is is plain, and leads me back to where I began; credit
is stock, and, if well supported, is as good as a stock, and will be as
durable. A tradesman whose credit is good, untouched, unspotted, and
who, as above, has maintained it with care, shall in many cases buy his
goods as cheap at three or four months' time of payment, as another man
shall with ready money--I say in some cases, and in goods which are
ordinarily sold for time, as all our manufactures, the bay trade
excepted, generally are.

He, then, that keeps his credit unshaken, has a double stock--I mean, it
is an addition to his real stock, and often superior to it: nay, I have
known several considerable tradesmen in this city who have traded with
great success, and to a very considerable degree, and yet have not had
at bottom one shilling real stock; but by the strength of their
reputation, being sober and diligent, and having with care preserved the
character of honest men, and the credit of their business, by cautious
dealing and punctual payments, they have gone on till the gain of their
trade has effectually established them, and they have raised estates out
of nothing.

But to return to the dark side, namely, over-trading; the second danger
is the giving too much credit. He that takes credit may give credit, but
he must be exceedingly watchful; for it is the most dangerous state of
life that a tradesman can live in, for he is in as much jeopardy as a
seaman upon a lee-shore.

If the people he trusts fail, or fail but of a punctual compliance with
him, he can never support his own credit, unless by the caution I am now
giving; that is, to be very sure not to give so much credit as he takes.

By the word _so much_, I must be understood thus--either he must sell
for shorter time than he takes, or in less quantity; the last is the
safest, namely, that he should be sure not to trust out so much as he is
trusted with. If he has a real stock, indeed, besides the credit he
takes, that, indeed, makes the case differ; and a man that can pay his
own debts, whether other people pay him or no, that man is out of the
question--he is past danger, and cannot be hurt; but if he trusts beyond
the extent of his stock and credit, even _he_ may be overthrown too.

There were many sad examples of this in the time of the late war,[13]
and in the days when the public credit was in a more precarious
condition that it has been since--I say, sad examples, namely, when
tradesme