrong to impose on his credulity or violate his confidence, thus adding link to link in the chain of fair dealing, until he takes his position with those who honor themselves and the mercantile profession, by adherence to those high-toned commercial principles which have carried a few through the golden gates of Commerce unscathed by knavery.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS IN RUSSIA.

A certain quantity of well-seasoned cak being required, government issues tenders for the supply of the requisite amount. A number of contractors submit their tenders to a board appointed for the purpose of receiving them, who are regulated in their choice of a contractor, not by the amount of his tender, but of his bribe. The fortunate individual selected immediately sub-contracts upon a somewhat similar principle. Arranging to be supplied with timber for half the amount of his tender, the sub-contractor carries on the game, and perhaps the eighth link in this contracting chain is the man who, for an absurdly low figure, undertakes to produce the seasoned wood. His agents in the central provinces, accordingly, float a quantity of green pines and firs down the Dnieper and Bog to Nicholaeff, which are duly handed up to the head contractor, each man pocketing the difference between his contract and that of his neighbor. When the wood is produced before the board appointed to inspect it, another bribe seasons it, and the government, after paying the price of well-seasoned oak, is surprised that the 120 gun ship of which it has been built is unfit for service in five years.

ELOQUENCE OF A BOSTON MERCHANT.

While the committee of merchants, says the Boston Transcript, were collecting subscriptions in aid of the Boston testimonial to the San Francisco rescuers, a person was called upon whose benevolence is not exactly commensurate with his pecuniary ability. He hesitated about subscribing, as he averred the testimonial should come from persons engaged in Commerce, and he was not in the mercantile business. The member of the committee, with great promptness and justice, answered in something like the following terms: "Sir, your family recently crossed the ocean as passengers in a ship. Had she met with a disaster, and a friendly boat have come to take off those on board, and refused to save all persons but the sailors, as society had adopted the rule that each class of the community must take care of its own members and no others, what would have been your feelings to have known that your daughters were lost on account of their father's distinctions in cases of relief?" This manly and felicitous appeal was successful. It was truly a word "fitly spoken."

PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OF A BALTIMORE MERCHANT.

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A merchant in Baltimore, on Monday, January 2, 1854, finding his success in business during the past year fully equal to his expectations, drew a thousand dollars from bank, and proportioned it among the nine or ten persons employed in his warehouse, down to the porter and drayman, the latter of whom received fifty dollars, at the same time commending them for their good conduct and devotion to his interests. The sons thus complimented immediately procured a handsome silver goblet, with an appropriate inscription, which was sent to their liberal employer, accompanied by a note, in which they promised the most earnest devotion to his interests as long as they shall remain in his employ. Without doubt, the New Year's donation will prove a most profitable investment, for where men are devoted to their employer's interest, they can and will in the course of a year do much for his benefit.

THE USURY LAWS.

The New York Sun closes an article in favor of the modification of the usury laws with the following statement :-" The truth is, so long as our present usury laws stand in the way of an honest, open trade in money, so long will the cunning capitalist be the gainer, and the honest borrower the loser. The great effect of our usury laws is to make rogues, legally, of men who would rather not be rogues in the eyes of the law or of the community."

A CASE OF LIFE INSURANCE.

A very peculiar case, says the Rochester Union, arising on a life policy, has recently been adjudicated in this judicial district. N. Osborne, Esq., at the instance of the late H. B. Williams, Esq., procured a policy of insurance upon his life, for some $2,500, under these circumstances: Several risks had been taken prior to Mr. Williams leaving California, by an insurance agent in this city, and prior to the application of Mr. Osborne, which was declined. Mr. Osborne then made an application to a New York agency of a British Company, the application and certificate of Mr. Williams' health being dated September 5th. The risk was taken by the company in question, and the policy dated October 7th.

It so

happened that on the evening of the very day on which the policy was issued, Mr. Williams died on the Isthmus, of cholera, of which he had been sick several days. The Company refused to pay, on the ground that Mr. Williams was unwell at the time the risk was taken. Suit was brought, and the court held that the policy was granted on the state of facts existing at the date of the application, and that the company assumed the risk involved in the subsequent lapse of time. Mr. Osborne recovered the whole amount of his claim, and the company has paid it.

