The Patowmac Guardian, And Berkeley Advertiser

THE PROMPTER.

Any other time will do as well.

YES, yes : but are you sure that any other time will arrive ? or, if it should, are you certain that you can attend to it ? If I hear a man or woman say frequently, any other time will do as well, I set them down on my list, the one as slack slovenly--the other, a careless slipshod housewife. Call on such a man to settle his accounts--" O, I can't attend to it now," says the man, " it will do as well any other time," Call again ; O I am busy-- it will do as well to-morrow, or any other time. Call a third or a fourth time : but he is never ready. The account stands unsettled-it increases from year to year--at length death, that sturdy tyrant, trips up his heels, and lays him flat on his back--his accounts unsettled--his administrator has work enough upon his hands--for a man who will settle his accounts at any other time, will generally make his charges in the same way--he does not set down every article at the time of purchase or sale--he trusts to memory--he can remember the article and price, and charge it at any other time--he forgets--makes mistakes-his books are irregularly kept-they are disputed-his administrator has no proof but the books and other people are alive to swear to their accounts or produce other evidence--then begin law-suits--and when law opens the door of litigation, poverty follows up close and enters with it. Juries and arbitrators decide these disputes upon vague uncertain evidence--and somebody suffers the loss. So much for this any other time.

But suppose a man lives long, as the worst of men generally live longest--why be plagues every one that has any dealings with him-yes, and is eternally haunted himself. The Prompter has heard it said, that take care of the farthings, the pounds will take care of themselves.- Now a word upon this, if you please. Take special care of little shilling accounts--they are like the old serpent, who deceived Eve, sly insinuating, tempting things. " How much does it cost ?' is the question, whenever an article is to be purchased.- A shilling, is the answer. O, then get it by all means : A shilling is a trifle. It is so; but sands form the mountain." Look to that. I say. The whole evil is. that this shilling is a trifle--A dollar ! that is no trifle--I can't afford a dollar--Very well--a dollar consists of the small number of six shillings, and when six of these little trifles, these Lilliputian shillings are gone--a dollar, that gigantic part of a man's estate, is gone.

Now then, in order to baffle the temptations of spending shillings--settle your accounts often--once a year at least --for otherwise they will swell into an unmanageable size. Suppose four neighbours take a newspaper, in partnership--This makes the expense a trifle--Very good--this is laudable--it is economical. But suppose you do not pay this trifle --How are the printers, post-riders and paper-makers to live ? Look ye, my friends : Connecticut river is a large river--but this is made up of little springs, that will run through a gimlet hole.--- When you walk about your fields. or traverse the woods, you step over little brooks and little gurgling rills, and never think that you are stepping over Connecticut river. But remember. if all these rills dry up, Connecticut river is gone. Just so it is with printers, with merchants. and with the state treasury. Every shilling is a little rill--a small stream that runs into the post-rider's pocket or the collector's purse--a number of these little streams, thus united, make a large stream, like Farmington and Chickahoe rivers--these streams empty into the printing-office or treasury, where they form Connecticut river and keep the business going on. Now follow nature--little rills run perpetually. They murmur too, but they run or the river dries up--They never stop and say, any other time will do as well.