The concession made by Stevens, and which had produced an effect so
gratifying upon his companion, was one that involved no sacrifices.
The animal appetite of the young lawyer was, in truth, comparatively
speaking, indifferent to the commodity which he discarded; and even
had it been otherwise, still he was one of those selfish, cool and
calculating persons, who seem by nature to be perfectly able to
subdue the claims of the blood, with great ease, whenever any human
or social policy would appear to render it advisable. The greatest
concession which he made in the transaction, was in his so readily
subscribing to that false logic of the day, which reasons against
the use of the gifts of Providence, because a diseased moral, and
a failing education, among men, sometimes result in their abuse.

The imperfections of a mode of reasoning so utterly illogical, were
as obvious to the mind of the young lawyer as to anybody else; and
the compliance which he exhibited to a requisition which his own
sense readily assured him was as foolish as it was presumptuous,
was as degrading to his moral character from the hypocrisy which it
declared, as it was happy in reference to the small policy by which
he had been governed. The unsuspecting preacher did not perceive
the scornful sneer which curled his lips and flashed his eyes,
by which his own vanity still asserted itself through the whole
proceeding; or he would not have been so sure that the mantle
of grace which he deemed to have surely fallen upon the shoulders
of his companion, was sufficiently large and sound, to cover