SIR, T HE following Treatife having, in a few Years, paffed fix Impreffions of about Eight Thousand Books: I do by this fhort Address dedicate this Seventh Edition as a Memorial of Your Proficiency in Arts and Affection to Artists; Your early Genius, not only to that meft polite, commendable, and commodious Art of Writing, but thofe of Drawing and Engraving; Tour true Tafle of the Principles and Elegancies in Painting, as Defign, Colour, good Manner, Attitudes, Contraft, the Grand Gufto, &c. Your difcerning Faculty in difce vering the Occult Qualities of Gems, or your penetrating Science in the profound Miftery of a Lapidary; Tour accurate Decor A 2 Rectitude Rectitude in your Commerce; Tour Prudence and Difcretion in your whole Oeconomy, as well as your Capacity and Usefulness in your more Publick Stations to this moft Honourable City in General, and Your very Worshipful Company in Particular: And above all, Your Religious Wisdom of adhering in Your Affections to the Power in Being, and our Excellent Church and ConAtitution, which would each require fome Pages in the due Expreffion of Your Merit. But leaft I fhould expofe my Injufficiency for fuch an Attempt, I shall decline Expatiating, as might be justly done on this Occafion, which I do in fome Meafure embrace to let Others know what I have been for many Years, and in many Inftances bound to acknowledge, that I am, Your obliged, and most Humble Servant, E. HATTON... THE PREFACE TO THE READER. T HE First Impreffion of this Treatife (though not fo perfect in every refpect as I could have wifhed, as being Compofed, Printed and Publifhed with too much Precipitation) having however, for its Usefulness and Familiarity, found Acceptation in the World, exceeding my Expectation: I thought my felf obliged, in point of Gratitude, to endea vour in the Second, not only to rectifie and compleat what was amifs or imperfect in the Former, but alfo to ftudy how (according to my utmoft Ability) I might make it a Book farther ufeful to the Publick. And in order thereto, I made many confiderable Additions as, in Arithmetick in whole Numbers, I added a Table of the Latin or Literal Numbers; feveral Tables in Addition, and a Difcourfe of the Ufe of thofe Tables: In Divifion a new Demonftration; and the Manner of reducing any Summ of Foreign Coin into English, for the ready cafting-up Bills of Exchange. In Vulgar Fractions, I added the Reafon of all thofe myfterious Rules given: for Reducing, Adding, Subftracting, Multiplying and Dividing thereof; and did the like in Decimals, fhewing how the Nature of them agrees with Vulgar. In Merchants Accompts, I added the Reafon of the most abftrufe Rules given for the brief working of Questions in Practice; and a more eafie and (in many Cafes) concife Method of finding the Tare of any Commodity: And in Exchange I added feveral ufeful Tables of Coin and Weight, with the Manner of calculating the Par of Foreign Coin by the Weight and Fineness: As alfo, an Explanation of the Tables of the Courfe of Exchange, and Diverfity of Proportions between Gold and Sil-1 ver, Fine or Standard. In Book-keeping, I added Examples of a Cath-Book, Books of Houfhold Expences, and Charges of Mer- chandize, chandize, and fhewed how the Latter are pofted into the Former, and thence into the Ledger: Where, as alfo in the Journal, I added References to the Folio's where every Parcel of Goods or other Matter is placed, both Debtor and Creditor in the Ledger, and likewife a better and more Natural way of keeping an Alphabet of Names. As to Maxims for drawing and accepting Bills of Exchange, I made them more copious and methodical; and added feveral concerning Factors, as may be feen in Chap. 11. And I likewife added Chap. 12. which fhews what Commodities are produced by all Countries in the World, with the Names of their chief Towns of Trade, and the Magnitude of fuch Country compared with England, according to the beft Account I could learn by Reading, Difcourfe, or Calculation, and thewed when Letters may be fent to and received from thofe Countries: I alfo inferted the Law concerning Intereft of Money. And in Chap. 14. I explained all the myfterious Terms or Words I could think on, that relate to Merchandizing, many of which I am fure are not to be found in Expofitor extant. And laftly, I added the greatest Variety of any Merchants Precedents, in the beft Method that are any where (to my Knowledge) exhibited; which will not only be useful for Practice to be tranfcribed upon occafion, but also will afford much Light into the Nature of that part of Trade, which they relate And I have given an Abstract of the new Statute concerning the Poftage of Inland and Foreign Letters, and the Act relating to the Length and Breadth of Yorkshire-Cloth, and of the Value of Coin in America, and the true Way of finding Discount. to. And thus I have given the Reader a Summary Account of the moft material Additions, though there are very many (befides fome few Alterations and Additions in the Third, and thefe other Impreffions) which I have here omitted to mention, and I hope the whole will prove not only pleafant, but profitable; efpecially to the Younger fort of moft Profeffions, and more particularly to the Merchant, for whofe Province it was chiefly calculated; well knowing, that whatever conduceth to the facile and speedy Carrying on of Trade, does alfo contribute to the Augmentation of the Bulk thereof, and confequently to the Riches and Grandour of the Nation; For as the ingenious and accomplish'd Merchant, Sir Jofiah Child, fays, The Greatness of this Kingdom depends on Foreign Trade and therefore the Intereft of Trade is not unbecoming Perfons of the higheft Rank. 'Tis obfervable of the Dutch, that they Erect the moft Noble |