Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A78578
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The Character and qualifications of an honest loyal merchant.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing C1961; ESTC R223847
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7,224
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17
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the first Riches as well as Strength of any Nation but also the Value of every Country-Gentlemans Lands Rents Corn Cattel c. does all ultimately depend upon and are Influenced by It and must either Rise or Fall in equal proportion as Forreign Traffick is well or ill manag'd clog'd or Encouraged JUSTICE square Dealing and a punctual Honesty are Essential Qualities in our true-bred Merchant Hence his Books are allow'd Evidence and lookt upon as a kind of Records and a small Script of two or three Lines only under his hand without either Witness or Seal passes over the world for Thousands of Pounds as Authentick as Twenty Noverint universi's or other long-winded Instruments Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of John Doe and Richard Roe and half the Parish besides I AM not Ignorant that the Title of Merchant in some parts of the World is usurp'd by almost all sorts of little People whose Business is to Buy and Sell But properly and wholly here in England it belongs to none but such as drive a forreign Trade whereby they are vastly differenc'd from ordinary Shopkeepers and Retailers Our Merchant is a person of Bulk and considerable Figure in the Common-Weal and must be Endow'd with Qualifications proportionate 1. HE should have a competent Fund or Estate left him by his Ancestors for tho Credit charily kept be a main support of and Emprovement to his Affairs yet It alone can never be a good beginning for such an Employment for if he have not a fair Visible Stock to build on every small puff of misfortune will be apt to shock his Reputation 2. THERE ought also to be strong Natural Parts an Active Vigorous Body to endure the Fatigues of Travel and a ready comprehensive Mind A good dose of Mercury should go to his Constitution To render him etsi non versuti versatilis tamen Ingenij tho not of a crafty over-reaching yet of a brisk accommodating Genius whereby he may apply himself with an easy obliging Address to all sorts of Humours or Accidents yet this Mercury should be fixt by Saturn or the Gaiety of his Complexion ting'd with a dash of Melancholy to keep him from the vanity and extravagancies of a Town-Wit and the beggarly fate of the everlasting Tatlers For Secrecy is a vertue almost as necessary to a Merchant as to a Statesman 3. AS his Birth was Generous so his Education was Liberal He has Latin enough to understand an Author or Discourse a Stranger and to serve as a Preparative and Ground-Work for the rest of his necessary Accomplishments But thinks it scarce worth the while to slave seven years under the Tyranny of the Ferula meerly to obtain the skill of Hunting a Greek Derivative and Capping of Verses 4. HE has the command of his Pen and writes a fair Genteel Hand not crampt up to a set Secretary like a Scriveners Boy nor scrawling Long-Tails like a Wench at a Boarding-School but a neat charming mixture of Roman and Italian flowing with a kind of Artificial Negligence Of which in my Opinion Mr. Ayres by St. Pauls-School is at least one of the best Teachers about London 5. HE is well-skill'd in that Foundation of Arts the Science of Numbers for as Merchandize next after Religion and Justice is the life of the Weal-Publick so Practical Arithmetick is the Soul of Merchandize But especially he is throughly versed in that noble method of Debtor and Creditor used only by those of his own Profession And his Books are kept with so much Order as well as Punctualness and Integrity that 't is the easiest thing in the world to find out any thing inquired after and as soon as found it carries with it Demonstration 6. I NEED not tell you that he is expert in the Nature and Forms of Charter-Parties Bills of Lading Invoyces Contracts Bills of Exchange Policies of Ensurance and the powers obligations and effects of each of them He knows the Measures Weights and Money of all forreign Countries I mean the Coyns not only by their several Denominations but also in their Intrinsick Values in weight and fineness compared with the Standard of his own Country 7. HE understands the Customs Tolls Taxes Impositions and other Charges upon all sorts of Merchandize Exported or Imported to and from forreign Countries or at home In what Commodities each Region or Province abounds what convenient Ports they have what Wares they want or are fond of and how from whence and at what Rates furnisht As also what Goods are Contraband in times of War and what others in peace are Prohibited for Reasons of State in each place to be Exported or Imported and how the Rates of Exchange by Bills go from time to time 8. PARTICULARLY as Owner or Part-owner of Ships he has an Insight into the Goodness and Prices of all Materials requisite for Building or Repairing them and in the diverse Workmanships thereof as likewise for Masts Tackling Cordage Ordnance Victuals Ammunition c. Together with the Ordinary Wages of Commanders Officers and Mariners To know upon what Rates and Conditions to Fraight his Ships and Ensure his Adventures from one Port to another and to be well acquainted with the Laws Orders and Customs of the Ensurance-Offices and Courts of Admiralty both here and beyond the Seas 9. BY his frequent Voyaging and seeing the Wonders of the Lord in the great Deeps he becomes skilful in Navigation and not unacquainted with Astronomy And by his Residence in several forreign parts he attains to the speaking of divers the most useful Languages and is by the way a diligent Observer of the Ordinary Revenues and Expences of those Princes and States Their strength both by Sea and Land Their Laws Customs Policies Manners Religion Architecture Military Discipline Arts Manufactories and other Observables of which he is capable to give an Account on all occasions for the good of his Country SO that I scarce know any other Profession which leadeth into so much Knowledge either of the Great World as to its Scituation Products and Mutual Dependence or of the little World MAN as to his Humours Bigotries Passions Intrigues and Blind-sides In the understanding of which two things seems to consist if I mistake not the main part of what we call civil Knowledg Wisdom or Policy NOW if our Merchants Occupation be thus necessary and require such Variety of excellent Qualifications How can it but be Honourable too For what can better Recommend any Calling to Wisemens Regards than its Vsefulness Or be more Genteel and Glorious than to supply the common Necessities of Mankind Who is more to be esteemed than the Man whose Industry underprops his Soveraigns Throne with Wealth and at the same time furnishes his Fellow-Subjects with Employment and the means of a comfortable Subsistence VAIN therefore unjust and ungrateful too are their Clamours who would degrade this Noble Profession as below a Person of Quality to Practice Because Forsooth 't is Questuary and respects