one of them do accept it and the other do refuse to accept that Bill must be protested for want of due acceptance but if the Bill do come directed thus To Robert A. and John B. or to either of them Or thus To Robert A. or in his absence to John B. in this case the Bill being accepted by A. or B. namely by but one of them it is sufficient and the Bill ought not to be protested for want of due acceptance in regard being accepted but by one of them on whom it is drawn it is accepted according to the tenor of the Bill Verbal Acceptance IF a Bill of Exchange be presented to the party to whom it is directed to be accepted and he do answer you thus Leave your Bill with me and I will accept it Or thus Call for it to morrow and you shall have it accepted or such like words promising acceptance such an acceptance is binding and amongst Merchants is taken for an acceptance of the Bill if the same can be proved by witness and if afterwards he to whom the Bill is directed shall refuse to set his name to the Bill and to write under it Accepted by me Richard D. according to the most usual manner here in England In this case the party to whom the Bill is payable may content himself with such an acceptance until the time of payment and then if payment be not made by the party who promised acceptance thereof as is before specified the party to whom it is payable may take his course in Law against the party so accepting and questionless will be compelled to the payment thereof provided the Bill be first protested in due form for non-payment and surely such a verbal acceptance is good and binding and there is a great deal of reason for it for it may so be that that Bill of Exchange was drawn for provision to the party to whom it was payable to the end to pay some other Bill of Exchange charged and drawn on the party to whom the former Bill was payable and he having such a verbal promise of acceptance upon confidence therefore may chance to have accepted the other Bill drawn on him Or it may be the former Bill was sent him to furnish him with Monies to buy some Commodities for the party that remitted the same and upon such a verbal acceptance supposing the Monies will be paid him at the time he may happen to have bought the Commodities for his Friend and may peradventure have written to his Friend that sent him the Bill and having given him advice that he is promised acceptance or that he doubts not of acceptance or the like and upon such advice given his Friend will take notice thereof and make his account accordingly and verily if it were not so namely that such a verbal acceptance were binding there might happen great inconveniences in matter of Trade between Merchant and Merchant amongst whom in their way of Commerce their word is or ought to be as binding as their writing Accept for part IF the party to whom your Bill of Exchange is directed say unto you when you present him the Bill to be accepted That he will accept it for part in regard he hath no more provision in his hands from the party for whose account the Bill of Exchange is drawn or that he oweth him no more upon Account or other the like reasons best known to himself In this case you may take such his acceptance for part but then you presently go to a Notary publick and cause the Bill to be protested for want of acceptance for the whole Sum therein mentioned and you must send away that your Protest to the party which sent you the Bill that he may thereupon have security from the party which took up the Mony for the remaining Sum. And so likewise at the time when the Bill shall fall due you must go and receive the Sum for which it was accepted and you may make a Receipt upon the Bill for the same using these or the like words Received this 22 January 1654. in part of payment of this Bill twenty five pounds six shillings I say Received per me John N. And then you must cause Protest again to be made for non payment of the remaining Sum and send the same back according as you formerly did for non-non-acceptance Note on your Bills the times when they will fall due AFter you have presented your Bills of Exchange and received them accepted then presently reckon when they will fall due and if you have any Bills drawn from France or Italy or other parts in French Crowns Ducats Dollars or other outlandish Mony look in the Bills at what rate or price they are drawn for Exchange of the Mony here in England and reduce them to our English Mony and then note on the backside of your Bills close to the top at one end thereof in short the time when your Bills will be due with the just sum which you are to receive at the time according to the tenor of your Billâ— before you lay them up in your Counting house to the end that at any time when you would desire to know upon any occasion what Monies you have to receive and when payable you may presently looking over your Bills see and know the same on the backside of the Bills which you will find to be much ease very convenient and indeed Merchanâ— like and I have known it practised by some of the best and most experienced Merchants in London Keep or return Bills accepted YOur Bills thus accepted if payable to your self you may lay up by you in your Counting-house until the time of payment be come or that you have other use thereof but if payable to him that delivered the value or that sent them you to cause to be accepted then you must therewith follow his order either in keeping them by you until further order or in returning them back to be endorsed and it may be to take in the value thereof himself which he may likewise do on the second Bill if he have it by him and so assign it over to another man and send you his order to deliver the accepted Bill to some other person who may have the second Bill endorsed payable unto him The Deliverer is Master FOr you are to take notice That the party which first delivered the Mony on the Bill of Exchange if the Monies he delivered were for his own proper Account is rightly and properly Master thereof until the Bill falls due and he can or may prohibit the party to whom it is directed not to pay the same at the time unto him to whom the Bill is first made payable supposing him to be a Factor for the Deliverer although the party on whom the Bill is drawn have already accepted the Bill which prohibition is called a Countermand and ought to be done in due form and but upon special sure ground
hand that therefore no Protest can be made for non-payment which is frivoulous and vain and will prove but a sandy foundation for any to build upon Nota. For even by the Notifica-which was made to the party accepting declaring how that the first Bill of Exchange of such a date and sum of Mony from such a party payable to such a one and drawn on him and by him accepted is lost c. the acceptor doth thereby tacitly acknowledge that such a Bill was by him accepted and so makes himself debtor for the parcel and thereupon he may in case of obstinacy be sued at Law for the Mony without the accepted Bill and be forced to the payment thereof with costs and damages and therefore meerly by reason of the loss of the accepted Bill he can have no just cause or plea to detain the Mony beyond the just time from the right party who should receive the same but only thus when such an accepted Bill is lost the party to whom the Bill was payable must give Bond or other reasonable writing to the content and good liking of the party that did accept the Bill and such as in reason he cannot refuse therein and thereby engaging to save the Acceptor harmless from the accepted Bill which is lost and to discharge him from the sum the ein mentioned against the Drawer and all others in due form and thereupon the party which did accept the Bill ought to pay the same although he have not in his accepted Bill for otherwise the party to whom it was made payable must send a Notary to make demand of the said sum upon the same offer of giving Bond to save harmless as above and then if payment be refused the Notary must Protest for want of present payment and the party that accepted the Bill is liable to make good the damages and costs he being the wilful occasion thereof the loss of the accepted Bill being but accidental and indeed such a Bill being really lost to the party to whom it was payable and he himself being a man well known and of good commerce and such notification being made as above Nota. yea I would advise to make the notification though I did not miss the Bill till I went for the Mony and the rather because I cannot tell what may fall out between the cup and the lip I cannot well imagine what loss he on whom it is drawn can be at in paying it at the due time to the right party upon his Bond to save harmless Object Peradventure you will object and say What if the second Bill comes payable to another man am not I bound to pay that Bill I answer That can hardly be I mean that the second Bill should come payable to another man if the first be made payable in the Bill or by orderly assignment to the party to whom you have paid the Mony And yet suppose the first accepted Bill which was lost was payable or assigned to him that lost it and a second Bill should come assigned to another man as I have seen such a thing happen the honesty of him that did it I will not now dispute the Mony being really paid at the time when the same fell due to him that had the accepted Bill and payable to him and not having had notice of the other Bill until after it be due the payment on or according to the first Bill is good and warrantable Ob. But what if the first accepted Bill be afterwards found by any that shall come and demand the Mony in the name of the party to whom it is payable or that he himself shall have assigned it over to another man and have taken up the value of him An. It is all as nothing coming after the time and the Mony having been paid at the time to the party to whom payable though without the accepted Bill it being supposed lost and having good Bond to save harmless It will lie on him which hath committed the fraud and not on the party on whom the Bill was drawn and hath paid it at the time who is free from both first and second Bill and ought to be saved harmless accordingly No revoking Acceptance IT happened one day that a young Merchant though a middle aged man came to me and told me he had few hours ago accepted a Bill of Exchange and delivered it back to the party to whom it was payable but that just now he