ments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life, with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all." Selected. LXXXIV. MONEY. com-mod-i-ty, merchandise; Ware; Güter. flitch of bacon; Speckseite. spe'-cie, hard money; Münze. ad-van'-tage, benefit; Vorteil; Nußen. port'-a-ble, easy to carry; tragbar. coin, to make money of metal; prägen. coun ́-ter-feit, false; nachgemacht; verfälscht. de-nom-i-na'-tion, name; Benennung. en-ter-tain', to hold; hegen. 1. What a useful thing money is! If there were no such a thing as money, we should be much at a loss to get anything we might want. When exchanges are made by giving one ordinary commodity for another, as a sack of corn for a flitch of bacon, or a book for a table, we are said to barter them. Among uncivilized races trade is still carried on in this way. A traveler bound for the interior of South Africa takes with him a quantity of beads, knives, pieces of iron, looking-glasses, etc., to give them to the natives in exchange for food or services. People still barter things occasionally in our country, but this is seldom done, owing to the trouble which it gives. 2. When, for instance, a tailor needed a pair of boots, he might go to a shoemaker's and offer him a coat in exchange for the boots. The shoemaker, however, might happen not to want a coat just then, but be willing to take some flour or meat; and so the tailor was obliged to find out some miller or butcher, who wanted a coat, and get the flour or the meat from him, and then exchange this with the shoemaker for the boots. 3. All this would be very troublesome; but by the use of money the trouble is saved. Any one who has money may get for it just what he may chance to want. The shoemaker, for example, is always willing to part with his boots and shoes for money, because he knows that he may exchange it at any time for flour, or meat, or anything else he needs. Almost any commodity may be used as money, and in different ages all kinds of things, such as wine, eggs, olive oil, rice, skins, tobacco, shells, nails, have actually been employed in buying and selling. The Indians in our country had a sort of money called wampum, which was made of clam-shells; and this strange specie was also taken by the early settlers in payment of debts. Even musketbullets were sometimes used for that purpose. 4. But metals are found to serve much the best for several reasons, and gold and silver are better for the purpose than any of the other metals. The advantages of having gold and silver money are evident. Such metals are portable, because they are so valuable that a small weight of metal equals in value a great weight of corn or timber or other goods. Then they are indestructible, that is, they do not rot like timber, nor become bad like eggs, nor sour like wine; thus they can be kept for any length of time without losing their value. 5. Another convenience is, that there is no difference of quality in the metal itself; pure gold is always the same as pure gold, and though it may be mixed with more or less base metal, yet we can assay, or analyze, the mixture, and ascertain how much pure metal it contains. The metals are also divisible; they may be cut or coined into pieces, and yet the pieces taken together will be as valuable as before they were cut up. It is a further advantage of gold and silver that they are such beautiful, brilliant substances, and gold is also so heavy that it is difficult to make any counterfeit gold or silver; with a little experience and care, every one can tell whether he is getting real money or not, when the money is made of gold or silver. 6. Finally, it is a great convenience that these metals do not change in value rapidly. A bad harvest makes corn twice as dear as before, and destructible things, like eggs, skins, etc., are always rising or falling in value. But gold and silver change slowly in value, because they last so long, and thus the new supply got in any one year is very little compared with the whole supply or stock of the metal. Nevertheless, gold and silver, like all other commodities, are always changing in value more or less quickly. 7. Almost all the common metals-copper, iron, tin, lead, etc.-have been used to make money at one time or other, besides various mixtures, such as brass, pewter, and bronze. But copper, nickel, silver, and gold, have been found far more suitable than any of the other metals. Copper, indeed, being comparatively low in value, is wanting in portability. It was formerly the only money of Sweden, and I have seen a piece of old Swedish money consisting of a plate of copper about two feet long and one foot broad. A merchant making payments in such money had to carry his money about in a wheel-barrow. Now we use copper only for coins of small value, and to make the copper harder, it is melted up with tin and converted into bronze. 8. The money of the United States is called Federal Money, because it is common to all the states being in the federation, or union. It was authorized by Act of Congress, August 8th, 1786. It has great simplicity, being on the decimal basis, which means, that one of any denomination is equal to ten of the next lower. The custom is, to consider the dollar as the unit, and express all sums of United States money in that denomination and its decimal divisions. 9. Instead of using actual coins of gold, silver, or bronze, it is common to make use of paper notes containing promises to pay money. When the sum of money to be paid is large, a bank note is much more convenient, being of far less weight than the coins, and less likely to be stolen. A fivedollar bank note is a promise to pay five dollars to any person who has the note in his possession, and who asks for five dollars in exchange for the note at the office of the bank issuing the note. A convertible bank note is one which actually can be thus changed into the 'coins whenever it is desired, and so long as this is really the case, it is evident that the note is just as valuable as the coins, and is more convenient. The only fear is, that, if a banker be allowed to issue these bank notes, he will not always have coins enough to pay them when presented. Very frequently banks have been obliged to stop payment; that is, to refuse to perform their promises. 10. Nevertheless, when there is no other currency to be had, the bank notes often go on circulating like money, as long as hopes can be entertained that some day they will be exchanged for real money. They are then called inconvertible notes, and there is said to be a paper money. A person is willing to receive paper currency in exchange for goods if he believes that other people will take it from him again. But such paper currency is very bad, because its value will rise or fall according to the quantity issued, and people who owe money will often be able to pay their debts with less value than they received. Adapted. LXXXV. BEFORE THE RAIN. am'-e-thyst, a precious stone of a purple or violet color; Amethyst. fen, marsh; Fenn; Sumpf. am'-ber, yellowish like amber; bernsteinfarbig. skein, a number of threads; Strähn; Strang. 1. We knew it would rain, for, all the morn, Was lowering its golden buckets down 2. Of marshes and swamps and dismal fens,— To sprinkle them over the land in showers. 3. We knew it would rain, for the poplars showed The white of their leaves, the amber grain Shrunk in the wind,-and the lightning now Is tangled in tremulous skeins of rain. T. B. Aldrich. LXXXVI. AFTER THE RAIN. vane, weather-cock; Wetterfahne. an-tique'-ly, in the manner of ancient times; altertümlich; altmodisch. dor'-mer, a window in the roof of a house; Dachfenster. disk, a flat, circular plate; Scheibe. speck, spot; Fleck. 1. The rain has ceased, and in my room The sunshine pours an airy flood; The ancient cross is bathed in blood. 2. From out the dripping ivy leaves, 3. And now it glimmers in the sun, T. B. Aldrich. |