Note 9 — Chapter IV

I bought a box of wafers, and resolved immediately to give Bastianus another trial; I could not make up my mind to turn an old man so unexpectedly upon the streets. To be strict, but, where it is possible, forbearing, has ever been my principle, yet I never lose an opportunity of getting information which may be of use in business, and therefore I asked Gaafzuiger where this Shawlman lived. He gave me the address, and I put it down. I pondered over the book to be brought out; but as I like the truth, I must tell you plainly that I did not know how to manage it. One thing is quite sure: the materials which I found in Shawlman’s parcel were important to coffee-brokers. The only question was, how to arrange the materials in a proper way;—every broker knows how important is the right sorting of the parcels. But to write, except correspondence with “Principals,”9 is rather out of my line, and yet I felt that I must write; because the future of the trade depended on it. The information which I derived from that parcel of Shawlman, is not such as Last and Co. can exclusively profit by; otherwise any one will understand that I should not take the trouble to have a book printed for Busselinck and Waterman’s advantage; because whoever helps a rival in business is a fool;—this is a fixed principle with me. No, I saw that danger menaced the whole coffee-market—a danger that could only be averted by the united forces of all the brokers; but even these might be insufficient, and the sugar-refiners and indigo-merchants might have to help.