179^' letter from Juridicust 321 



businefs. To augment their credit, and to get into 

 trade upon a -very la^fe scale ; to live like a lord, and 

 to be courted b J the dependent fools who have so 

 •much money as notto know what to make of it ; or to 

 go snacks with those, who, like themselves, enter into 

 liberal speculations , to promote the trade of this coun- 

 try, at the expence of the old hunks who have not 

 •spirit to tread the stage of businefs in a masterly 

 manner, is all tjiat they need to think of. 



In this train things go on for some yeara, till they 

 have obtained a character far liberality., generosity ^ 

 and i/>/r/f in trade, which no other clafs of persons 

 can lay claim to, and have thus secured a great num- 

 ber of friends among bankers who have profited by 

 ■ their numerous transactions, and dealers who are in 

 thfe same train of ^venturous career v^fith, them- 

 selves. They at last stop payment. If their clerks 

 bowever have been -clever, and themselves alert, care 

 will have been taken to make out such a state of their 

 •aiFairs as will bear the investigation of a general meet- 

 ing of creditors. Many of these creditors are indeed 

 irritated to a high degree ; but these are for the most 

 part persons of small note in the mercantile world, 

 whose growlings are little attended to in a general meet- 

 ing, where some dafliing member, v/ho hopes to derive 

 a like favour from some such friend at a future day, 

 offers certain propositions, that are acceded to bv 

 some others who entertain similar hopes, and pof- 

 sefs great influence. Thus the humble non-contents- 

 afliamcd to speak out, growl only in secret, and dare 

 -scarce so much as hint a difsent to the vote proposed. 

 . VOL. viii. ss i 



