639 



stee there, is the mercantile profession; 

 especially if the merchant be a young aspir- 

 ing man, and possess a sufficiency of can- 

 ning : he may then carry on more business 

 with less money than is usual in England. 

 The credit given by the English merchant 

 being of so long date, and more general 

 than in England, enables the merchant in 

 America to improve his finances, by the 

 use of the money : for, from every in- 

 formation I ever could gain on that sub- 

 ject, the American merchant may be said to 

 sell goods, under commission, for the Eng- 

 lish merchant, without limitation. 



In regard to land, one thousand pounds, 

 or a much smaller sum, laid out upon it, is 

 as good as fifty thousand : for more than a 

 man can cultivate with ease is useless. 



There are many things, in themselves nei- 

 ther comfortable nor useful, which necessi*- 

 ty has obliged the inhabitants to adopt, hav- 

 ing little or no money at the time to buy 

 with. During the American war, sugar was 

 obtained from the Indian corn stalk 3 and 



