treat with some
of his principal creditors, showing them a true and faithful state of
his affairs, and giving them the best assurances he can of payment, that
they may be easy with him till he can get in his debts; and then, with
the utmost care, draw in his trade within the due compass of his stock,
and be sure never to run out again farther than he is able to answer,
let the prospect of advantage be what it will; and by this method he may
perhaps recover his credit again, at least he may prevent his ruin. But
this is always supposing the man has a firm bottom, that he is sound in
the main, and that his stock is at least sufficient to pay all his
debts.

But the difficulty which I am proposing to speak of, is when the poor
tradesman, distressed as above in point of credit, looking into his
affairs, finds that his stock is diminished, or perhaps entirely
sunk--that, in short, he has such losses and such disappointments in his
business, that he is not sound at bottom; that he has run too far, and
that his own stock being wasted or sunk, he has not really sufficient to
pay his debts; what is this man's business?--and what course shall he
take?

I know the ordinary course with such tradesmen is this:--'It is true,'
says the poor man, 'I am running down, and I have lost so much in such a
place, and so much by such a chapman that broke, and, in short, so much,
that I am worse than nothing; but come, I have such a thing before me,
or I have undertaken such a project, or I have such an adventure abroad,
if it suceeds, I may recover again; I'll try my utmost; I'll never drown
while I can swim; I'll never fall while I can stand; who knows but I may
get over it?' In a word, the poor man is loth to come to the fatal day;
loth to have his name in the Gazette, and see his wife and family turned
out of doors, and the like; who can blame him? or who is not, in the
like case, apt to take the like measures?--for it is natural to us all
to put the evil day far from us, at least to put it as far off as we
can. Though the criminal believes he shall be executed at last, yet he
accepts of every reprieve, as it puts him within the possibility of an
escape, and that as long as there is life there is hope; but at last the
dead warrant comes down, then he sees death unavoidable, and gives
himself up to despair.

Indeed, the malefactor was in the right to accept, as I say, of every
reprieve, but it is quite otherwise in the tradesman's case;