motive of his prosperity in every branch of business, let any man judge.

The tradesman's pleasure therefore should be in his business; his chief companions should be his books; and if he has a family, he will make his excursions upstairs, and no further; when he is there, a bell, or a call, brings him down; and while he is in his parlour, his shop or his warehouse never misses him, his customers never go away unserved, and his letters never come in, and are unanswered.

It will be observed, that none of my cautions aim at restraining a tradesman from diverting himself, as we call it, with his fireside, or keeping company with his wife and children: there are so few that ruin themselves that way, and ill consequences so seldom happen upon an uxorious temper, that it is too often the want of a due complacency, and of taking delight there, that estranges the man, not from his parlour only, but his warehouse and shop, and every part of business that ought to engross his attention and time. The tradesman that does not delight in his family, will never long delight in his business; for as one great end of an honest tradesman's diligence is the support of his family, so the very sight of an affectionate wife and children is the spur of his diligence; this puts an edge upon his mind, and makes a good parent or husband hunt the world for business, as eager as hounds hunt the woods for their game. When he is dispirited, or discouraged by crosses and disappointments, and ready to lie down and despair, the very sight of his family rouses him again, and he flies to his business with a new vigour : I must follow my business, says he, or we must all starve; my poor chlidren must perish. In a word, he that is not animated to diligence by the very apprehension that his wife and children may be otherwise brought to misery and

distress, is a kind of a deaf adder, that no music will charm; he is not to be called a human creature, but a wretch, hardened against all the passions and affections that nature has furnished the meanest animals with.

CHAP. XI.

Of suretiship.

ANOTHER reason of a tradesman's frequent ruin, is, what the wise man most emphatically calls 'striking hands with a stranger,' or one tradesman being bound for another. And this case is so very obviously of the highest importance for him to reflect upon, and be cautious in, that I need not take up much of my reader's time, or my own, to warn him against it.

It is true, that as the particular circumstances of trade are now stated, it is hardly possible for tradesmen to go through the world in their business without being bound for one another; the high duties, such as excises, customs, and the number of offices in the public revenue, obliging men to get bondsmen; the government gives credit, but requires security; and it seems absolutely necessary they should do so; and this in some things makes my advices be given with the more caution; but let it be upon what occasion it will, the tradesman ought to be very wary of engaging himself.

Three things every tradesman ought to consider before he strikes hands with a stranger;' that is, before he is bound for another.

1. Whether he is able to pay the debt; for he that is bound for a debt, may very well expect to the debt.

pay

2. That when he binds himself for his friends, he binds his wife, children, and estate, and brings them all into the hazard.

3. That he binds also all those innocent tradesmen who deal with him, and perhaps trust him; who put their estates and families, as it were, into his hand; and who, in justice, ought not to be embarked in the risk, or brought to run more hazards than they are aware of.

Would the considering tradesman give these three heads their due weight in his thoughts, when he is called upon to do the frequently fatal kind office of being surety for his friend, he would not be easily drawn into any snare on that account.

There are some distinctions, indeed, which should be made in this case; and suretiship should be divided into three heads also::

1. Being bail for appearance. This, indeed, depends not upon the tradesman's ability, but his honesty; for if the bond be for a debt, the man may not be able to pay it; and so the tradesman, who is bound, may be obliged to pay the debt though the man were honest; but if it be only bail for appearance, that he is always able to do, if he be alive; and if he dies, the obligation ceases; so that there is not the same hazard by a great deal.

2. Being bound for the honesty of a person, upon entering into public offices or trusts. This also depends upon the integrity of the man, not his ability; and though it be more dangerous than the first, yet not equally with the last.

3. But the last is downright suretiship for the debt; and the tradesman ought never to do it unless, as above, his circumstances are such that he

can pay the debt without hazard to his credit or to his creditors.

There are so many instances in every man's knowledge of the ruin that attends upon suretiship, that, as I hinted, I shall not expatiate more on consequences so obvious as well as so fatal, since they must occur every day, and strike the considerate tradesman with the utmost apprehension of the bad effects which so generally follow these pernicious engagements.

CHAP. XII.

The bad consequences of a tradesman marrying too soon. Many a young tradesman ruined by marrying even a good wife. How requisite it is that a wife should know her husband's circumstances, in order to square her way of living and housekeeping by what he can afford.

It was a prudent provision which our ancestors made in the indentures of tradesmen's apprentices, that they should not contract matrimony during their apprenticeship; and they bound it with a penalty that was then thought sufficient, however custom has taken off the edge of it since; viz., that they who did thus contract matrimony should forfeit their indentures; that is to say, should lose the benefit of their whole service, and not be made free.

Doubtless our forefathers were better acquainted with the advantages of frugality than we are; and

saw further into the desperate consequences of expensive living in the beginning of a tradesman's setting out into the world than we do; at least, it is evident they studied more and practised more of the prudential part, in those cases, than we do.

Hence we find them very careful to bind their youth under the strongest obligations they could, to temperance, modesty, and good husbandry, as the grand foundations of their prosperity in trade, and to prescribe to them such rules and methods of frugality and good husbandry as they thought would best conduce to their prosperity.

Among these rules, this was one of the chief; viz., 'that they should not wed before they had sped;' it is an old homely rule, and coarsely expressed, but the meaning is evident, that a young beginner should never marry too soon. While he was a servant he was bound from it, as above; and when he had his liberty he was persuaded against it, by all the arguments which, indeed, ought to prevail with a considering man, namely, the expenses that a family necessarily would bring with it, and the care he ought to take to be able to support the expense, before he brought it upon himself.

On this account it is, I say, our ancestors took more care of their youth than we now do; at least, I think they studied more the best methods of thriving, and were better acquainted with the steps by which a young tradesman ought to be introduced into the world than we are, and the difficulties which those people would necessarily involve themselves in, who, despising those rules and methods of frugality, involved themselves in the expense of a family before they were in a way of gaining sufficient to support it.

A married apprentice will always make a repenting tradesman; and those stolen matches, a very