had received Letters of advice that the party for whose account the Mony was drawn namely the Drawer of the Bill was failed of his Credit and therefore the Acceptor would if he could un-accept the Bill or make void his acceptance thereof and desired me to advise him how he ought to do it To whom I made answer merrily Sir pray go to the party that hath your accepted Bill and tell him as much as you have told me if he know it not already and if he will give you leave to cancel your acceptance of the Bill which he ought not to do then you may be free from your engagement but for my part I know no other way for if you cannot recall your word in such case much less can you make void your deed without mutual consent for the truth is a Bill of Exchange being once accepted that acceptance cannot be recalled but the acceptor stands liable to the payment and must make it good if he be able Accept for longer time IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable at 30 days sight and the party to whom the said Bill is directed will not accept it but at 60 days sight Or if the Bill be drawn at double usance and the party upon whom the same is drawn will not accept it but at treble usance or the like that is to say if the party upon whom the Bill of Exchange is charged will not accept it to pay according to the time therein limited but for a longer time In such case the party to whom the Bill is made payable or his Assigns must cause protest to be made for want of acceptance of the said Bill according to the tenor thereof and then he may take the acceptance offered Or if the Bill of Exchange be left with the party to whom it is directed to be accepted and he do of his own accord without the knowledge of the party to whom it is payable accept the Bill for a longer time or for a less sum than is mentioned in the said Bill in either of these cases the party unto whom the said Bill is made payable or his assigns must go with the said Bill of Exchange to a Notary and cause Protest to be made for want of acceptance of the said Bill for the whole sum therein mentioned or according to the tenor thereof as aforesaid but he may not let the party blot out his acceptance Nota. for by his acceptance he makes himself debtor and owns the
draught made by his Friend upon him whose right another man cannot give away and therefore cannot refuse or discharge the acceptance and when the Bill is due according to the time therein limited I mean the time mentioned in the Bill of Exchange the party to whom the said Bill is payable or his Assigns must demand payment thereof accordingly and in default thereof a second Protest must be made for non-payment and then he may in sending away the Protest but keeping the Bill by him receive the Mony for which it is accepted or at the time it is accepted at unless he have express order to the contrary from the party which did remit the Mony whose order he ought to follow Receive part AND if the Bill be accepted to pay but part of the Mony mentioned in the Bill as is before declared Or that it be accepted in due form for the whole sum but when the Bill falls due the whole sum be not presently paid then you may receive so much Mony as will then be paid thereupon and you may likewise make a receipt on the backside of the Bill for so much Mony as you have received in part of payment thereof But you must presently Protest for non-payment of the remaining sum according as is already here before declared and the receiving part of the Monies upon the Bill doth no ways weaken the Bill or the making Protest for not payment of the remainder or any legal course to be taken for recovery thereof either against the Drawer or Acceptor but it rather strengthens the same for there will be less behind to be paid and it will serve to prove it a real debt in regard there is part thereof already paid Bill accepted by another man MOreover if a Bill of Exchange be drawn on John A. and he refuse to accept it Or if John A. be out of Town and have left no legal order for acceptance thereof by Letter of Attorney under his hand and seal in due form And that William C. a Friend of the Drawers will accept the Bill for honour of the Drawer In either of these cases the party to whom the said Bill is payable or his Assigns ought in the first place to cause Protest to be made for non-non-acceptance by John A. and then he may take the acceptance of William C. for honour of the Drawer for otherwise the Drawer may alledge that he did not draw the Bill on William C. but on John A. and therefore according to custom of Merchants diligence ought to be first used towards John A. and by Protest legally to prove his want of acceptance Or else Order and Commission is broken and so the damage which may happen for want of having the acceptance of John A. or his refusal for not having given order will be put upon him who had the Bill sent unto him to be gotten accepted for you ought to respect your Friends good as your own How to reckon the time A Bill of Exchange dated the second of March new stile which is the twentieth of February old stile except in Leap-year which will be then the twenty first of February payable in London at double usance will be due the two and twentieth of April old stile and not the twentieth of April as some do erroniously imagine who would deduct the ten days to reduce the new stile to old stile at the end of the double usance and so they would go as far as the second of May new stile and then go backwards ten days when of right they should go forwards from the date of old stile relating to the place where it is payable and reckon the double usance from the very date of the Bill thus A Bill dated the second of March new stile is the twentieth of February old stile February having but twenty eight days for the twentienth of February old stile is the second of March new stile even to the very day of the week so from the twentieth of February to the twenty third of March is one usance and from the twenty third of March to the twenty second of April there is another usance and so in like manner if a Bill of Exchange be dated the tenth of March new stile which is the last of February old stile payable at treble usance such a Bill will be due the last of May in London and not the twenty eighth of May as some do imagine because February hath but twenty eight days Also if a Bill be dated the eighth of January in Rouen payable at double usance in London it will fall due the twenty sixth of February and if from that date payable at treble usance it will fall due the twenty ninth of March as is manifest by the Almanack or Table at the end of this Book for you must always count your usances from the very date of the Bill as I have made evidently appear by what hath been before declared concerning usances And I have seen divers Bill of Exchange which have been sent from beyond the Seas wherein the Drawers have written the old and new stile both together in the date of their Bills one above another thus Amsterdam adj 3 13 February 1654 55 for 200 l. sterl Middleborough adj â— March 1654 55 for 150 l. sterl Adj. 27 March 1655. 6 April 1655. in Genoua Dolâ—… 245 at 57 d. L 58-3-9 d sterl And the like which is very plain and commendable in those that do so write thereby to make things evident to the capacity of the weakest and to avoid any further disputes thereupon although in those Bills of Exchange where the old and new stile are not positively expressed yet the same thing is intended and meant and ought to be understood as if particularly set down for if you have the date in new stile you may soon see what date it is in old stile And I have taken the more pains to make this out to every mans understanding because I do perceive that many men for their own advantage and in their own case are subject to be byassed and judge amiss but I conceive I have herein so clearly evidenced the truth and reason of my opinion that it cannot but convince those that are or have been of a contrary judgment of their error and mistake except they are wilfully blind and then none so blind Or that they can give me any better reason for their contrary opinion and then I will submit unto them for all Bills of Exchange as I have said before and is notoriously known and assented unto by all which are made payable at usances must bereckoned directly from the date of the Bill which if it be new stile and payable in London or any other place where they write old stile the date must first be found out in the old stile and then count forward and you cannot mistake Half Usance HAlf usance is always reckoned fifteen days from the date of the Bill neither more
made thereupon as I have shew'd before my Advice is That the Receipt which he shall take for the Mony by him paid be made and written under the Protest and Act but not upon the original accepted Bill of Exchange for divers Reasons which I could give but especially I approve of a Receipt upon the Protest and not on the Bill that so thereby he may still keep the Bill free as not being satisfi'd by those whom it particularly did concern only if he will let the Party to whom the Bill is payable and to whom the Mony is paid subscribe his Name on the backside of the Bill to a blank and let the Protest and Act be sent and returned to the Party for whose account he doth honour the Bill but let him keep the accepted Bill by him to be ready upon all occasions against the Acceptor Bill must not be paid before due IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable at usance double usance thirty days sight or at any longer or shorter time and when the Bill shall be presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be accepted or at any time before the Bill is due he to whom it is payable shall desire to have the Mony presently paid him by way of anticipation before it be due by the tenour of the Bill and thereupon shall offer to rebate for the time Or if the Party to whom the said Bill is directed having some Monies by him and willing to make some Profit thereof shall of his own accord offer him to whom it is made payable to pay him the Mony presently before the time limited in the Bill of Exchange be expir'd in case he will discount for it or allow him some consideration for the time the Party who shall so pay Mony upon any Bill of Exchange before it be due runs in some danger in not observing Order Indeed he to whom it is payable and who does receive the same is in no danger at all