336 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

up the whole fruits of his industry, leaving but a bare subsistence for his family.

I have been repeatedly told that a shopkeeper, who had at that time little opposition in his business, always enquired of a new customer who wanted a gallon of rum, a little tea, or a few gallons of mo- lasses, on credit, if he possessed a cow; and if it turned out that he did, the fat shopkeeper grunted out, “ Hah, well, let him have it.” At that time, and long after, when Newfoundland, in consequence of the war, was precariously supplied With fresh meat, a cow was an object of profitable importance to a Charlotte Town shopkeeper.

At length shopkeepers multiplied, and the system of selling goods to the farmers on credit rather in- creased than diminished. But the shopkeepers must raise money to remit, or their own credit must end; and farmers, especially after the war, could not pay them. A list of debts was accordingly made out by the shopkeeper, and those under five pounds given to a magistrate to sue for immediately, while the rest were probably given to an attorney to recover. In a country where specie is exceedingly scarce, a vast quantity of property is sacrificed even to satisfy the demand for costs; and it has often happened, that the most respectable and good-natured shopkeepers have, after suing for their debts, had to pay not only the expenses, but to let the debt itself remain over for another year. This last observation is, however, more applicable to those who were in a more general

business than 'mere shopkeeping. l