ws, that unless something
extraordinary happen, which, perhaps, also is not probable, he must
fall, for such a man to go on, and trade in the ordinary way,
notwithstanding losses, and hazards--in such a case, I affirm, he cannot
act the honest man, he cannot go on with justice to his creditors, or
his family; he ought to call his creditors together, lay his
circumstances honestly before them, and pay as far as it will go. If his
creditors will do any thing generously for him, to enable him to go on
again, well and good, but he cannot honestly oblige them to run the risk
of his unfortunate progress, and to venture their estates on his bottom,
after his bottom is really nothing at all but their money.

But I pass from the honesty to the prudence of it--from what regards his
creditors, to what regards himself--and I affirm, nothing can be more
imprudent and impolite, as it regards himself and his family, than to go
on after he sees his circumstances irrecoverable. If he has any
consideration for himself, or his future happiness, he will stop in
time, and not be afraid of meeting the mischief which he sees follows
too fast for him to escape; be not so afraid of breaking, as not to
break till necessity forces you, and that you have nothing left. In a
word, I speak it to every declining tradesman, if you love yourself,
your family, or your reputation, and would ever hope to look the world
in the face again, _break_ in time.

By breaking in time you will first obtain the character of an honest,
though unfortunate man; it is owing to the contrary course, which is
indeed the ordinary practice of tradesmen, namely, not to break till
they run the bottom quite out, and have little or nothing left to pay; I
say, it is owing to this, that some people think all men that break are
knaves. The censure, it is true, is unjust, but the cause is owing to
the indiscretion, to call it no worse, of the poor tradesmen, who
putting the mischief as far from them as they can, trade on to the last
gasp, till a throng of creditors coming on them together, or being
arrested, and not able to get bail, or by some such public blow to their
credit, they are brought to a stop or breach of course, like a man
fighting to the last gasp who is knocked down, and laid on the ground,
and then his resistance is at an end; for indeed a tradesman pushing on
under irresistable misfortunes is but fighting with the world to the
last drop, and with such unequal odds,