B, O O K - K 
the famous Maurice prince of Orange this art of book¬ 
keeping. At the conclufion of his work he fubjoins his 
reafons for conjecturing that- this.ingenious art was neither 
invented nor introduced into Italy fo lately as many have 
fuppofed ; but that the very fame art, or at lead fome- 
thing nearly refembling it, was known.at Rome in Julius 
Caefar’s time, especially from the very near refemblance 
of the names of the mercantile books then in ufe'to thofe 
of modern times, viz. 
Modern Books. Ancient Books. 
The Leger, (Grand Livre,) Tabula accepti et expcnfi. 
Debit and Credit, - - Acceptrttm et expenjunj. 
Articles poked into the Leger, Nomina tranjlata in tabulas. 
An Article not poked, - - Nomen jacens. 
Wake-book, or Journal, - Adverfaria. 
“ Which terms,” fays Stevin, “ may be found in many 
Latin authors; ” and he tells us, that one fide of the an¬ 
cient Romans’ Great Book (or Leger) ferved for a debit- 
fide, and the other for a credit-kde ; as appears plainly 
from a paffageof Pliny, lib. ii. cap. 7. Huic omnia expenfa , 
huic omnia feruntur accepta, et in tota ratione mortalium for. 
tuna fola utramque paginam facit. “ One fide is made the 
credit, the other the debit ; and, when the whole account 
is made out, the book (hews the man’s actual ekate.” In 
farther affirmation of this opinion, we may cite the joy of 
a banker, in Plautus, after having adjuked his balance- 
fheet : Beatus videor ; fubduxi ratiuncu/am, quantum aris mi. 
hi fit, quantumque aliena fiet. “ I feein happy ; I have 
drawn out the account of how much is owing to me, and 
how much I am indebted to others.” And Simon 
Stevin concludes with farther conjecturing, “ that not 
only the ancient Romans ,had• this art of double-entry 
book-keeping long amongk them, but that they originally 
received it, as they did the greatek part of all their know¬ 
ledge, from the Greeks.”—This method of account re¬ 
quires three principalbooks': a wajle-book, a journal, and 
a leger-, the particular ufes of which we fliall now pro¬ 
ceed to deferibe. 
Of the WASTE-BOOK. 
■The w.ake-book, every page of which is numbered and 
dated at the top, commences with an inventory of the 
goods and money, the property of the merchant, and of 
the debts due to and incurred by him. The trim factions 
of each day are then recorded as they occur, the articles 
feparated from each other by a line, and eacii day com¬ 
menced by the infection of the date in a confpicuous man¬ 
ner. Care rn.uk be taken that the entries in this book are 
made correct before they ^re journalized, or the error will 
heceffarily-go through all the books. The kyle of this 
book fhould be concife, but not ambiguous ; explanatory, 
but not verbofe. 
Before we confider the journal, it may. perhaps be ne- 
ceffary to give the reader feme idea of the nature of the 
leger, and of the particulars it contains, in order that he 
may the ealier comprehend the reafons of the different 
modes of journalizing. We kiall therefore proceed to ex¬ 
plain this general repofitory or ultimatum of all the other 
books of accompt. 
Of the leger; 
The fundamental principles of the Italian method are, 
1. That every kind of article, in which property is in- 
yeked, is .accountable for the amount inveked therein. 
2. That every purchafe or fale is merely a change in the 
difpofition of property, and requires that that kind which 
is delivered out fhould be difeharged from its refponfibilit-y 
for the amount ikued, and that that which is received 
fhould be made accountable for the amount received. 
3. That a purchafe upon credit, though it encreafes the 
amount of property in pojfefjion, does not add to the nett 
value of the ekate, which is refponfible to the feller for 
the amount. Neither does a fale upon credit lelfen the 
ekate) the buyer being refponfible to it for the value. 
