THE CHARACTER AND QUALIFICATIONS OF AN Honest Loyal MERCHANT.  
Licenced, and Entered according to Order.  
LONDON: Printed by ROBERT ROBERTS. MDCLXXXVI.   

THE CHARACTER and QUALIFICATIONS OF AN HONEST LOYAL MERCHANT.  
THE Loyal Honest MERCHANT is an Universal Tradesman, and all the World is his Shop; A diligent Bee, ever busy in bringing Honey to the Public Hive; The Nations Purveyor, that improves its Superfluities, and supplies its Necessities; The same to the Body Politic, as the Liver, Veins, and Arteries are to the Natural; for he both raises and distributes Treasure, the vital Blood of the Common-Weal. He is the Steward of the Kingdom's Stock, which by his good or ill management, does proportionably increase or languish. One of the most useful members in a State, without whom it can never be Opulent in Peace, nor consequently Formidable in War.  
FOR he fetches in the good things of the remotest Regions to Enrich his Country, and by the honest Magic of Industry, removes the Mines of Peru, and the Golden Sands of Guinea whither he pleases. He can make a barren Heath, or a contemptible Bogg, (that has not one Tree but what you must plant, nor one Stone but what you must bring thither, a place that has nothing of its own product worth speaking of) to be yet the richest City for its Bigness, and the greatest Storehouse and Empory for all sorts of Commodities in the World.  
'Tis by his means,  

The Taste of choice Arabian Spice we know,  
Without those scorching Heats that make it grow.  
In Indian Gems, and Persian Silks we shine;  
And without Plan●ing, drink of every Vine.   
WITHOUT him the World would still be a kind of Wilderness, one part unknown and unbeholding to the other; and if ever its remote Inhabitants met, it would be rather for mischief and slaughter, than mutual assistance; Whereas his pains unites divided Empires, and those that never beheld the same Stars; joins people separated by different Climates, Religions, and Policies, into one common Society; And by the Mediation of Commerce, makes the Sunburnt Ethiopian contribute to the relief of the Frozen Muscovite.  
HE is the true Orpheus that charms the Savages, and spreads Civility amongst Barbarians; he communicates Arts and Sciences, and all useful Inventions both for Necessity and Ornament: Unless he had advanced Navigation, Geography might have still lain muffled in Strabo's Cloak, and Astronomy been confined to Ptolemy's narrow Horizon; we might to this day have believed the Poet's Fables of Frigid and Torrid Zones uninhabitable; That there was no living (forsooth) under the Aequator, or within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles; Each quicksighted Vergilius might have been in danger of Deprivation, for holding the supposed Heresy of Antipodes; The Art of Healing itself had incurably languished, our Apothecary's Shops been destitute of the best part of the Materia Medica, or choicest Rarities of the Triple Kingdom; and an English Herbal might have bounded the studies of our most Learned College of Physicians.  
NAY further, there seems yet a more sublime and mysterious designment of Providence attending his pains; for by establishing an intercourse with Infidels for Civil Traffic, a door is not seldom opened to advance the Divine Interest; so that he may propagate our most Holy Faith, as well as vend our Temporal Commodities; and by penetrating both Indies, and (like the Sun) compassing the World, administers opportunities to divulge the Light of the Gospel; whilst our stupid Gallants think, he Voyages only to bring them Pearls to hang at the Ears of their Mistresses, Mangoes to relish their Mutton, or Pepper to strew over their Cucumbers.  
IN these remote Negotiations, he counts it next to denying his Saviour, to occasion by any dishonest or immoral Act, his Blessed Name to be Blasphemed amongst the Gentiles. He would rather endure the Rack himself, than stretch a Piece of Cloth on the Tenters to make it three or four Yards longer, which when sold to a Turk, shall in the next Shower, Cockle all up in a Ruck, causing the honest Musulman to revile both the cheating Christian and his Religion; Tho the later altogether undeservedly, since It most severely condemns Circumvention, and enjoins not only strict Fidelity and Justice in our deal, but Charity too, towards all Mankind, even our most professed Enemies.  
THIS our Merchant is sensible of, and trembles at that WOE pronounced against those by whom such scandalous Offences come; Therefore keeps a double Guard on his Conversation abroad, as knowing that not only his own private Reputation, but the Honour of his Religion and Nation, in some measure depends thereon. His Faith is firmer than the Needle of his Compass, for it admits not of the least Variation; his Devotion is one and the same, in all Countries, and his Zeal as great beyond, as on this side the Line; For like the Sun, though he traverse round the habitable Globe, yet still he keeps constant to the Ecliptic of Truth, and will not Barter away the Pearl of Price, for any worldly gains, but uses diligence in the first place to Ensure his Soul, dreading no Shipwreck so much as that of a good Conscience.  
