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 it
is nothing but _pump_ or _drown_, and they may choose which they like
best.

He that engages in trade, and does not resolve to work at it, is _felo
de se_; it is downright murdering himself; that is to say, in his
trading capacity, he murders his credit, he murders his stock, and he
starves, which is as bad as murdering, his family.