confusion, and leave the tradesman in a wood, which he can never get out
of without damage and loss. If ever his dealers know that his books are
ill kept, they play upon him, and impose horrid forgeries and falsities
upon him: whatever he omits they catch at, and leave it out; whatever
they put upon him, he is bound to yield to; so that, in short, as books
well kept are the security of the tradesman's estate, and the
ascertaining of his debts, so books ill kept will assist every knavish
customer or chapman to cheat and deceive him.

Some men keep a due and exact entry or journal of all they sell, or
perhaps of all they buy or sell, but are utterly remiss in posting it
forward to a ledger; that is to say, to another book, where every parcel
is carried to the debtor's particular account. Likewise they keep
another book, where they enter all the money they receive, but, as
above, never keeping any account for the man; there it stands in the
cash-book, and both these books must be ransacked over for the
particulars, as well of goods sold, as of the money received, when this
customer comes to have his account made up; and as the goods are
certainly entered when sold or sent away, and the money is certainly
entered when it is received, this they think is sufficient, and all the
rest superfluous.

I doubt not such tradesmen often suffer as much by their slothfulness
and neglect of book-keeping, as might, especially if their business is
considerable, pay for a book-keeper; for what is such a man's case,
when his customer, suppose a country dealer, comes to town, which
perhaps he does once a-year (as in the custom of other tradesmen), and
desires to have his account made up? The London tradesman goes to his
books, and first he rummages his day-book back for the whole year, and
takes out the foot[32] of all the parcels sent to his chapman, and they