AND as Piety and Loyalty are inseparable; so next to Sacrilege, (which is a robbing of God) he abhors Smuckling and Running of Goods, or Entering one Commodity for another that pays more, etc. (Which is a robing of God's Vicegerent, the King;) His practice being a daily Comment on that Text, Render unto Caesar the things that are Coesars', etc. He reckons all those that use any such unlawful Courses, far from being either good Christians or Loyal Subjects; Nay esteems it not only a simple Cheat or bare Felony, by any Pretensions, Concealments, Trick or Artifices to defraud his Sovereign of those Deuce the Law has settled, But a kind of unfledged Treason against the Crown, since 'tis apparently a design to weaken and subvert the Royal Power, when we purloin the Revenues necessary for the support of the Government.  
HE knows, That a Nation may be impoverished and ruined by a great Trade ill managed, as well as by too little; and that the Kingdom may get, even when the Merchant loses, and the Merchant often get when the Kingdom loses; But for his own part is so passionate a Lover of his Country, as to postpone his private Advantages to the utility of the Public; And therefore thinks himself obliged (whenever fit opportunity is offered) humbly to inform his Sovereign, or some of the Chief Ministers of State, (or Parliament, when convened), of the Overbalance of Importations from any Country; and of all Exportations or Importations of any sort of Goods that are notably prejudicial or profitable to the Kingdom, to the end there may be wholesome Laws made to prevent the One, and encourage the Other;  
FOR not only the increase or decay of Seamen and shipping, (the Walls of our British Empire) The encouragement or discouragement of Manufacturers, and consequently the Increase of People, (which if duly employed can never be too many, their multitudes being always the first Riches as well as Strength of any Nation) but also the Value of every Country-gentlemans' Lands, Rents, Corn, , etc. does all ultimately depend upon, and are Influenced by It, and must either Rise or Fall in equal proportion as Foreign Traffic is well or ill managed, clogged, or Encouraged.  
JUSTICE, square Dealing, and a punctual Honesty, are Essential Qualities in our truebred Merchant. Hence his Books are allowed Evidence, and looked 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 Authentic as Twenty Noverint universi's, or other longwinded Instruments, Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of John Do, and Richard Roe, and half the Parish besides.  
I AM not Ignorant that the Title of Merchant in some parts of the World, is usurped 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 foreign Trade, whereby they are vastly differenced from ordinary Shopkeepers and Retailers; Our Merchant is a person of Bulk, and considerable Figure in the Common-Weal, and must be Endowed with Qualifications proportionate.  
1. HE should have a competent Fund, or Estate left him by his Ancestors; for though Credit (charily kept) be a main support of, and Improvement 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) though not of a crafty overreaching, 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 fixed by Saturn, or the Gaiety of his Complexion tinged 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 virtue 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 Groundwork for the rest of his necessary Accomplishments; But thinks it scarce worth the while to slave seven years under the Tyranny of the Ferula, merely 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 cramped up to a set Secretary like a Scrivener's 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. Airs by St. Pauls-School, is at least one of the best Teachers about London.]  
5. HE is well-skilled in that Foundation of Arts, the Science of Numbers: for as Merchandise (next after Religion and Justice) is the life of the Weal-public, so Practical Arithmetic is the Soul of Merchandise. 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 'tis 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, invoices, Contracts, Bills of Exchange, Policies of Insurance, and the powers, obligations and effects of each of them. He knows the Measures, Weights, and Money of all foreign Countries, I mean the Coins not only by their several Denominations, but also in their Intrinsic 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 Merchandise Exported or Imported to and from foreign 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, furnished. 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 Partowner of Ships, he has an Insight into the Goodness and Prices of all Materials requisite for Building or Repairing them, and in the divers Workmanships thereof; as likewise for Masts, Tackling, Cordage, Ordnance, Victuals, Ammunition, etc. 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 foreign 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 Expenses 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 Situation, 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 Knowledge, Wisdom, or Policy.  
NOW if our Merchant's 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 Wiseman's Regards, than its usefulness? 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 Sovereign's 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) 'tis Questuary, and respects Gain, (and I wonder what Profession does not in some degree or other?) As if a Gentleman might Honourably Buy an Office, and Sell his Land or his Breath, but nothing else: As if a Lawyer, or a Physician might Pocket his Fees (the just Engagements, or Remunerations of his well-intended Endeavours) without Sullying either his Family, or his Gown; and yet a Merchant should utterly forfeit his Birthright, by Receiving a Bill of Exchange? I intent no odious Comparisons, or in the least to Affront those other most Worthy and Learned Professions, but only to vindicate the Honour of Merchandise, and convince the World, That if a person of Quality should happen to breed up his Son, or Match a Daughter therein, there's no danger that they should presently be levelled with the common Crowd, or Numbered with the Gaffers and the Gammer's.  
FOR since a Person of Honour may without any disparagement, improve his Lands, and let his Houses, and sell his  for as much as he can get; And Buy his Provisions, Furniture, and Equipage as cheap as he can; I am so dull as not to conceive whence any Stains should reflect on his Scutcheon, If he should happen to Equip a Ship, and send abroad Ten Thousand pounds' worth of Cloth or Tin, and in return bring back a gallant Cargo of twice the value, to Enrich his Country as well as himself.  
