nnot
spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But, ah!
think what you do when you run in debt: _You give to another power over
your liberty._ If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to
see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will
make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose our
veracity, and sink into base, downright lying; for, as Poor Richard
says, _The second vice is lying, the first is running into debt_; and
again, to the same purpose, _lying rides upon debt's back_; whereas a
free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak
to any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and
virtue. _'Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright!_ as Poor Richard
truly says. What would you think of that prince, or that government who
should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or
gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude? Would you not say
that you are free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such
an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government
tyranical? And yet you are about to put yourself under such tyranny,
when you run in debt for such dress! Your creditor has authority, at
his pleasure, to deprive you of your liberty, by confining you in jail
for life, or to sell you for a servant, if you should not be able to
pay him.[5] When you have got your bargain you may, perhaps, think
little of payment; but _Creditors_ (Poor Richard tells us) _have better
memories than debtors_; and in another place says, _Creditors are a
superstitious set, great observers of set days and times._ The day
comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are
prepared to satisfy it; or, if you will bear your debt in mind, the
term which at first seemed so long will, as it lessens, appear
extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as
well as his shoulders. _Those have a short Lent_, saith Poor Richard,
_who owe money to be paid at Easter._ Then since, as he says, _The
borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor_,
disdain the chain, preserve your freedom, and maintain your
independency. Be _industrious_ and _free_; be _frugal_ and _free_. At
present, perhaps, you may think yourself in thriving circumstances, and
that you can bear a little extravagance without injury; but--

For age and want, save while you may,
No