Complex sentence: Through speculations, described in his "Statement of Facts", he lost money, and in 1785 accepted an engagement to travel in business on the Continent for half the year, spending the other half in the service of a firm at Tiverton.
Split into simpler sentences: Through speculations, described in his "Statement of Facts", he lost money. In 1785 Flower accepted an engagement to travel in business on the Continent for half the year, spending the other half in the service of a firm at Tiverton.