Boys are next to engage in Writing; and I earnestly recommend that it be closely attended to, and considered as a Matter of great Importance. The present Method of teaching, and the Kind of Hand now usually wrote in Business is, I think, admirable; the Merchants of _London_, and some of our public Offices, shew great Perfection in this Way; and I would recommend that every Boy both learn and practise a mercantile Hand, as it is at the same time useful and beautiful. Every Man who is acquainted with Life must daily see the too general Defects of Hand-writing. If a Bricklayer, or any other Workman, brings in a Bill, what a pitiful Figure it makes; nay, it is sometimes so very bad, that none but the Writer himself can read it; and where we see one wrote out in a masterly Way, it is ten to one but he has, at considerable Expence, employed somebody to do it for him. Now this must surely be considered as a grievous Misfortune, both as it is an Inconvenience, and a Loss; and which ought carefully to be prevented in the rising Generation. Besides, if we reflect on the unforeseen Advantages which many meet with who are fine Penmen, we shall be convinced how necessary it is to excel in this Art.
We come now to Arithmetic, which includes a large Field of Knowledge. The Use of Figures, is so universally known and allowed, that it seems needless to urge any thing in their Favour. Men of all Degrees want their Aid; they are the first Introduction to the Mathematics; and the Knowledge of them is more or less necessary from the Prince to the Peasant. If a Man fails in _Holland_, they immediately say, he has not kept good Accounts; in Truth People of almost every Rank stand in need of their Help; and their Use and Power thoroughly known and attended to, would preserve thousands from Ruin. Parents then cannot do too much to instruct their Children in this important Branch of Knowledge; especially if they consider on one hand the Confusion and Perplexity which attends the Ignorance of it, and on the other hand the many surprising Turns for the Advancement of their Fortune, when possessed of the Knowledge of it. All young People, as I have before recommended, should be taught Method, and nothing more likely to initiate them in it than a masterly Knowledge of Figures. Besides, Debtor and Creditor, Loss and Gain, are by no means confined to the Merchant; every Man, however low his Trade, or however narrow his Dealings, while he does trade or deal, should understand what he is about: and he has no other Way than this of attaining that necessary Knowledge. I am very sensible, that some Men, even in Trade, have got thro’ the World, and make good Acquisitions, without any considerable Degree of this Kind of Knowledge; but we may truly say of such, that Fortune stood so very near them, that they stumbled upon her: tho’, for one who has thus succeeded, a thousand have miscarried. But my Aim is, to have the rising Generation so educated, that either Misfortunes may be prevented, or, if they do come, that their own Conduct may be irreproachable: and, I say again, no way more likely to effect this, than knowing thoroughly and attending closely to Figures. But farther, this and the foregoing Branch of Knowledge are strong Recommendations in various Stations of Life: many, even from nothing, have by these Qualifications become great Merchants; our _East-India_ and other Companies frequently want Boys who write and account in a masterly Way; and when young People set out in the World and act for themselves, the Knowledge of their Affairs, from their Skill in Figures, is often a Restraint upon them, and a Curb to their Passions; by keeping them from what they see they cannot afford.