below our necessities ; without the distributions of commerce 

 we should pine in want and destitution, even in the midst of 

 abundance. 



"The goods or property we either produce or acquire, are 

 to a very small extent, directly exchangable, being neither in 

 form nor quantity exactly equivalents to each other; and where 

 they are, the desired things are seldom in the hands of those 

 who are seeking for an exchange. 



"To have an instrument, therefore, by which to represent 

 the abstract value of things, which by its divisibility can be 

 proportioned to any amount, which is easily confined and 

 easily transported, is a wonderful convenience and advantage. 



"The precious metals have generally, but not always, sup- 

 plied this instrument. They can be procured in a very limited 

 quantity only — they can be divided to any extent; and as 

 a small bulk of them can represent a large value, they can be 

 conveniently confined or conveyed about. As ministering 

 directly to human wants, or as supplying the physical appetites, 

 they have small intrinsic value ; but, as affording articles of 

 ornament, and as instruments of exchange, they have a value. 

 That they should have a commercial value, two tilings are 

 necessary : that there be a use for them, and that they be 

 limited in their supply. Were the supply of them unlimited, 

 notwithstanding their use, their commercial value would be 

 nothing. This is evident from air and water, both more 

 useful than metals or gems; but air being unlimited has no 

 commercial value; and water, in country places, has none. In 

 towns, however, where the supply has become difficult, that 

 value has existence. But as a useful tiling, to have value, 

 must have a limit, so this limited tiling must have an use. 

 The metals have an use, as money, because people will take 

 them for that purpose in exchange for their goods, and they 

 will take them as long as they confide in them, that they 

 will be taken again in the like exchange. Gold and silver 

 have generally obtained this confidence and consent. They 