by receiving the Mony before it be due but let him beware that so pays it for if the Mony or Parcel which is remitted be really and properly belonging to the Party which deliver'd the same by Exchange to the subscribed of the Bill and if the Bill be made payable to a Factor Servant Agent or Friend of the Deliverer's only to and for the Deliverer's use and if before the Bill is due the Deliverer do send his Countermand as he may do not to pay the Mony to such his Factor Servant Agent or Friend to whom it was payable by the tenour of the Bill but to some other whom he shall appoint In this case he on whom the Bill is drawn ought to be liable to the Payment thereof according to that Countermand to the Party who shall be thereupon so appointed for as it is not properly in his power I mean in the power of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn to prolong the time of Payment so as that he may chuse if he will pay the Mony at the time limited in the Bill or make the Party to whom it was payable to carry any longer for it neither can that Party to whom the Bill is payable in the case before mention'd warrantably shorten the time limited and appointed in the Bill or agree with the Party on whom it is drawn to pay him the Mony before it be due for the bargain is made between the Deliverer and the Taker and respect ought to be had thereunto and altho this case of countermand doth not ordinarily and commonly happen yet it may happen and I have known it come to pass and who can certainly assure himself that the same will not befal him in his Payment of Monies on any Bill of Exchange before it be due For my part the Advice which I desire to give herein is such as may be for the Security of him that parts with his Mony that he may do it upon good grounds and so may be warrantably discharged but that he cannot well be in breaking Order wherefore I shall never advise any to pay Mony on Bills of Exchange before they be due Second Bill with an Assignment IF a second unaccepted Bill of Exchange be sent to you from the Party to whom it is payable with an Assignment on the backside thereof ordering the Payment to made to your self for the Value received of your Friend or Factor presently upon receipt thereof you must present or cause the same to be presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be by him accepted unless you have the first Bill already accepted If the Party on whom it is drawn do refuse to accept the second Bill pretending that he hath already accepted the first Bill to another Man unknown or that he cannot name unto you or if you cannot be actually possess'd of that first accepted Bill you ought upon refusal of Acceptance to cause Protest to be made for non-Non-acceptance of that second Bill that so upon sending away the Protest security may be given to your Friend or Factor that the Mony shall be paid to you at the time or at leastwise Protest to be entred for the Party to whom the Bill is directed is not bound by your second Bill to the Payment of the Mony to you till he accept the Bills of Exchange according to Custom of Merchants unless he have already accepted the first Bill and the same be in your custody for tho as well the Subscribed or Drawer of the Bill of Exchange as the Party who underwrites the Assignment confessing the Value receiv'd and likewise the Acceptor of the Bill are all of them liable and bound in the Bill of Exchange yet they are not all immediately bound either to the Deliverer or the Party to whom the Bill is payable but each Party is bound to him with whom he doth more immediately correspond as I have more particularly before declar'd Party dead which accepted IF the Party to whom your Bill of Exchange is directed to accept the Bill and then if he shall afterwards happen to die before your Bill is due you must at the appointed time for payment demand the Mony of his Executors or Administrators at his mortuary House or last Dwelling-house or Place of abode and upon their Refusal or Delay of payment you must protest for Non payment in the same manner as you would have done if the Party on whom the Bill was drawn had been living and had not paid it at the time Party dead to whom payable IF the Party to whom a Bill of Exchange is made payable be dead at the time when it falls due and his Executor or Administrator have not yet prov'd the Will nor taken out Letters of Administration nevertheless you must not omit to make Demand of the Mony at the just time limited in the Bill and if you offer Security to save harmless against the Executors and Administrators of the deceas'd Party and it be refus'd
you must protest for Non-payment Bill without Assignment IN like manner if you have a Bill of Exchange sent to you to get to be accepted payable to another Man and the Bill being accepted and due you have not an Assignment on the Bill from the Party to whom it is payable ordering it to be paid unto you according to Custom of Merchants you must make demand of the Mony upon that accepted Bill without an Assignment and you must offer to give Security to save harmless against the Party to whom the Bill is made payable and all others and if your Proffer be refused you must protest for Non-payment No such Man to be found IF your Bill of Exchange be directed suppose to Nathaniel Q. Merchant in London and you shall have enquir'd on the Royal Exchange and other parts of the City for such a Merchant and shall not be able to find him out or any body that knows him or that indeed there be none of that Name in London then you must carry your Bill to a Notary publick and he must protest thereupon in due form No body at home IF a Bill of Exchange is sent you to get accepted and there be no body at home at the House or Place of abode of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn Or if when your Bill is due you cannot meet the Party at home nor any one else to pay the Mony on his behalf you must cause Protest to be made either for non-Non-acceptance or Non-payment at his Dwelling-house or Lodging in his Absence which is as effectual according to the known Law of Merchants and the Rules of Equity being made in seasonable time as if the same had been made speaking to him in Person for you cannot be bound it being beyond your power to make him on whom the Bill is drawn abide at home but in reason he is bound to attend his own business at seasonable hours and it concerns him to keep a good Correspondence with his Friends especially in matters of Bills of Exchange whereof he cannot be ignorant No avoiding a Protest AND the truth is if no Protest could be made legally but in speaking to the Party himself a Protest might be prevented at pleasure but it lies not in the power of him on whom a Bill is drawn to hinder the protesting of the Bill if not by him accepted and paid according to the tenour thereof Figures and Words disagreeing A Bill of Exchange tho written in few Words and contain'd in a small piece of Paper yet is of great Weight and Concern in point of Trade between Merchant and Merchant and therefore ought to be writ very plain and legible and without any Blots Mending or altering any word thereof that so there may not arise any Doubt or Scruple in the Payment thereof And therefore it is that Merchants do usually write the Sum to be paid as well in figures as in words at length as you may observe in the several Forms of Bills of Exchange contained in this Treatise And if it so fall out through Inadvertency or otherwise that the Figures and the Words at length of the Sum that is to be paid upon a Bill of Exchange do not agree together if either the Figures do mention more and the Words less or the Figures do specifie less and the Words more in either or in any such case you ought to observe and follow the order of the Words at length and not in Figures until further order be had concerning the same because a Man is more apt to commit an Errour with his Pen in writing a Figure than in writing a Word And also because the Figures at the top of the Bill do only as it were serve as the Contents of the Bill and a Breviat thereof but the Words at length are in the Body of the Bill of Exchange and are the chief and principal Substance thereof whereunto special regard ought to be had and tho it may so fall out that the Sum mention'd in Figures in the Letter of Advice and the Sum mention'd in Figures in the Bill of Exchange do agree yet if the Words at length in the same Bill do differ you ought to follow the order mention'd in Words at length in the Bill and not the order in Figures for the Reasons before alleg'd A Name mended or interlined IF the Name of the Person to whom a Bill of Exchange is made payable chance to be mended or interlin'd in the Bill and the same be accepted by the Person upon whom it is drawn tho it is an Error and justly to be reproved especially in Merchants which indeed doth seldom happen yet the same cannot be a sufficient Excuse for the Party who hath accepted it or any legal warrant for him to refuse Payment thereof at the time unto the Party whose Name is mended or interlin'd in the Bill or unto his Order by his Assignment if the Bill was so mended before it was accepted and be made payable to him or his Assigns for he could not chuse but take notice of the Error when he accepted the Bill and ought to have satisfi'd himself therein before he accepted it if he say it hath been mended or interlin'd since he accepted it he must prove that Bill payable positively to such a Man BUT if the Bill be made payable positively to such a Man and not to such a Man or his Assigns or Order then an Assignment on the Bill will not serve turn but the Mony must be immediately paid to such a Man in person and he must be known to be the same Man mention'd in the Bill of Exchange that so the Mony may not be paid to a wrong Person and the Acceptor forc'd to pay it twice And if the Bill be made payable positively to such a Man as hath been before observ'd such a Man's Name writ on the backside of the Bill in blank is no sufficient warrant for another Man to come as in his name to receive the Mony but the Man himself to whom the Bill is payable must appear in person Bill without Direction IN case a Bill of Exchange do come without a Direction on it that is if it be not directed to any Man only the Drawer has set his Name to it but not directed it to the Party on whom he design'd to charge it yet if in his Letter of Advice to his Friend to whom the Bill is payable or to whom it is sent to get accepted the Bill is mention'd to be drawn on such a Man naming a Man's Name this Friend to whom the Bill is sent ought to present the Bill to that Man to be accepted according to Advice And in case he shall refuse to accept it because it is not directed to him the Party to whom the Bill was sent ought to make Protest for Non-acceptance for he protests against the Drawer in not having taken sufficient care that the Bill might be accepted by some body according