'TIS a smart, but I hope, causeless Reflection of a late Ingenious 
(*) Britannia Languens, or a discourse of Trade, Printed, 1680.  Author. We are (says he) still pretending to be more Accurate in Logic and Philosophy (which howsoever otherwise useful, do not add Twopences per Annum to the Riches of the Nation) we continue to squeeze all the Sapless Papers and Fragments of Antiquity; we grow mighty well acquainted with the old Heathen gods, Towns, and People; we prize ourselves in fruitless curiosities; we turn our Lice and Fleas into Bulls and Pigs by our Magnifying Glasses; we are searching for the World in the Moon with our Telescopes; we send to weigh the Air on the top of Teneriff; we invent Paceing Saddles, and Gimcracks of all sorts, which are voted Ingenuities, whilst the solid and most useful Notions and Considerations of Trade, are turned into a Ridicule, or out of Fashion.  
SURE I am, whatever low Conceits Aristotle or some other Pedants may have had of Merchandise in old times, when its Dignity was not known, and when indeed it was but Huckstering and Pedlary in respect of what it has since arrived to; it must be avowed, That 'tis long since become not unworthy of Persons of the first Quality; not only the Magnificoes of Luca, and Genova, The Illustrissimo's of Venice, and the High Mighty Burghers of Holland, and such like Republican Grandees, make it their business; But absolute Sovereign Princes have courted it. Ferdinando the first great Duke of Tuscany, and his Successors, by their care and diligence to countenance Merchants in their Affairs, have so increased the practice thereof, That there is scarce a Nobleman or Gentleman in all their Dominions that doth not Traffic either by himself or in Copartnership, whereby within fifty or sixty Years, the Trade to their Port of Legorn is so much augmented, that of a poor little Town (as some yet living can remember it) 'tis now become a fair and strong City, and one of the most famous places for Trade in Europe.  
TO go higher, some of the most sacred Crowned Heads of Christendom, descended from, and allied to the most Ancient and Illustrious Families that the World can boast of; (and in that number principally our present most August and Gracious Sovereign), are so far from counting it any diminution to their Royal Majesties, That in the highest manner they endeavour to encourage Trade, by interesting Themselves therein. Hence our Exchange is allowed to wear that lofty Title of ROYAL; nor can the Statues of our deceased Princes any where be more Gloriously placed, (next to their Repositories in Sacred Ground) than in that Magnificent Rendezvouz of Merchants; To intimate, that the Advancement and promoting of Trade, will be the Honour of our Kings Living and Dead.  
THE Truth is, The wisest of Kings and Men has long since given his Judgement by his practice in this case; For Solomon himself could never have made Silver and Gold to be as plenteous in Jerusalem as Stones, and Cedars as Sycamores, if he had not first turned Merchant, joined in Copartnership with King Hiram, and set out a Navy at Ezion Geber (a Port in the Red Sea) which had the Advantage of Traffic to the Indian Ocean, and from thence to Ophir (supposed to be the Isle of Madagascar) whence they brought Gold and Silver and Elephants Teeth, as well as Apes and Peacocks.  
THEREFORE let none of our Nobility or Gentry think it a disgrace to Employ themselves or their Sons in this NOBLE MYSTERY, which as 'tis most advantageous to their Country and themselves, so the most excellent Personages have not disdained to embark in it: For (as the judicious Mr. Mun 
(⸫) England's Treasure, p. 155.  most truly says) Foreign Trade, or the noble Profession of the Merchant, is the great Revenue of the King, the Honour of the Kingdom; The School of our Arts; The supply of our Wants; The employment of our Poor; The improvement of our Lands; The Nursery of our Mariners; the Walls of the Kingdom; The means of our Treasure; The sinews of our Wars, and the Terror of our Enemies.  
FOR if Foreign Commerce be of such Import to all Nations, That the Wisest Princes and States every where Endeavour (though labouring under never so great disadvantage) to Caress as much as they can, and obtain the good Graces of a Lady, that is always attended with so vast a Dowry (for to speak freely, that People that can get the Trade of the World, may quickly, without pursuing the toils of the Coesars and the Alexanders, be, (in effect) Lords of their Neighbours, and give Laws to the World) much more than ought We the happy Inhabitants of Great-Brittain, highly to esteem of Traffic, which God and Nature seem to have designed for our peculiar Portion; England affording the most; and best natural Products and Materials for Manufactories; the most and best Ports; most commodiously Scituate for Trade, either to the straits, the Baltic, or either of the Indies; having also a numerous People, secured in their Liberties and Properties by a Gracious Prince and most wholesome Laws; Seamen as Brisk, Active, Skilful, and Adventurous as ever Ploughed the Ocean; blest besides, with the greatest plenty of all sorts of Provisions, and a vast Fund of Land, by Taxes on which in time of War, the Government may be Supported and Defended, and (in a word) enjoying all other. Advantages that can possibly be imagined Requisite; so that it must certainly be our own Default, if we are not possessed of a greater and more Advantageous Trade than any of our Neighbours; and consequently be not the Richest and most Considerable People in the World.  
FINIS.