5K) 



CREDIT CREED. 



liis son, tiie Black Prince, were loth engaged, and 

 the French were defeated witli great slaughter, 30,000 

 foot and 1200 horse being left dead on tin- field ; atnonsr 

 whom were the kimr nf Bohemia, the count of Alen- 

 <yon, Louis, count uf Flanders, with many others of 

 Uie French nobility. 



CREDIT, in economy, is the postponement agreed 

 on by the parties of the payment of a debt to a future 

 day. It implies confidence of the creditor in the 

 deotor; and a "credit system" is one of general 

 confidence of people in each other's honesty, sol- 

 \ rnry, and resources. Credit is not confined to civi- 

 liied countries ; Mr Park mentions instances of it 

 among the Africans ; but it will not prevail extensive- 

 ly where the laws do not protect property, and enforce 

 the fulfilment of promises. Public credit is founded 

 upon a confidence in the resources, good faith, and 

 stability of the government ; and it does not always 

 flourish or decline at the same time and rate as pri- 

 vate credit ; for the people may have either greater 

 or less confidence in the government than in each 

 other : still there is some sympathy and correspond- 

 ence between the two ; for a general individual confi- 

 dence can rarely, if ever, take place in the midst of 

 distrust of the government ; and, vice versa, a firm 

 reliance upon the government promotes a correspond- 

 ing individual confidence among the citizens. The 

 history of every industrious and commercial commu- 

 nity, under a stable government, will present succes- 

 sive alternate periods of credit and distrust, following 

 each other with a good deal of regularity. A gene- 

 ral feeling of prosperity produces extension and fa- 

 cilities of credit. The mere opinion or imagination of 

 a prevailing success lias, of its own force, a most 

 powerful influence, in exciting the enterprise, and 

 quickening the industry, of a community. 



The first requisite to industry is a stock of instru- 

 ments, and of materials on which to employ them : a 

 rery busy and productive community requires a great 

 stock of both. Now, if this stock, being ever so 

 great, were hoarded up ; if the possessors would 

 neither use, let, nor sell it, as long as it should be so 

 withdrawn from circulation, it would have no effect 

 upon the general activity and productiveness. This 

 is partially the case when a general distrust and im- 

 pression of decay and decline cause the possessors of 

 the stock and materials to be scrupulous about put- 

 ting them out of their liands, by sale or otherwise, to 

 be used by others ; and others, again, having no 

 confidence in the markets, and seeing no prospect of 

 profits, hesitate to purchase materials, or to buy or 

 hire the implements, mills, ships, &c., of others, or 

 to use their own in the processes of production and 

 transportation. This state of surplusage and dis- 

 trust is sure to be followed by a reduction of money 

 prices ; and every one who has a stock on hand, and 

 whose possessions are estimated in money, is consi- 

 dered to be growing poorer and poorer every day. 

 But when prices have reached their lowest point, and 

 begin regularly to rise, every body begins to esteem 

 himself and others as being prosperous, and the opin- 

 ion contributes powerfully to verify itself. Credit be- 

 gins to expand ; all the stores of the community are 

 unlocked, and the whole of its resources is thrown 

 open to enterprise. Every one is able readily to com- 

 mand a sufficiency of means for the employment of 

 his industry ; capital is easily procured, and services 

 are readily rendered, each one relying upon the suc- 

 cess of the others, and their readiness to meet their 

 engagements ; and the acceleration of industry, and 

 the extension of credit, go on until a surplus and 

 stagnation are again produced. 



The affairs of every industrious and active com- 

 munity are always revolving in this circle, in travers- 

 ing which, general credit passes through its periodi- 



cal ebbs and flows. This facility Mid extension of 

 credit constitute what is commonly culled fictitimt* 

 capital. The fiction consists in many individuals 

 being supposed to be possessed of a greater amount 

 of clear capital tlian they are actually worth. The 

 most striking instance of tliis fictitiousness of capital, 

 or, in other words, excess of credit, appears in the 

 immense amounts of negotiable paper, that some in- 

 dividuals and companies spread in the community, or 

 of paper currency, where the issuing of notes for sup- 

 plying currency by companies or individuals is per- 

 mitted. Individuals or companies thus draw into 

 their hands an immense capital, and it is by no means 

 a fictitious capital when it comes into their possession, 

 but actual money, goods, lands, &c. ; but, if they are 

 in a bad, losing business, the capital, as soon as they 

 are intrusted with it, becomes fictitious in respect to 

 those who trusted them with it, since they will not 

 again realize it. Extensive credits, both in sales and 

 the issuing of paper, in new and growing communi- 

 ties, which have a small stock and great industry, 

 grow out of their necessities, and thus become habi- 

 tual and customary, of which America hitherto has 

 given a striking example. 



CREECH, Thomas, a scholar of some eminence 

 for his classical translations, was born in 1659. He 

 took the degree of M. A. at Oxford in 1683, having 

 the preceding year established his reputation as a 

 scholar, by printing his translation of Lucretius. He 

 also translated several other of the ancient poets, 

 wholly or in part, comprising selections from Homer 

 and Virgil, nearly the whole of Horace, the thirteenth 

 satire of Juvenal, the Idyls of Theocritus, and several 

 of Plutarch's Lives. He likewise published an edi- 

 tion of Lucretius in the original, with interpretations 

 and annotations. He put an end to his life at Ox- 

 ford, in 1700. Various causes are assigned for tliis 

 rash act, but they are purely conjectural. He owes 

 his fame almost exclusively to his translation of 

 Lucretius, the poetical merit of which is very small, 

 although, in the versification of the argumentative 

 and mechanical parts, some skill is exhibited. As 

 an editor of Lucretius, he is chiefly valuable for his 

 explanation of the Epicurean philosophy, for which, 

 however, he was largely indebted to Gassendi. 



CREED : a summary of belief ; from the Latin 

 credo (I believe), with which the Apostles' Creed 

 begins. In the Eastern church, a summary of this 

 sort was called ptifafui (the lesson), because it was 

 learned by the catechumens ; y^n (the writing), or 

 naiui (the rule). But the most common name in 

 the Greek church was j^/SoXov (the symbol), which 

 has also passed into the Western church. Numer- 

 ous ancient formularies of faith are preserved in the 

 writings of the early fathers, Irenaeus, Origen, Ter- 

 tullian, &c.. which agree in substance, though with 

 some diversity of expression. The history of creeds 

 would be the history of the church, and of its melan- 

 choly aberrations from the simple doctrines of Jesus. 

 Into this interesting, but humiliating history we can- 

 not now enter, but must confine ourselves to a rapid 

 view of a few of its most prominent features. Of 

 the earlier creeds, there are three which require par- 

 ticular attention. 



I. The Apostles' Creed is so called from its having 

 been formerly considered as the work of the apostles 

 themselves. This notion is now acknowledged to be 

 without foundation. When and by whom it was 

 drawn up, is not known. It can only be traced to 

 the fourth century. It contains a profession of 

 belief in the Holy Ghost, in the divinity of Jesus, 

 his descent into hell, and his ascension into heaven, 

 in the resurrection of the body, in life everlasting, 

 &c. 



II. The Nhene Creed, so called because it was 