THE SUCCESSFUL MERCHANT'S HEART.

Matthis, the Levantine merchant, had spent his whole life, from his boy-time upward, in traveling for the sake of gain, to the East and to the West, and to the islands of the South Seas. He had returned to his native place, Tarsus, in the full vigor of manhood, and was reported to have amassed great wealth. His first step was to make a prudent call upon the governor, and to present him with a purse and a string of pearls, in order to bespeak his good-will. Then he built himself a spacious palace in the midst of a garden on the borders of a stream, and began to lead a quiet life, resting after the fatigues of his many voyages. Most persons considered him to be the happiest of merchants; but those intimate with him, knew that his constant companions were thought and sadness. When he had departed in youth, he had left his father, and his brothers, and his sisters, in health although poor; but when he returned, in hopes to gild the remainder of their days, he found that the hand of death had fallen upon them every one, and that there was no one to share his prosperity: and a blight came over his heart.

FLOUR IN SACKS AND BARRELS.

In Europe flour and grain are transported in sacks instead of barrels as with us, on account of the little space they take up when empty; and the recent demand for breadstuffs has of course created a corresponding demand for sacks. The Newburyport Herald, referring to the anti-barrel prejudices of English traders and brokers, and that they will have nothing to do with our American flour in barrels, until it has been shot into sacks, says: "The ceremony of shooting it is continually going on at the wharves and banks of the Thames, and furnishes daily employment to a particular class of men. There is another objection the Europeans make to barrels: from lack of the occasional movement and shaking which it undergoes in sacks, the flour settles down in them, and if untouched for a long period, has to be dug out in lumps, and pulverised again by rotating in a close wire cylinder set in rapid motion.”

THE USE OF THE RULE OF THREE.

There are exceptions to every rule but the rule of three; that is never changed. As your income is to your expenditure, so will the amount of your debts be to your cash on hand and your consequent ability to meet them. If you allow your vanity to lead you into extravagance, you must rely on something else to take you out of it; either a rich relation or the sheriff's writ. Your furniture may be less showy than that of your neighbor, but never mind. Better are cane-bottomed chairs and mahogany tables that are paid for, than spring cushions and marble mantles on a note of six months. Yourcoat may be less fashionable than your neighbor's; and while he is driven by a liveried coachman, you may be riding shank's horse; but, remember there is a time for balancing the books, and every purse has got a bottom. So, economize, and always remember the rule of three.

"GOODS WELL BOUGHT ARE HALF SOLD."

This is a common maxim of trade, but like most maxims, which are condensations of popular wisdom, it needs some comment. When are goods well bought? What is to be understood by this expression? To many cheapness is the only standard. Goods are well bought when they are purchased cheap, and not otherwise. To accomplish this is their great passion, till they often become blinded to other considerations which should ever be in the mind of the trader, such as quality, seasonableness, and adaptedness to the wants of the people. To buy well is no easy work. It is not to run the rounds of inquiry to see whose prices are the most "liberal" in merely one sense, but it requires honesty, integrity, comprehensiveness, and a self-reliance that says, "I know my own business, what my customers want, what will be in demand at any given time in my vicinity, and what is the market value." A man who has nobler ends in view than merely to buy cheap, will meet with a treatment from respectable merchants which the "hard customer" can never receive. The old picture is true to the letter in our day: "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer! and straightway he goeth his way and boasteth." He haggles and disputes, depreciates the goods he examines, and pretends not to want what he must have, and is only suited when he has driven "a close bargain." And then he boasts-proclaims how low he has bought his goods, and how low he can sell them. But often all that is low about the matter was his manner of dealing, for there is more boasting on the part of the seller than on his part, that the biter has been bitten. Too many depend on a kind of shrewdness which is but one remove from duplicity and crime; but they soon become known, and then they get the worst of the bargain.

It is best to buy as honorable merchants sell-with manliness and with a fair regard for the essential principles of the true mercantile character. Every trader is interested in something besides good bargains. The honor of the business world is to be regarded. Character is something of inestimable worth. Influence is to be thought of. And a man should ask himself into what scale he is casting the weight of his manner of doing business, and should assure himself that he never buys well when he acts on false principles of trade, which tend to make trade but a trial of skill at trickery and deception.