not well known to the Party that is to deliver the Mony or if the man that world take up the Mony by Exchange be not esteemed of sufficient Credit for the same with the Deliverer and thereupon if the Deliverer of the Mony shall desire another man to be bound with the Taker for the Mony that is to be delivered by Exchange and to be his Surety and engage himself for the Mony delivered this may be done two manner of ways For first either the Party who is the principal Taker may make three Bills of Exchange first second and third all of one tenor and date for the Mony he is to take up in the usual manner payable to the Party who is the Deliverer of the Mony or to his order for the value received of himself and the Party who is to be bound as Surety may only subscribe the third Bill of Exchange with the principal Taker or Drawer which third Bill the Deliverer may keep by him for his security Or else secondly only two Bills of Exchange first and second may be made and subscribed by the principal who takes up the Mony payable to him who is to be the Surety or his order for the value of himself and then the Surety must make an Assignment upon both Bills of Exchange and make them payable to the party who really and indeed doth deliver the value to the principal Taker or to whom the same Deliverer of the Mony shall appoint the Surety in the Assignment confessing the value received of the true and real Deliverer of the Mony and in either of these ways especially in the former of them the principal is wont to give Bond to the Surety if he desire it to save him harmless according to reason And both of these ways are good and Merchant-like though acted variously for by the former way the Deliverer of the Mony hath two Men equally bound unto him by the third Bill of whom they do confess to have received the value and he that is properly but the Surety hath not the principal taker or Drawer of the Mony bound unto him in or by those Bills of Exchange but only by his Bond which he doth make thereupon but by the latter way only the Surety is bound to the Deliverer of the Mony by the Assignments which are to be made upon the Bills of Exchange and the principal Drawer is bound to the Surety by the Bills of Exchange which only the principal doth subscribe and wherein he doth acknowledge the value received of the Surety as is before expressed and in this latter way if in case the Bill be not accepted and paid according to the tenor thereof then the true Deliverer of the Monies comes upon the Surety by virtue of his Assignment for repayment and the Surety comes upon the Principal by virtue of the Bill of Exchange by him subscribed as above I shall not prescribe either of these ways unto any but shall leave it in the choise of every Merchant to follow which of these two ways he liketh best and may sute most to his occasions Note in your Book the name and place of abode of him who presents a Bill to be Accepted IT happeneth often in Foreign Bills of Exchange that they come payable either to the same Party that did deliver the value or to his order or else to some other body living beyond the Seas who usually doth send the first Bill of Exchange to some Friend of his here in London only to get accepted and then to return it him again that so being accepted he may the better negotiate the same Bill of Exchange again and take in the value thereof and make an Assignment for the same either on the accepted Bill or on the other Bill of the same tenor not accepted according as occasion shall be Now if an Assignment do come on the second Bill payable to another person without order where to take up the first accepted Bill this second Bill being presented to the Party on whom it is drawn to be accepted he doth deny acceptance thereof alledging that he hath already accepted the first Bill but he doth not know to whom or in whose hands the same first accepted Bill doth remain and thereupon the Party which hath the second Bill wanting acceptance thereof doth cause Protest to be made for non-non-acceptance for prevention whereof and that each party may receive all due content as is fitting I would advise all Merchants that have such Bills of Exchange presented unto them to be accepted to note down in their Books the name of the party by whom the said Bill is presented unto them to be accepted and his place of abode that so if in case the second Bill be also presented unto them by another party to be accepted the party on whom it is drawn and who hath already accepted the first Bill may give answer to him who shall present the second Bill to be accepted and acquaint him to whom he hath already accepted and acquaint him to whom he hath already accepted the first Bill and where he liveth that so the same may appear to be real and remove scruples or doubts which otherwise may arise therein this I conceive is not yet generally practised and observed by all Merchants trading in Exchange because not commonly known but it is Merchant-like and I have seen it practised by some Merchants here in London and I perswade my self it will be willingly embraced by all those that mean honestly and endeavour after plain dealing which cannot but redound to their credit Keep Copies of Bills sent to get accepted AS it is commendable and for the avoiding of doubts which otherwise may be occasioned for the party on whom any Bill is drawn to take notice where the party liveth that presents him the Bill to be accepted which may be easily done as I have heretofore shewed so on the other side when such Bills of Exchange are sent unto any one to get accepted I advise the party to whom they are sent upon receipt of his Letter with the Bills of Exchange presently to take a Copy of the Bills verbatim in a Book which he may keep purposely for such occasions especially to write down the Names of the several Parties on whom they are drawn or to whom they are directed before ever he go about to get them accepted I confess it is a little pains and may seem at first hearing useless but if maturely considered the benefit will countervail the labour for by keeping Copies of all Bills of Exchange that do come to my hands I can always see who are usual Drawers and Deliverers of Mony by Exchange in those places from whence the Bills do come and if the Bills come from France or Italy I can know how the Exchange went then at those places but especially if the Bills are sent me only to get accepted and then to return them this Copying of the Bills of Exchange
or Assigns in London or thus Pay this my first Bill of Exchange at the house of Mr. Roger C. in London to the order of Mr. Benjamin L. c. this Bill must be sent down to Southampton to some friend there to present to Mr. William P. to get accepted but if he refuse to accept the Bill you may either protest at Southampton for non-acceptance or else the friend there may return the Bill with his answer of refusal by a Letter to London to his friend that sent him the Bill and by the help of such a Letter protest may be made at London for non-acceptance But now when this Bill is due you must then only endeavour to get payment at London according to the express words and tenor of the Bill and if no order be given at the house of Mr. Roger C. in London for payment or if a particular house be not expressed but only the Bill is payable in London if you have not your mony brought you within the three days after the Bill is due you must cause protest for non-payment to be made in London according to the usual manner The Taker bound to the Deliverer and the Acceptor bound to the Party to whom payable YOu may please to take notice That generally in all Bills of Exchange the party that draws or under writes the Bill or the taker which is all one I say he is bound to the deliverer or to the party of whom the value was received and the acceptor or party that doth accept the Bill is bound to the party to whom the Bill is made payable For although as well the Taker or Drawer of the Bill as also the Acceptor are both bound in the Bill and both equally liable for the payment thereof yet they are not generally both bound to one man I say generally for if the Deliverer be servant to the party to whom the Bill is payable then indeed the Drawer may be said to be bound to the party to whom it is payable as well as the Acceptor Or if the Deliverer be the principal and he remits his own monies by exchange payable to his servant in this case likewise both Taker and Acceptor may be said to be bound to the Deliverer But generally in parcels remitted and taken up by exchange between Merchant and Merchant the Taker is properly bound to one and the Acceptor to another though both of them are liable until the Bill be satisfied So that if the accepted Bill be not paid at the time and protest made for non-payment and there be occasion to commence a sute in Law against the Drawer it must be entred in the name of the Deliverer and in like manner if a sute be commenced against the Acceptor it must be made and prosecuted in the name of the party to whom the Bill is made payable for the party happily that draws the Bill takes no great notice to whom it is made payable he being thereunto directed usually by the party that delivers him the value Neither doth the party which accepts the Bill take much cognizance of the party that did deliver the value but only of the party that drew the Bill with whom he corresponds and of the party to whom it is made payable to whom by his acceptance he bindeth himself for the payment And so likewise where there are any Assignments on Bills negotiated always the party that receives the value is directly bound to him of whom he hath received it and the Acceptor to the last assigned Better security IF a Merchant which hath accepted a Bill of Exchange shall happen to be non-solvent or publickly reported to be failed of his Credit and that he doth absent himself from the Exchange in the interim before the Bill of Exchange by him accepted be