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chant. I shall not," continued he, "at this time. remind Sir Roger of the great and noble monuments Lof charity and public spirit, which have been erected by merchants since the reformation, but at present content myself with what he allows us, parsimony 5 and frugality. If it were consistent with the quality of so ancient a baronet as Sir Roger, to keep an account, or measure things by the most infallible way, that of numbers, he would prefer our parsimony to his hospitality. If to drink so many 10 hogsheads is to be hospitable, we do not contend for the fame of that virtue; but it would be worth while to consider, whether so many artificers at work ten days together by my appointment, or so many peasants made merry on Sir Roger's charge, 15 are the men more obliged? I believe the families of the artificers 5 will thank me more than the household of the peasants shall Sir Roger. Sir Roger gives to his men, but I place mine above the necessity or obligation of my bounty. I am in 20 very little pain for the Roman proverb upon the Carthaginian traders; the Romans were their professed enemies: I am only sorry no Carthaginian histories have come to our hands: we might have been taught perhaps by them some proverbs against 25 the Roman generosity, in fighting for, and bestowing other people's goods. But since Sir Roger has taken occasion from an old proverb, to be out of humor with merchants, it should be no offence to offer one

not quite so old in their defence. When a man happens to break in Holland, they say of him that 'he has not kept true accounts.' This phrase, perhaps among us, would appear a soft or humorous 5 way of speaking, but with that exact nation it bears the highest reproach. For a man to be mistaken in the calculation of his expense, in his ability to answer future demands, or to be impertinently sanguine in putting his credit to too great adventure, 10 are all instances of as much infamy, as with gayer nations to be failing in courage, or common honesty.

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"Numbers are so much the measure of everything that is valuable, that it is not possible to demonstrate the success of any action, or the prudence of 15 any undertaking, without them. I say this in answer to what Sir Roger is pleased to say, ('that little that is truly noble can be expected from one who is ever poring on his cash-book, or balancing his accounts.' When I have my returns from 20 abroad, I can tell to a shilling, by the help of num

bers, the profit or loss by my adventure; but I ought also to be able to show that I had reason for making it, either from my own experience, or that of other people, or from a reasonable presumption 25 that my returns will be sufficient to answer my expense and hazard; and this is never to be done without the skill of numbers. For instance, if I am to trade to Turkey, I ought beforehand to know the demand of our manufactures there, as well as

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of their silks in England, and the customary prices. that are given for both in each country. I ought to have a clear knowledge of these matters beforehand, that I may presume upon sufficient returns to answer the charge of the cargo I have fitted out, 5 the freight and assurance and home, the customs to the queen, and the interest of my own money, and besides all these expenses a reasonable profit to myself. Now what is there of scandal in this skill? What has the merchant done, that he should 10 be so little in the good graces of Sir Roger? He throws down no man's inclosures, and tramples upon no man's corn; he takes nothing from the industrious laborer; he pays the poor man for his work; he communicates his profit with mankind; 15 by the preparation of his cargo, and the manufacture of his returns, he furnishes employment and subsistence to greater numbers than the richest nobleman; and even the nobleman is obliged to him for finding out foreign markets for the produce of his 20 estate, and for making a great addition to his rents; and yet it is certain that none of all these things could be done by him without the exercise of his skill in numbers.

"This is the economy of the merchant; and the 25 conduct of the gentleman must be the same, unless by scorning to be the steward, he resolves the steward shall be the gentleman. The gentleman, no more than the merchant, is able, without the

help of numbers, to account for the success of any action, or the prudence of any adventure. If, for instance, the chase is his whole adventure, his only returns must be the stag's horns in the great hall, 5 and the fox's nose upon the stable door. Without doubt Sir Roger knows the full value of these returns; and if beforehand he had computed the charges of the chase, a gentleman of his discretion would certainly have hanged up all his dogs: he 10 would never have brought back so many fine horses

to the kennel; he would never have gone so often, like a blast, over fields of corn. If such too had been the conduct of all his ancestors, he might truly have boasted at this day, that the antiquity of his 15 family had never been sullied by a trade; a merchant had never been permitted with his whole estate to purchase a room for his picture in the gallery of the Coverleys, or to claim his descent from the maid of honor. But it is very happy for Sir Roger 20 that the merchant paid so dear for his ambition. It is the misfortune of many other gentlemen to turn out of the seats of their ancestors, to make way for such new masters as have been more exact in their accounts than themselves; and (certainly he 25 deserves the estate a great deal better who has got it by his industry, than he who has lost it by his negligence."

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THERE is nothing which more astonishes a foreigner, and frights a country squire, than the Cries of London. My good friend Sir Roger often declares that he cannot get them out of his head or go to sleep for them, the first week that he is in 5 town. On the contrary, Will Honeycomb calls them the Ramage de la Ville, and prefers them to the sound of larks and nightingales, with all the music of the fields and woods. I have lately received a letter from some very odd fellow upon this 10 subject, which I shall leave with my reader, without saying anything further of it.

"SIR,

"I am a man out of all business, and would willingly turn my head to anything for an honest 15 livelihood. I have invented several projects for raising many millions of money without burdening the subject, but I cannot get the parliament to listen to me, who look upon me, forsooth, as a crack, and a projector; so that despairing to enrich 20 either myself or my country by this public-spirited

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