E E- P I N G. 183 
In order therefore to afeertain the katc of property in¬ 
veked in any one article, it is neceflary that all the tranf- 
adtions relating to it fhould be colledted together fronv 
the wake-book, and arranged according to their different 
natures ; that is, all thofe for which it is accountable on 
the one hand, and'thofe of which it is difeharged on the 
other ; the difference between thefe parts will exactly ex¬ 
hibit the kate oi the property inveked in the article, and 
the profit orlofs which may havearifen thereon. Toeffedt 
this, is the objedt of the leger ; in which an account is 
opened for each fpecies of property, and in- which every 
trunfadtion relating to it is colledled and arranged, agree¬ 
ably to its nature, before fpoken of, on oppolite (ides of 
the fame folio : that is to fay, the articles for which an 
account is chargeable, on the left-hand fide, which is 
called the Debtor, or Dr. fide ; and thofe of which it is 
difeharged, on the right-hand fide, which is called the 
Creditor, or Cr. fide. Thus the charging an account of 
any pejfon or thing with what it is anfwerable for, is 
called making it Debtor, and, on the contrary, the dif- 
charging it is called making it Creditor. The difference 
between the funis of the Dr. and Cr. fides is called the 
balance. 
Accounts in the leger are of three kinds: Firk, Perfnnai 
accounts, which are opened with every perfon, or coni- 
pany, with whom there may be any dealings upon credit. 
The baJance, if the excels be on the Dr. fide, (hews what 
thofe perfons are indebted to you ; if it be on the Cr. fide, 
what you owe to them. Secondly, Real accounts, or ac¬ 
counts of property, of whatever kind, viz. ready money, 
goods, houfes, land^, fhips, fhares of public companies, 
&c. Thefe are generally ruled with inner columns, for 
entering the quantities ; as are alfo fome perfonal ac¬ 
counts, when foreign currencies are the fubject of them. 
If the amount of thefe inner columns be equal on each 
fide of the account, it fhews that the whole of the goods, 
&c. has been difpofed of; and the difference of the money 
columns is the profit or lofs on the account; that is, if 
the Cr. fide be the greatek, it is profit, the account having 
produced more than was charged to it, and vice verfa. 
Thirdly, FiElitious accounts, which are ail fuch as are nei¬ 
ther perfonal nor real, and are introduced to exhibit the 
refill* of both ; they are denominated Stock; Profit 
and Loss and its fubfidiary accounts, and Balance. 
Stock account is the reprefentation of the merchant’s 
ekate, and exhibits a general view of the amount and dif¬ 
pofition of all the property in his .poke(lion at tlie com¬ 
mencement of his trade, and of all the debts due to and 
owing by him : the balance between which fhews the 
amount of what he is worth, or has at that time employed 
in trade. At the doling of his.books, the profit being, 
added to, or lofs deducted from, the original tlock, will 
fhew jts aflual amount. 
Profit and Loss account contains, on one fide, every 
article of gain, and, on the other, every article of lofs.. 
The balance fiievvs the nett gain or lofs, which is tfaijf- 
ferred to the flock account, aS mentioned above. Many 
of the articles occur during the progrefs of the trade, but 
the generality are collected From the real accounts, when 
the books are balanced. To fhoften and methodize this 
account, fevera! fubfidiary ones are uled, viz. Charges on 
Merchandize, Interrfl, Ccmmijjion, Brokerage j Perfonal Ex. 
peaces. See. the titles of which fufficieiffiy explain 'them,. 
Thefe, or other accounts of this kind, may be ufed of 
omitted at dilcretion, according to the'nature of the bufi- 
nefis for which the books are.kept. 
Balance' account is inkituted at the clofing of the 
books, tor the fame purpofe as that of Stoch at the opening 
of them, viz. to (hew the exaff kate arid difpofition of the 
property in trade on the one hand', and, on the other, the 
debts with Which that property is chargeable ; the dif¬ 
ference betvveen the two fides of this account will be the. 
nett amount of the ekate of the merchant; ■ and as''the? 
balance of the (lock account, after' the addition of the 
profit, or the deduction.of .the lofs,.fhews what ought to 
1 ... . he 