due You must then presently upon such report cause demand to be made by a Notary for better security and in fault thereof cause protest to be made for want of better security and send away that protest by the very next Post that so upon receipt thereof by your friend which sent you the Bill he may procure security to be given by the party which drew the Bill One string being crackt you must seek to get another new one that so you may still have two strings to your bow And when the Bill is due if not paid you must then protest again for non-payment and send away that protest also Charges and the Drawer or his surety must bear and pay as well principal as charges such as is port of Letters cost of protests and if the mony be taken up per rechange on him the price of rechange and brokerage Protest in the day time IF at any time you have occasion to cause protest to be made on any Bill of Exchange either for non-acceptance better security or for want of payment always be sure to cause protest to be made in the day time that is to say between sun rising and sun setting but tarry not until the last hour if you may do otherwise and when I say between sun and sun my meaning is in the day time or time of commerce and publick trade when and during the time that shops are generally open for one swallow doth not make a summer For it may be in summer time in London some men do open shops by four or five of the clock in the morning but generally not until six or seven and some do not shut up until nine or ten but generally at seven or eight of the clock And again in winter haply some may open about six or seven of the clock in the morning and shut up not until nine or ten whenas generally they open about eight and shut up about four or five of the clock at evening So that as a Bill of Exchange is of great concernment to Merchants in trade and a protest upon any of their Bills may prove to their great discredit A Caveat for Notaries so likewise it is therefore provided by the Law and custom of Merchants that no protest upon any of their Bills of Exchange ought to be made against them out of season or at an unseasonable time when men generally cease to use publick commerce and trade for there is a time of rest as well as a time of labour a time for devotion as well as a time of negotiation a time for private imployment as well as for publick concernment If I should go about ten of the clock at night to a Merchant to buy a parcel of Taffaties would he not be ready to excuse the shewing of them at such an unseasonable hour and desire me rather to come the next morning about nine of the clock and that then I should see them and in so answering me wherein doth he deserve blame may not he for all that continue to be a Merchant of good repute Because he will not shew his goods at such an unseasonable hour can any
Zones and where placed Furthermore By help of the said four Circles the Earth as I said before is divided into five Zones one hot two temperate and two cold The hot is contained betwixt the two Tropicks in the midst of which the Equinoctial line is placed of the two temperate Zones the one lieth betwixt the Tropick of Cancer and the Circle Artick and the other betwixt the Tropick of Capricorn and the Circle Antartick and of the cold Zones the one lieth betwixt the North Pole and the Circle Artick and the other betwixt the South Pole and the Circle Antartick Moreover besides the four special Parallels there be also divers other Parellels drawn on each of the Equinoctial both Northward and Southward which crossing in certain points the first Meridian marked with degrees do shew the true Latitude of every place and under what Clime or Parallel it is and also how many hours the longest day of any place under every Parallel is beginning to account the same either from the Equinoctial upward towards the North Pole along the first Meridian marked with degrees of Northern Latitude or else from the first Equinoctial downwards towards the South Pole marked with degrees of Southern Latitude The division of the World into four parts Also this World in all common Maps and Cards is divided into four parts Europe Africk Asia and America the bounds whereof will not be amiss here to be observed and how many miles each particular division containeth as well in Longitude as in Latitude according to the opinion of Mercator whom I willingly follow for my director in this point Europe Europe then is bounded on the North with the North Ocean Sea and on the South with the Mediterranean Sea on the East with the Flood Tanais and on the West with the West Oceane and Europe in measuring with a right line from the farthest part of Ireland on the West unto the Flood Tanais on the East both places having 52 degrees of Latitude Long. 2166 miles hath in Longitude 2166 miles and in measuring with a right line from the farthest part of Morea on the South whose Latitude is 35 degrees unto the North Sea side having 72 degrees of Latitude Lat. 2220 miles hath in Longitude 2220 miles or thereabouts Africa Africa is bounded on the North with the Straight Sea Gibralter and with the Mediterranean Sea and on the South with a Sea which divideth Africa from the South Land not yet to us fully known and on the East with the Red Sea and on the West with the great Atlantick Ocean and in the measuring of Africa with a right line from Gambra on the West unto the Cape de Gardaso on the East both places having 10 degrees of North Latitude Long. 4425 miles hath in Longitude 4425 miles and in measuring with a right line from the 50. degree of the Equinoctiall unto the Mediterranean Sea it hath in North Latitude 32 degrees which multiplied by 60 maketh 1920 miles and in South Latitude measuring with a right line from the 50. degree of the Equinoctial unto the Cape of bona Esperansa it hath 35 degrees which also multiplied by 60 makes 2100 miles Lat. 4020 miles which maketh the whole Latitude of Africa to be 4020 miles or thereabouts Asia Asia is bounded on the North with the North Ocean Sea and on the South partly with the Red Sea and partly with the other Seas and Gulphs adjoyning thereto on the East with the East India Ocean and the Straight Sea of Anian and on the West with the Flood Tanais and Fens of Meotis with the Cimmerian and Thracian Bosphorus the Euxine and Mediterranean Sea and part of the Arabian Gulph and Asia then in measuring with a right line from the mouth of the Flood Tanais to the Promontory Tamos both places having 50 degrees of Latitude Long. 4284 hath in Longitude 4284 miles and in measuring with a right line from the 150. degree of the Equinoctial unto the Promontory Tabin it hath in North Latitude 75 degrees Latit 4500. which being multiplied by 60 maketh 4500 miles America America is bounded on the North with the North Ocean Sea and on the South with the Magellanick Sea on the East with the Atlantick Ocean on the West with the West Indian Ocean and the Straights of Anian and in measuring with a right line from the Straights of Anian to the furthest part of Estotiland upon the 64. degree of Latitude hath in Longitude 164 degrees Long. 4264. which maketh 4264 miles and in measuring with a right line from the 270 degree of the Equinoctial unto the North Sea it hath in North Latitude 76 degrees which makes 4560 miles and in measuring with a right line from the 305. degree of the Equinoctial unto the Magellanick Sea it hath in South Latitude 53 degrees Latit 3210. which makes at 60 miles the degree 3210 miles Thus far shall suffice to have spoken in general of the Lines Circles and Divisions of the Universal Maps and Cards found to be made by our Modern Cosmographers That which cometh in the next place to be handled as the more material and useful part belonging to my present work is the knowledge and situation of every Kingdom Region City Mountain Flood and Lake found in this circumference also the knowledge of the Seas together with the Islands Ports Capes Points and Bays which do belong to every one of the aforesaid parts and divisions of the World and that are found therein comprised which principally is manifested and learned by the Longitude and Latitude thereof in it self which teacheth these particulars Latitude how accounted First The very situation of the place Secondly The very distance from one place or City to another Thirdly How one place lieth from another And lastly With what wind you may sail from one Point Cape or City maritime to another in which four things the chief use of Maps are found principally to consist First then The degrees of Latitude or the elevation of the Pole being both one thing is accounted from the Equinoctial to either Pole which is 90 degrees and the degrees of Longitude accounted upon the said Equinoctial from the Isles of Cape Verde towards the East and so round about the Earth till you come to the number of 360 degrees where it is to be noted that the Provinces and Towns situated under one and the same degree of Latitude have at the same time like hours of the day but those that are situated under divers degrees of Longitude do differ in number of hours and that is the cause that when it is in one Town noon-tide it is in another Town distant thence 30 degrees towards the East two a clock in the afternoon and so consequently for every 15 degrees distance it is then found to differ one hour in time Days and nights differ according to the Latitude Also those that dwell under