HOW A BOSTON MERCHANT DISPOSED OF THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

One of the wealthy merchants of Boston, says the Transcript, whose death last year was universally mourned, often told his friends an anecdote in his own experience, and which was recommended to all those who desired to enjoy a serene old age, without allowing their wealth to disturb their peace of mind. He said that when he had obtained his fortune, he found he began to grow uneasy about his pecuniary affairs, and one night, when he was about sixty years of age, his sleep was disturbed by unpleas ant thoughts respecting some shipments he had just made. In the morning, he said to himself, "This will never do; if I allow such thoughts to gain the mastery over me, I must bid farewell to peace all my life. I will stop this brood of care at once, and at a single blow." Accordingly, he went to his counting room, and upon examination found he had $30,000 in money on hand. He made out a list of his relatives and others he desired to aid, and before he went to bed again he had given away every dollar of the thirty thousand. He said he slept well that night, and for a long time after his dreams were not disturbed by anxious thoughts about vessels or property.

CAPITAL FOR YOUNG MERCHANTS.

It is a consolation for all right-minded young men in this country, that though they may not be able to command as much pecuniary capital as they would wish to begin business with, yet there is a moral capital they can have, that will weigh as much as money with people whose opinion is worth having. And it does not take long to accumulate a respectable amount of this capital. It consists in truth, honesty, and integrity; to which may be added decision, firmnes courage, and perseverance. With these qualities there are few obstacles which canno be overcome. Friends spring up and surround such a young man as if magic. Confide ce flows out to him, and business accumulates on his hands. In a few years such ay ang man is in advance of many d with him. Moral capital is the thing after all.

THE BOOK TRADE.

1.-The Priest and the Huguenot; or Persecution in the Age of Louis XV. From the French of M. BANGENER, author of the " Preacher and the King." 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 408 and 480. Boston: Gould & Lincoln.

It has been the design of this author, who is a clergyman of the Reformed Church of Geneva, to exhibit in his writings the religious aspects of France, from the age of Louis XIV. to the close of the last century. The first of his series has been pub. lished, and the second is contained in these volumes. The third, entitled " Voltaire and his Times," is about to be published in England, and the fourth is nearly completed by the author-thus presenting in a very graphic manner the state and relations of French Protestantism from the time immediately preceding the Nantz Edict down to the beginning of our own day. The reader who possesses an interest in such a general subject will be greatly gratified with these volumes. The intimate knowledge which they display of French life and manners, and especially of the condition of genuine Christianity in the French capital through a long and brilliant period, cannot fail to make a deep impression.

2.—The Partisan: a Romance of the Revolution. By W. GILMORE SIMMS, Esq. New and Revised Edition. 12mio., pp. 531. New York: Redfield.

The reputation of Simms is well established, and his merit as a writer extensively known. In this tale of the Revolution, the reader is presented with some of the most stirring scenes of that period which were transacted at the South. It is not merely a local chronicle, embodying traditionary heroes; the personages are, many of them, names well known to the world. In thus weaving fiction on the borders of fact, the author has had many important particulars relating to individuals to manage, which he has done with more than ordinary skill. We are gratified to see this new and revised edition of one of the best tales of the old times at the South which we possess. It is in good style, and will be read with renewed pleasure by those who have met with it before, while to younger readers it will be as fresh and entertaining as a first edition.

3.-The American Statesman; or Illustrations of the Life and Character of Daniel Webster. Designed for American Youth. By Rev. JOSEPH BANVARD, author of "Plymouth and the Pilgrims," "Romance of American History," &c., &c. 18mo., pp. 334. Boston: Gould & Lincoln.

Mr. Banvard, availing himself of the previously published memoirs and notices of the life and character of the great American statesman, has grouped the most interesting and important events which occurred in his history, and presented them in a very attractive and readable form. The commendable traits of his subject are held up for the admiration and imitation of American youth, and he has succeeded in preparing a work which every American patriot will be pleased to have his children read. 4.-The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being his Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and other Writings, Official and Private. Vol. 2. 8vo., pp. 598. New York: John C. Riker.

