of their own left in the world! Nay, I can say it of my own
knowledge, that I have known a tradesman trade for ten thousand pounds
a-year, and carry it on with full credit to the last gasp, then die, and
break both at once; that is to say, die unsuspected, and yet, when his
estate has been cast up, appear to be five thousand pounds worse than
nothing in the world: how he kept up his credit, and made good his
payments so long, is indeed the mystery, and makes good what I said
before, namely, that as none trade so much upon credit in the world, so
none know so well how to improve and manage credit to their real
advantage, as the English tradesmen do; and we have many examples of it,
among our bankers especially, of which I have not room to enter at this
time into the discourse, though it would afford a great many diverting
particulars.[44]

I have mentioned on several occasions in this work, how nice and how
dainty a dame this credit is, how soon she is affronted and disobliged,
and how hard to be recovered, when once distasted and fled; particularly
in the story of the tradesman who told his friends in a public
coffee-house that he was broke, and should shut up his shop the next
day. I have hinted how chary we ought to be of one another's credit, and
that we should take care as much of our neighbour tradesman's credit as
we would of his life, or as we would of firing his house, and,
consequently, the whole street.

Let me close all with a word to the tradesman himself, that if it be so
valuable to him, and his friends should be all so chary of injuring his
reputation, certainly he should be very chary of it himself. The
tradesman that is not as tender of his credit as he is of his eyes, or
of his wife and children, neither deserves credit, nor will long be
master of it.

As credit is a coy mistress, and will not easily be courted, so she is a
mighty nice touchy lady, and is soon affronted; if she is ill used, she
flies at once, and it is a very doubtful thing whether ever you gain her
favour again.

Some may ask me here, 'How comes it to pass, since she is so nice and
touchy a lady, that so many clowns court and carry her, and so many
fools keep her so long?' My answer is, that those clowns have yet good
breeding enough to treat her civilly; he must be a fool indeed that will
give way to have his credit injured, and sit still and be quiet-that
will not bustle and use his utmost industry to vindicate his own
reputat