the watch, and so lies till eleven again;
and thus he walks round like the hand of a dial. And what will it all
come to?--they'll certainly break, that you may be sure of; they can't
hold it long.'

'This is the town's way of talking, where they see an example of it in
the manner as is described; nor are the inferences unjust, any more than
the description is unlike, for such certainly is the end of such
management, and no shop thus neglected ever made a tradesman rich.

On the contrary, customers love to see the master's face in the shop,
and to go to a shop where they are sure to find him at home. When he
does not sell, or cannot take the price offered, yet the customers are
not disobliged, and if they do not deal now, they may another time: if
they do deal, the master generally gets a better price for his goods
than a servant can, besides that he gives better content; and yet the
customers always think they buy cheaper of the master too.

I seem to be talking now of the mercer or draper, as if my discourse
were wholly bent and directed to them; but it is quite contrary, for it
concerns every tradesman--the advice is general, and every tradesman
claims a share in it; the nature of trade requires it. It is an old
Anglicism, 'Such a man drives a trade;' the allusion is to a carter,
that with his voice, his hands, his whip, and his constant attendance,
keeps the team always going, helps himself, lifts at the wheel in every
slough, doubles his application upon every difficulty, and, in a word,
to complete the simile, if he is not always with his horses, either the
wagon is set in a hole, or the team stands still, or, which is worst of
all, the load is spoiled by the waggon overthrowing.

It is therefore no improper speech to say, such a man drives his trade;
for, in short, if trade is not driven, it will not go.

Trade is like a hand-mill, it must always be turned about by the
diligent hand of the master; or, if you will, like the pump-house at
Amsterdam, where they put offenders in for petty matters, especially
beggars; if they will work and keep pumping, they sit well, and dry and
safe, and if they work very hard one hour or two, they may rest,
perhaps, a quarter of an hour afterwards; but if they oversleep
themselves, or grow lazy, the water comes in upon them and wets them,
and they have no dry place to stand in, much less to sit down in; and,
in short, if they continue obstinately idle, they must sink; so that i