We noticed at some length in a former number of the Merchants' Magazine the first volume of this work. It will probably be completed in nine or ten volumes during the present year. The work is published, as our readers are aware, we presume, by order of the joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the original manuscripts deposited in the Department of State. This volume is devoted to a continuation of Mr. Jefferson's letters while in Europe, from 1784 to 1790. Each volume contains a table of contents, and a copious index, with explanatory notes prepared by H. A. Washington, Esq., the editor.

5.-Helen Mulgrave; or, Jesuit Executorship: being Passages in the Life of a Seceder from Romanism. An Autobiography. 12mo., pp. 312. New York: De Witt & Davenport.

A story of considerable power, designed to show the evils of the Roman Catholic religion.

6.-Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art. By Shearjashub Spooner, A. B., M. D., author of " A Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors, and Architects, from ancient to modern times." 3 vols., 18mo., pp. 933. New York: George P. Putnam & Co.

These volumes contain nearly eight hundred anecdotes and sketches of art and artists. The trials, misfortunes, achievements and exaltations of men of genius and fine sensibilities are here grouped together in a readable form. The work is not a mere compilation or re-publication of anecdote, but contains a vast amount of original matter, and many interesting and instructive portions of the history of art. Dr. Spooner has devoted himself to the pursuit of illustrating art with a zeal and industry seldom equaled in any of the varied occupations and pursuits of life; and we are told that his labors have not been assumed through any mercenary or selfish motives. Of one thing we are quite sure, that the same talent, industry and perseverance invested in commercial pursuits would have insured him a fortune.

7.—Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art. Vol. IL, July to December, 1853. 8vo., pp. 690. New York: George P. Putnam & Co. It must be gratifying to the enterprising publisher of this interesting periodical to know that its general management and the character of its contents have been such as to meet the cordial approval of a large majority of the most judicious and intelligent readers. It is stated in the preface to the volume before us, that of 980 articles received the volumes completed contain only about one in ten. The standard value of this magazine should secure it a place in each of the ten thousand School District Libraries of the State of New York.

8.-The Lost Prince. Facts tending to prove the Identity of Louis the Seventeenth of France and the Rev. Eleazar Williams, Missionary among the Indians of North America. By JOHN H. HANSON. 12mo., pp. 479. New York: G. P. Putnam & Co. The object of this work is to group together the circumstances which tend to prove that in the person of a venerable clergyman of the Episcopal Church there is still living, in America, the representative of the ancient glories of the French monarchy. The subject, when first broached in Putnam's Monthly, excited great interest; and we are glad the author has undertaken the labor of investigating the subject, and done it so thoroughly.

9.-The Works of Joseph Addison. Vol. 3. 12mo., pp. 874. New York: George P. Putnam & Co.

The present volume contains the Freeholder, with Swift's notes on the same; the Plebeian, by Sir Richard Steele, with the Old Whig, by Mr. Addison; the Tattler; the Guardian; and the Siren. This is, as we have before stated, the most complete edition of Mr. Addison's works heretofore published either in England or the United States. No well-selected library can be anything like complete without Addison's writings.

10.-Lyrics from "The Wide, Wide World." The words by W. J. BELLAMY, the music by C. W. GLOVER. 8vo., pp. 50. New York: George P. Putnam & Co. This book contains half a dozen poems, set to music, with titles as follows: The home where changes never come-My own, my gentle mother-The snow-storm, (a duet)— The wood ramble-Lovely, lovely all below; and, Calmly, brightly, day is fading. 11.-The Potiphar Papers. Reprinted from Putnam's Monthly. Illustrated by A. HOPPIN. 12mo., pp. 256. New York: Geo. P. Putnam & Co.

These piquant papers, seven in number, have been reprinted in a beautiful style. "Our best society in New York" is presented, or rather portrayed to the life, in these exceeding clever sketches. The illustrations of Hoppin are capital.

12.-Ellen Montgomery's Book Shelf.

64

By the author of "The Wide, Wide World,"

Dollars and Cents," &c., &c. New York: G. P. Putnam & Co.

Carl Krinker: his Christmas Stories," is the third interesting and instructive series of tales for the young, by the gifted author of "The Wide, Wide World," and her sister.

13.—Similitudes. By LUCY LARCOM. 18mo., pp. 103. Boston: J. P. Jewett & Co. Forty beautiful similitudes, happily illustrated in chaste and apposite words, each inculcating some moral, religious, or social grace.