or does it appear that more was got for your beads, in the Mohawk
country, than they were valued at there, or was paid for the skins than
they were worth where they were produced."

"Whe--w--w--w!" whistled the merchant, as he returned the tablets to his
pocket.

"One would think that thou hadst been studying the Leyden pamphleteer, son
of my old friend! If the savage thinks so little of his skins, and so much
of my beads, I shall never take, the pains to set him right; else, always
by permission of the Board of Trade, we shall see him, one day, turning
his bark canoe into a good ship, and going in quest of his own ornaments.
Enterprise and voyages! Who knows but that the rogue would see fit to stop
at London, even; in which case the Mother Country might lose the profit
of the sale at Vienna, and the Mohawk set up his carriage, on the
difference in the value of markets! Thus, you see, in order to run a fair
race, the horses must start even, carry equal weights, and, after all, one
commonly wins. Your metaphysics are no better than so much philosophical
gold leaf, which a cunning reasoner beats out into a sheet as large as the
broadest American lake, to make dunces believe the earth can be transmuted
into the precious material; while a plain practical man puts the value of
the metal into his pocket, in good current coin."

"And yet I hear you complain that Parliament has legislated more than is
good for trade, and speak in a manner of the proceedings at home, that,
you will excuse me for saying, would better become a Hollander than a
subject of the crown."

"Have I not told you, that the horse will run faster without a rider, than
with a pack-saddle on his back? Give your own jockey as little, and your
adversary's as much weight as you can, if you wish to win. I complain of
the borough-men, because they make laws for us, and not for themselves. As
I often tell my worthy friend, Alderman Gulp, eating is good for life, but
a surfeit makes a will necessary."

"From all which I infer, that the opinions of your Leyden correspondent
are not those of Mr. Van Beverout."

The Alderman laid a finger on his nose, and looked at his companions, for
a moment, without answering.

"Those Leydeners are a sagacious breed! If the United Provinces had but
ground to stand on, they would, like the philosopher who boasted of his
lever, move the world! The sly rogues think that the Amsterdammers have
naturally an easy seat, and they wish