No. 11. 



The riffJit way to Settle disputed Accounts 



345 



DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, 



BY BELVEDERE. 



Calved loth October, 183.'5. Bred by Thomas Bates, Esq.; and at ton monflis old, considered to 

 weigh 40 stones, of 14 lbs. Tiie four quarters without offal. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



The right Avay to Settle Disputed 

 Accounts. 



" A soft answer turneth away wratli." 



Mr. Editor, — The following was related 

 many years since to the writer, by one of 

 the parties, who was a very respectable 

 citizen of Montgomery County, Pennsyl- 

 vania, since deceased : 



During the presidential term of Thomas 

 Jefferson, two young men from Pennsylvania 

 took a lease from him of his merchant mill, 

 at Monticello, one of the stipulations of 

 which was that the landlord should erect 

 for their use, within a given period, a coopers' 

 shop. The time for the meeting of Congress 

 soon arriving, the President had to repair to 

 Washington, to attend to his official duties, 

 where he remained for a long time absorbed 

 in material concerns, and the building of the 

 coopers' shop was entirely forgotten by him ; 

 not so with his tenants, whose daily wants 

 constantly reminded them of the provisions 

 contained in the lease; and finally they de- 

 termined to erect it themselves, and charge 

 the cost of it to their landlord. 



On the return of the President to his man- 

 sion, the parties met to settle a long account 

 current, which had been running during his 

 absence ; the items were gone over and | 



scrutinized one by one, and all were found 

 satisfactory but that of the charge for build- 

 ing the coopers' shop, which he objected to, 

 alleging that he could have erected it with 

 his own workmen. Several attempts were 

 made to effect a settlement, but they always 

 failed when they came to the coopers' shop ; 

 the young men became warm and zealous in 

 the affair, and the parties instead of getting 

 nearer together, found themselves at every 

 interview wider apart. 



In this state of affairs, the father of the 

 young men, who was a mild, affable, con- 

 ciliating gentleman, possessing some know- 

 ledge of the world and its ways, arrived on 

 a visit to his sons, who informed him of 

 their difficulty with their landlord. He re- 

 quested them to leave it to him, observing 

 that he thought he could effect an amicable 

 settlement of the case. This course was 

 acceded to, and in due time he waited on 

 the President with the account, which was 

 scanned and agreed to, excepting the charge 

 for building the shop, which he said with 

 some firmness, that he should not allow for 

 reasons stated. His opponent observing his 

 apparent decision on the subject, very gravely 

 remarked: "well, friend Jefferson, it has 

 always been my practice through life tu yield, 

 rather than to contend.'''' Immediately on this 

 remark being made, the President's chin fell 



