I very lately lost, by an arbitration, a great sum, though I thought I had every thing cut and dry: I spoke to my brother the fruiterer to come as a witness; he did so, and brought his man with him. This evidence was a hollow thing; but what do you think of the arbitrator,--a counsellor too? Merely because my brother happened, out of forgetfulness, _to say something contrary to what he had said before_; from that time, I am convinced, he did not pay any regard to what he said.” “How do you know that, Mr. Lawhunt?” said Hamilton. “How do I know it,” replied the other, “because my brother swore point blank I did not owe the plaintiff one hundred pounds, and the arbitrator gave an award of seven hundred, and did not that prove how little they regarded Ned’s evidence?” addressing Hamilton. “Undoubtedly it did,” replied our hero. “But what was worse than that,” said Jeffery, “there was my own foreman, a good obliging fellow as ever lived, that would not stick at a trifle; he and I had a great deal of talk before, and we settled about his evidence. The first day he was called, it was on a Saturday; I remember he was very clear--all for me; plaintiff’s counsel did not ask him a single question. On the Sunday he dined with me; we were quite jocose.” “Dingwal,” said I, (his name is Donald Dingwal) “you did very well yesterday; but get through as well to-morrow, and we will do.” “Why,” says he, “that Chiswick, Farragan’s council (Farragan was the plaintiff, a damned Scotch Highlander; ‘perhaps you know him, sir.’ ‘Oh, very well,’ said Hamilton) was not at all captious.” “With that I agreed; but what do you think? Chiswick was laying a trap all the time. Dingwal having finished what we had agreed, Chiswick began that damned cross-questioning, and dodged and winded the poor fellow so about, that on the Monday, as ill luck would have it, the poor man swore the direct contrary to what he had done on the Saturday. Chiswick had not lain by for nothing, and from the award, it was evident that the arbitrator believed my friend Dingwal against me, though he would not believe him for me. However, I cannot blame Dingwal; he had the good will, and if it had not been for Chiswick’s cross-questioning, would have been a most serviceable witness; and I must say, I before found him very obliging in his testimony; he went through like a hero when he was not so cross-examined. In the instance that I have just mentioned, I lost my cause; so you see I have had trials and tribulations in this world; nevertheless, I am a man of great property, and can afford to pay for a good commodity, in the literary line, as much as any man.” Mr. Lawhunt having favoured his two companions with this biographical sketch, then proceeded to business. “Dr. Scribble here,” says Mr. Lawhunt, “we all know to be a man of very extraordinary genius and larning. He has been a mentioning to me a plan of translating German books, of plays and histories, and philosophers,