note that beautifie the same it was vanquished by Fernando Cortes in Anno 1521. with an Army of 100000 Americans only 900 Spaniards 80 Horse 17 pieces of small Ordnance in 13 Brigantins and 6000 Wherries most of the Americans were of Ilascalan who were ever adversaries to the Mexicans for which cause that City doth enjoy many immunities to this day and to conclude according to the opinion of an English Traveller whose relation I herein follow Four things are here remarkable for beauty their Appâ—rel their Women their Horses and their Sticats And thus much shall serve of Mexico Quivira 2. The second Province is Quivira seated on the most Western parts of America in which are two Provinces Cibola taking its name from the chief City subdued by Francisco Vasques in Anno 1540. and Nova Albion discovered by that famous Sea-man Sir Francis Drake An. 1585. and by him so called the chief Commodities and Riches of this Countrey are Kine some men being owners of forty thousand and these serve to the Inhabitants here as we say of our Ale to Drunkards in England meat drink and cloth and more too for first the Hides yield them houses or to say more properly the covering of them their Bones Bodkins their Hair Thred their Sinews Ropes their Horns Maws and Bladders Vessels their Dung Fire their Calf-skins Budgets to draw and keep water their blood for drink and lastly their flesh for meat c. Nicaragua 3. The third is Nicaragua being South-East from Mexico with which it agreeth in nature both of Soil and Inhabitants and accounted for its pleasantness Mahomet's Paradise An Admirable Tree having Trees in great abundance of that strange nature that a branch touched by the hand of any man withereth presently Nova Grenada The chief City is Nova Grenada and Lea a Bishop's See The Commodities thereof are Honey Wax Cotton and Balsam in great abundance it is extream hot and therefore not to be travell'd by day but by night their Winter beginneth in May and from thence raineth for six months the other six very fair and dry and the day and night being here of equal length Jucatan 4. The fourth is Jucatan and was discovered in Anno 1517. which in the language of the place signifieth What say you which was the answer the Inhabitants gave the Spaniards that first demanded of them the name of their Countrey and since by this means retains that name by the Spaniards Campechio The chiefest City is Campechio whence comes that wood so well known in Europe also here is the Island called by the Spaniard Santo Crux wherein is a City of that name well fortified by them Florida 5. The fifth is Florida discovered by the English under the conduct of Sebastian Cabot An. 1467. then possessed by the Spaniards in Anno 1527. and called Florida afterward the French got footing here in Anno 1562 but the Spaniards unwilling the French should be eye witnesses of their rich booty waged war with them so long that there was not a man left on either side to maintain the quarrel and then was Florida again in 1567 abandoned The Spaniards now hold there three strong Forts St. James St. Philip and St. Augustin which last was taken and burnt by Sir Francis Drake 1586. which since is repaired and that is all the Spaniards hold here at this day desiring as it seems neither to plant further himself nor suffer others to do it Virginia 6. The sixth is Virginia which was discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh Anno 1584 and in honour of our Queen called Virginia It lies in the height of 35 degrees Northerly Latitude extending to 38 degrees or thereabouts being seated and planted from 37 to 38 by the English under the Supream Authority of the King of England having the great Bay of Roanoke and Cape Florida to the Southward and Maryland to the Northward the main entrance into Virginia out of the Sea is about 10 leagues broad between two Points of Low-land that on the South being called Cape Henry that on the North Cape Charles by which they pass into a great River or Bay called the Bay of Chesapiake which runs away Northerly about 100 leagues into which River or Bay of Chesapiake many other great Rivers empty themselves all running up West and North-West into the Countrey 100 120 and some 140 or 150 miles being 3 4 5 and some of them 6 or 8 miles broad all which with some other smaller Rivers which fall into them are Navigable for Shipping having 4 5 6 7 8 fathoms and in the shallowest parts not less than three fathoms depth of water Ships that come out of the Sea are harboured so soon as they are within the aforesaid Capes and may ride safely in any of those Rivers where they please within a mile half a mile and in some places within a quarter of a mile of the shore which also they do Anchoring sometimes at one place sometimes at another for the delivering out and taking in of their Goods in the several Plantations and the several Rivers as stands best with their conveniency after they have given the Governour an account of their arrival and from whence they come The first River after they are within the Capes in the Bay of Chesapiake is called James River the next Pamunkee or York River then Payancatank Rapahanock Wicocomoce and some others upon the Western shore of that Bay and some on the Eastern shore thereof Most of which Rivers received their names from the Indians who were the only Inhabitants and Possessors of that great Countrey before the English came there and who still some of them live round about our people and in some places near unto them within three or four miles of some of our Plantations but are nothing so numerous as at the first being very much lessened and destroyed by the quarrels and Wars among themselves and with the English especially in and shortly after the years 1621. and 1644 at which times they treacherously fell upon our people and massacred about four or five hundred persons each time in one hours space The chief Port is James City a Town lying about 40 miles up in James River which is commonly the place of the Governours Residence and where the principal matters relating to Government and the Administration of Justice for the whole Countrey are transacted by the Governour and his Council four times a year called quarter Courts and once a year by the General Assembly who likewise meet there being such Burgesses as are elected in the several Counties by the people and sent thither to sit and act in the nature of our Parliaments here in London Matters of lesser consequence are heard and determined in the several Counties by Commissioners authorized for that purpose called the County Courts who sit every month or every two months In which Courts and all others their trials and proceedings are in all respects conformable as
Deniers per l. is only paid and no more Their payments in Customs and all other ways are in Valentia money and worth 3 per cent to be converted into Spanish Rials There is also a Duty called a Mottahecos which is a pound of Pepper on each Quintar and so upon other fine Goods And this is as much as I remember needful in this Argument and so I will proceed to the next Province which is Catalonia and as for the Exchanges here practised see farther in the 291 and 426 Chapters Catalonia In Catalonia is only famous the City of Barcelona the principal of this Province where having good cause of the remembrance of my being here by reason of my imprisonment in the Inquisition Anno 1618. I must according to my Method afford the Cities Traffick a 〈◊〉 of observation in acknowledgment of their love and pains in my Release moved thereto partly by the affection I had gained with many the chief Merchants but especially left the same might deter other English from coming to traffick and inhabit amongst them and furnish their necessities with English Commodities which they seem much to desire and oftentime much stand in need of CHAP. CXIX Of Barcelona and the Trade thereof Barcelona BArcelona is seated on the Mediterranean shore and entring into that Gulph which is so terrible to Navigators in these parts called The Gulph of Lions It hath a reasonable commodious and safe Harbour and the Citizens do winterly enlarge and lengthen the same by adding to their Mould that Ships of burthen may come within the same what I obserred here Anno 1618. I will briefly declare Coins in Barcelona Their Moneys current in Merchandize besides the Rial of Castile is a Liver which passeâ— here at 20 sold and a Ducate of Gold of Castile is worth 24 sold of the said money and the soldo is twelve Deniers of that money wherein they are found to keep their Accounts Weights in Barcelona Their Cantar is a 100 l. which is English 92 l. or thereabouts and hath made by observation In Florence 123 l. Genoa 130 l. Valentia 106 l. Marselia 104 l. Venetia Sotle 140 l. Measures of length Their Measure is a Can consisting of eight Palms and hath been found to make thâ—… Braces in Florence and in England found to produce 1â…œ Yards English and in Naples 〈◊〉 been found to make 6â…œ Palms Of Corn. Corn is sold by a Measure called the Quarter one Salmo is four Quarters sold always 〈◊〉 of all Customs 2â…“ Quarters making a Cargo or load which is accounted 360 l. as is that 〈◊〉 mentioned aforegoing in Valentia Woolls are sold by the Rove which is 30 l. making 26 l. of Venetia gross whither the same is commonly transported and in Florence 36 l. All gross Goods are sold by the Cargo accounted 3 Kintars which is 440 l. Sutle of Venâ—… and 278 l. gross there which is 372 l. in Florence and hath been found to make English 3000â— Averdupois Tortosa In this Province lieth also Tortosa a fine small City but the principal of the Inhabitants â—…ing accounted as Moors were some years before my being here banished this Country 〈◊〉 therefore most places lie waste and many Villages are here along found without Inhabitâ—… and the Grounds to want Labourers Aragon The next Province is Aragon wherein is Tarragon a fine and handsome City but 〈◊〉 the banishment of many of the Inhabitants as above is said now made poor in my 〈◊〉 there in 1618. I found it most to consist in making of Silk here bought and carried to Irlentia to be wrought Saragosa The principal City hereof is Saragosa which should challenge a 〈◊〉 particular relation as being commodiously seated for Traffick on the banks of the River 〈◊〉 Ebro but being an University it were too great an honour for an inland Town to prodâ— famous Scholars and eminent Merchants yet in the current Coins it is observed to rule as 〈◊〉 Vâ—dentia and because there is found practised here a great Exchange I have inserted 〈◊〉 same by it self Chapter 292 in the end of this Tract with all circumstances thereunto appeâ—taining And these are all the principal Cities of Traffick found at this day comprised 〈◊〉 the Kingdom of Spain CHAP. CXX Of the Weights and Measures of Spain reduced to the English hundred Weights of Spain reduced to the 100 l. of England THE principal Cities of Spain and Portugal thus surveyed it will not be unworthy our observation first to see how the Weights and Measures of some other lesser Cities here omitted concur with the Weights and Measures of England and then take a general view of the Trade which is in general found in the compass of those Kingdoms now united and subject to the Crown of Castilia First then to begin with the weights of Spain and Portugal I will reduce them to the suttle 100 l. of London which by observation hath been found to make in Sevil 108 l. by great Quintar of 144 l. of four Roves of 36 l. smaller