who is
a creditor to that amount to some person in Britain; we shall say he
finds a captain in the army who wishes to draw L100 from his agent in
London. To this captain the Nova Scotia merchant pays L100, and gets his
order or bill on the London agent, which bill he sends to the
manufacturer in Glasgow, and the manufacturer transmits the bill to
London for payment; any banker, indeed, will give him the money for it,
deducting a small commission. Thus two debts are liquidated, without the
transmission of a farthing in money. The demand for bills in foreign
countries to send to Great Britain, has the effect of raising them to a
premium, which is called the rate of exchange, and is a burden which
falls on the purchaser of the bill. Foreign bills of exchange drawn on
parties in Great Britain, have expressed upon them the number of days
after sight at which they are to be payable. Thus, a merchant on
receiving a foreign bill drawn at 'thirty days after sight,' hastens to
get it 'sighted,' or shown to the party on whom it is drawn, and that
party accepts it, at the same time marking the date of doing so. The
bill is then complete and negociable, and is presented for payment to
the acceptor at the end of the time specified, allowing the usual three
days of grace. Should the bill not be accepted on being 'sighted,' it is
a dishonoured bill, and is returned with a legal protest to the foreign
correspondent. To avert, as far as possible, the loss of foreign bills
by shipwreck, a set of three bills is drawn for each transaction, called
first, second, and third, of the same tenor. For example: 'Thirty days
after sight pay this my first bill of exchange, for the sum of L100
sterling; second and third of the same tenor being unpaid.' This first
bill is first sent, and by next conveyance the second is sent. Should
the first arrive safely, the second, on making its appearance, is
destroyed. The third is retained by the foreign correspondent till he
hear whether the former two have arrived at their destination, and is
sent only if they have been lost. On receiving whichever comes first, it
is the duty of the receiver to communicate intelligence of the fact to
the sender.]

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Complete English Tradesman (1839
ed.), by Daniel Defoe

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH TRADESMAN ***

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