No doubt it would be unwise to exaggerate or over-
emphasize the importance of these figures. Trade is a frail flower and may fade and wither ahnost as quickly as it blooms. In other words, we -must never forget that almost all trade rests on credit, and credit means in the last resort what may be called a kind of serious optimism—a belief that things are going to be, not merely as good, but rather better than they have been, and that money and energy may be risked on that supposition. Bacon said in regard to the management of personal health that we should practise the extremes both of abstinence and of generosity in our diet and habits. We should sometimes fast and sometimes feast ; some- times sleep long and sometimes sit up late ; sometimes favour the " dry " and sometimes the " wet " policy in the matter of wine. But although variety must be our bare principle, we should always" incline to the benign extreme." The same thing can be said of trade. We should be cautious, but we should also be speculative. We should be thrifty and also make " plucky " invest- ments. We should be sure of our money, and also give credits that will set other men working for us.
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