Quintar of 112 l. of 4 Roves of 28 l. by lesser Quintar of 120 l. of 4 Roves of 30 l. Granado and Almeria bona 104 l. is the pound of 16 ounces 89 l. is of Silk and Copper of 18 ounces 52 l. great weight for Flesh 32 ounces Castilia Medina del Campo 98 l. Burgos 89 Rot. Aragon and Barcelona 102 l. 92 l. great weight for Woollen 126 l. small weight for Saffron Valentia 102 l. by Quintar of 4 Roves of 30 l. for Spices 129 l. by Quintar of 4 Roves of 36 l. the Cargo is those Quintars of 360 l. and the greater of 432 l. The 100 l. of London Leon 105 l. Saragosâ—… 108 l. and by the small Quintar 126 l. Savalonâ—… and Salanico 126 l. Viliaco 77 l. Note here that the Islands of the Canaries and all the Islands of Spain use the weights of Sevil as foresaid now for the Kingdom of Portugal 100 l. London makes in Portugal Rot. 104 l. the great Quintar of 128 l. the small Quintar of 112 l. containing each 4 Roves of 32 l. and 28 l. Note here that there is allowance made four upon the hundred upon Sugars and two and 3 per cent upon Cotton Woolls and such like the small Quintar is the weight of the Contractation-house of the Indies All Spice is weighed thereby but all are weighed by the great Quintal and reduced upon the lesser Quintar one Quintar of Wax is one Quintar and half of 112 l. is 168 l. Madera 104 Rotolos Cape Verd. 104 Rot. Saint Thomas 104 Rot. Guinea 104 Rot. Marocâ—… in Barbary 104 Rot. or Pounds by the Quintar of 128 l. Feas and Suus in Barbary 92 l. Calicut 77 Aracoles Note here they sell by the Baccar or Bahar being at Lisbon four Quintars of 112 l. and observe That the Bahar is 4 Quintars for 120 Aracoles The Bahar or Bahor is 20 Faracoles of
Conception or Incarnation March 25. we taking it complete or consummate when he had been a whole year in the flesh though but three months old They currant or inchoat from the first day of Conception as Kings reckon from their Initiation so they date nine months before the Vulgar and a whole year before Us which is a difference in the manner but all equally true for the matter and the very stile distinguisheth the form for our term is Anno ab incarnatione implying complete theirs Annus incarnationis implying currant Pisa and Siena stile this year Annus incarnationis 1655. we ab incarnatione 1654. but all else call it Annus nativitatis 1654. commencing at Christ's Circumcision last past So that though in Italy they write new stile which is ten days before Us yet they begin the year the 25 of March as we do No witness to a Bill of Exchange SUch is the excellency of a Bill of Exchange that according to the Law of Merchants there is never any Witnesses required to be present to see the Drawer or Party that doth underwrite the Bill subscribe his name thereunto or to be present when the party on whom it is drawn doth underwrite his acceptance thereof for it is supposed that those which deal by Exchange are men of Credit whom it doth as much concern in reference to their Credit of their own accord to acknowledge their subscriptions and take care the Bills be punctually paid and discharged as it doth the Deliverer and Party to whom it is payable to look after their Mony and demand payment at the time And if it should otherwise happen that the Drawer or Accepter should presume to deny their Subscription it may be easily proved against them by their Letters in comparing the one with the other and by the consequences of the draughts and books of Account and by divers other Circumstances which case doth seldom or never fall out I mean for a man to deny his hand to a Bill of Exchange because it strikes at his Credit and is so poor a shift as that he can hardly find any wool to cover it and if he should be so unadvised as to stand it out and it be prov'd against him besides other damages he will lose his Credit amongst Merchants for ever and then though he may know them yet they will not know him further than they know his Mony Hamborough and Strasburgh stile AT Hamborough and Strasburg in Germany they do write the same stile with us here in England namely old stile but in all other parts beyond the Seas except New England Barbadoes and where our English Plantations are they do generally write new stile which is ten days before us Usance from Venice Hamborough c. NOte also that usance from Venice to London is three months from the date of the Bill of Exchange and from Hamborough to London and so from London to Hamborough Bills of Exchange are usually made payable at two months after the date of the Bills and accordingly the price currant of Exchange from London to Hamborough is valued and set down at two months from the date the price currant from London to Venice and Ligorn at three months and for Antwerp Amsterdam Middleborough Lisle Rotterdam Paris and Rouen at one month or single usance and so we call one month usance two months double usance three months treble usance No three days for acceptance WHen any Bill of Exchange is sent unto you from beyond the Seas or from any Inland Town to cause to be accepted I would advise you presently to present the Bill so soon as possibly you can to the party to whom it is directed and request him to accept the same if he refuse to accept it you may presently cause a Protest to be made for non-acceptance and send it away with the next conveyance for according to the custom of Merchants in London there is not any three days respite to be allowed for acceptance before you can Protest but so soon as the Bill hath been presented and acceptance refused presently you may Protest the very same day Twenty four hours for Acceptance BUt if the party to whom the Bill of Exchange is directed be a Merchant well known unto you and when the Bill is presented him to accept he shall desire time to consider on it and so shall intreat you to leave the Bill of Exchange with him and to come to him the next day provided the Post do not go away in the interim and that then he will give you an answer whether he will accept it or not herein he doth demand nothing of you but what is usually allowed between Merchants known one to another For according to custom of Merchants the party on whom the Bill is drawn may have four and twenty hours time to consider whether he will accept of the Bill or not but that time being expired you may in civility demand of the party on whom your Bill is drawn the Bill of Exchange which you left with him to be accepted if so he pleased If he then say that he hath not as yet accepted it and that he would desire you to call for it some other time or the like the four and twenty hours being expired it is at your choice to stay any longer or not and you may then desire a Notary to go to the dwelling house of the party that hath the Bill and demand the Bill of Exchange of him accepted or not accepted and in default of present delivery thereof you may cause Protest to be made in due form But though this may be lawfully done yet notwithstanding amongst Merchants which do know one another they do not usually proceed so strictly for acceptance but do leave their Bills with the parties to whom they are directed to be accepted sometimes two or three days if it be not their prejudice as namely if the Post do not depart in the interim but if the Post is to depart within the two or three days then it is a very reasonable thing and which men that know the custom of Merchants will not omit to demand their Bill accepted or not accepted that so they may give advice thereof by the first Post after the receipt of their Letters unto their Friend who sent them the Bill or delivered the value thereof For it is to be noted by the way Give advice by the first Post THat advice of the receipt of Bills of Exchange and of the acceptance or not acceptance and payment thereof ought to be given by the first Post after receipt that thereby the Deliverer may know the better how to govern himself and the Taker know what to trust unto A Bill drawn on two Persons IF any Bill of Exchange shall come directed unto two or more persons in these terms To Mr. Robert A. and Mr. John B. Merchants in London In this case both A. and B. ought to accept the same Bill Or else if but
of Exchange lost left to be accepted IF a Bill of Exchange be lest with a Man to be accepted and he happen to have lost the Bill or that it be mis-deliver'd that is to say deliver'd by him or any of his Servants or by his means to a wrong Party or if in any case the Party which left the Bill to be accepted cannot have his Bill of Exchange re-deliver'd to him accepted or not accepted according to the Custom of Merchants In this case the Party that lost the Bill namely he on whom it is drawn or through whose means it is mis-deliver'd if he intended to accept the Bill or if he had accepted it must give a Note under his hand and seal for the payment of the Mony mention'd in the Bill to the Party to whom it was made payable or his Assigns at the time limited in the Bill I say to pay the Mony upon the second Bill if it shall come to hand within the time or else in default thereof he must bind himself to pay the Mony upon that Note at the same time for it is but just and reasonable that he who hath lost my Specialty or Bill of Exchange should make it good to me by some other means equivalent thereunto but in case the Party that thus lost the Bill do refuse to give such a Note under his hand and seal then he who presented the Bill to be accepted or that left the Bill with him must presently cause Protest thereupon to be made in due form and must send the Protest away by the first Post and in like manner make Demand of the Mony at the time tho he have neither Note nor Bill of Exchange and in default of Payment he must cause a second Protest to be made and send it away as the former But in case there be such a Note made and at or before the time limited for Payment thereof the second Bill of Exchange shall not come to hand you must go receive the Mony upon that Note according to the Contents thereof and in default of Payment you must cause Protest to be made upon that Note for Non-payment as if you had the accepted Bill or that the second Bill were come to hand but not paid at the time Bill endorsed in Blank IF a Bill of Exchange be made payable to one beyond the Seas or to one within-land in the Country and he subscribe only his Name on the backsidet hereof leaving an empty place above his Name and do so send it to a Merchant or Friend to get it accepted and to receive the Mony at the time therein limited of the Party on whom the Bill is drawn as it is usual to do the same is sufficient warrant for the Party to whom the Bill is sent to get it accepted and and to receive the Mony accordingly And in this case when the Party that hath the Bill shall go for the Mony when the Bill is due he may either receive the Mony himself or send his Man for it if he go himself he may either write an Assignment in the empty place above the Name on the backside of the Bill and so make it payable to himself and then when he shall have received the Mony he must make a Receipt for the same underneath the Assignment in his own Name in ordinary manner for so much Mony received Or else he may forbear making an Assignment in the empty place to himself and instead thereof he may in the same empty place above the Name make a Receipt as if the Mony had been paid to the Party to whom the Bill is payable and that set his Name thereunto in blank and if he send his Man with the Bill to receive the Mony the Man may upon the receipt of the Mony either deliver up the Bill as it is without writing any thing upon it or else he may as before fill up the empty place with an Assignment payable to his Master and then make a Receipt underneath for so much Mony receiv'd in full of that Bill for his Master's use governing himself therein according as the Party that shall pay the Bill of Exchange shall direct for either way is good and warrantable according to the Custom of Merchants used in England Accept for Account of Drawer IF a Bill of Exchange be subscribed or drawn by Abraham F. on Benjamin G. for the Account of Charles H. and it so happen that Benjamin G. to whom the Bill is directed will not accept the Bill for account of Charles H. as it is drawn but would willingly accept it for the account of Abraham F. being a special Friend to Benjamin G. on whom it is drawn and so this Benjamin G. is very unwilling to suffer the Bill to go back by Protest for Non-acceptance and therefore he desires to accept it for Honour of the Drawer and for his Account In this case according to the Law of Merchants Benjamin G. may so accept the same but before he do accept the Bill he must personally appear before a Notary publick and declare before him such his Intent and the Notary must make an Act thereof in due Form to be sent away by Benjamin G. to Abraham F that so he may have speedy Advice thereof and the Act being entred then he may accept the Bill for the Honour of the Drawer and for his account And when the Bill is due he must cause a like Act to be made for Payment before he pay the Bill declaring that he will pay the Bill for the Honour of the Drawer and for his account but not for account of Charles H. for whose account it was drawn and thus Benjamin G. giving Honour to the Bill altho he do it for another account than for which it was drawn according to the Custom and Law of Merchants generally observed Abraham F. is bound to make the same good again unto Benjamin G. with Exchange Re-exchange and Costs but Benjamin G. must be sure to make such his declaration before he do accept the Bill or any ways engage or oblige himself thereunto for otherwise if he should first accept it and that it might be lawful for him at any time afterwards to alter the Property thereof and charge it for account of the Drawer at the Acceptor's Pleasure the Drawer Abraham F. might be much prejudiced as in reference to Charles H. by whose order it may be and for whose account Abraham F. drew the same Bill Bill paid upon Protest IF a Bill of Exchange be drawn upon a Merchant or any other here in London and he refuse to pay it or hath not Mony ready to make present Payment at the day and thereupon Protest is made for Non-payment and another Merchant or Friend to the Drawer having notice thereof doth appear and declare before a Notary publick that he will pay it for honour of the Drawer upon protest and accordingly doth pay the same and cause an Act to be
is before declared It is not then possible but that all the Over ballance or Difference should return either in Mony or in such Wares as we must Export again which as is already plainly shewed will be still a greater Means to increase our Treasure The Proverb saith He that hath Ware hath Mony by the Year For it is in the Stock of the Kingdom as in the Estates of Private Men who having store of Wares do not therefore say that they will not venture out or Trade with their Mony for this were ridiculous but do also turn that into Wares whereby they multiply their Mony and so by a continual and orderly Change of one into the other grow Rich and when they please turn all their Estates into Treasure for they that have Wares cannot want Mony Neither is it said that Mony is the Life of Trade as if it could not subsist without the same for we know that there was great Trading by way of Commutation or Barter when there was little Mony stirring in the World The Italians and some other Nations have such remedies against this Want that it can neither decay nor hinder their Trade for they transfer Bills of Debt and have Banks both Publick and Private wherein they do assign their Credits from one to another daily for very great Sums with Ease and Satisfaction by VVritings only whilst in the mean time the Mass of Treasure which gave foundation to those Credits is employed in Forein Trade as a Merchandize and by the said means they have little other use of Mony in those Countries more than for their ordinary Expences It is not therefore the keeping of our Mony in the Kingdom but the Necessity and Use of our VVares in Forein Countries and our want of their Commodities that causeth the Vent and Consumption on all sides which makes a quick and ample Trade If we were once Poor and now having gained some store of Mony by Trade with resolution to keep it still in the Realm shall this cause other Nations to spend more of our Commodities than formerly they have done whereby we might say that our Trade is Quickned and Enlarged No verily it will produce no such good effect but rather according to the alteration of times by their true causes we may expect the contrary for all Men do consent that Plenty of Mony in a Kingdom doth make the Native Commodities dearer which as it is to the Profit of some Private Men in their Revenues so is it directly against the Benefit of the Publick in the Quantity of the Trade for as Plenty of Mony makes VVares dearer so dear VVares decline their Use and Consumption as hath been already plainly shewed in the last Chapter upon that particular of our Cloth And although this is a very hard Lesson for some great landed Men to learn yet I am sure it is a true Lesson for all the Land to observe lest when we have gained some store of Mony by Trade we loose it again by not Trading with our Mony I knew a Prince in Italy of Famous Memory Ferdinando the first Great Duke of Tuscany who being very rich in Treasure endeavoured therewith to enlarge his Trade by issuing out to his Merchants great Sums of Mony for very small Profit I my self had Forty thousand Crowns of him gratis for a whole Year although he knew that I would presently send it away in Specie for the Parts of Turky to be employed in VVares for his Countries he being well assured that in this Course of Trade it would return again according to the Old saying with a Duck in the Mouth This Noble and Industrious Prince by his Care and diligence to countenance and favour Merchants in their Affairs did so increase the Practice thereof that there is scarce a Nobleman or Gentleman in all his Dominions that doth not Merchandize either by himself or in Partnership with others whereby within these thirty Years the Trade to his Port of Leghorne is much increased that of a poor Little Town as I my self knew it it is now become a Fair and Strong City being one of the most Famous Places for all Christendom And yet it is worthy our Observation that the multitude of Ships and VVares which come thither from England the Low-Countries and other places have little or no means to make their returns from thence but only in ready Mony which they may and do carry away freely at all times to the incredible Advantage of the said great Duke of Tuscany and his Subjects who are much enriched by the continual great concourse of Merchants from all the States of the Neighbour Princes bringing them plenty of Mony daily to supply their wants of the said Wares And thus we see that the Current of Merchandize which carries away their Treasure becomes a flowing Stream to fill them again in a greater measure with Mony There is yet an Objection or two as weak as all the rest that is if we Trade with our Mony we shall issue out the less Wares as if a Man should say those Countries which heretofore had occasion to consume our Cloth Lead Iron Fish and the like shall now make use of our Monies in the place of those Necessaries which were most absurd to affirm or that the Merchant had not rather carry out Wares by which there is ever some gains expected than to Export Mony which is still but the same without any increase But on the contrary there are many Countries which may yield us very profitable Trade for our Mony which otherwise afford us no Trade at all because they have no use of our Wares as namely the East-Indies for one in the first beginning thereof although since by industry in our Commerce with those Nations we have brought them into the use of much of our Lead Cloth Tin and other things which is a good Addition to the former Vent of our Commodities Again some Men have alleged that those Countries which permit Mony to be carried out do it because they have few or no VVares to Trade withal but we have great store of Commodities and therefore their Action ought not to be our Example To this the Answer is briefly that we have such a quantity of VVares as doth fully provide us of all things needful from beyond the Seas why should we then doubt that out Monies sent out in Trade must not necessarily come back again in Treasure together with the great Gains which it may procure in such manner as is before set down And on the other side if those Nations which send out their Monies do it because they have but few VVares of their own how come they then to have so much Treasure as we ever see in those Places which suffer it freely to be Exported at all times and by whomsoever I answer Even by Trading with their Monies for by what other means can they get it having no Mines of Gold or Silver