234 'ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL 



mitive way by exchange of commodities. For Herodotus tells us, 

 that the Lydians were the firft who coined money * : And from 

 the fame autb.or we learn, that the Egyptians borrowed none of 

 their cuftoms from other nations. It is true, that the Egyptians had 

 a great deal of gold and filver, more perhaps than any other people 

 ever had. But there is no evidence that they coined any of it, any 

 more than the Greeks did at the time of the Trojan war, who had 

 alfo gold and filver among them, which they gave in exchange for 

 other commodities, weighing it in talents ; and in this way it no 

 doubt pafled among the Egyptians. The Egyptians, therefore, had 

 not among them that root of all evil ^ money, which, by its accumu- 

 lation and eafy circulation, does more mifchief than any other kind 

 of wealth, and is more produdive of thofe two great difeafes of the 

 political body, the wealth of the few, and the indigence of the ma- 

 ny ; and belides, it makes a greater and quicker circulation of vice 

 and folly in a country, than commerce by exchange can do. — That 

 there could not be great wealth in Egypt, I have already ftiown : 

 And as to indigence among them, neither Herodotus, Diodorus Si- 

 culus, nor any other author, who has treated of Egypt, have faid 

 a w^ord of it ; which they certainly would not have failed to have 

 done, if it had been fo great as it was in fome other antient ftates, 

 l\ich as that of Athens and Rome. If any man was to give fuch a 

 defcription of England, as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus have 

 given us of Egypt, he would not omit to tell us, that a very confi- 

 derable part of the people fubfifted upon public or private charity. 

 From the filence, therefore, of authors with refped to a thing of 

 fuch importance in the polity of a country, I think 1 may infer, that 

 there was no fuch indigence in Egypt, as we hear of in other coun- 

 tries, both antient and modern. And, if there v^-as no fuch indi- 

 gence, I think, we may infer, that there were no very great eftates, 

 nor any great inequality in the fortunes of private men ; for great 

 wealth of fome private men, and great poverty of others, have al- 

 ways 

 * Lib. T. cap, 94. 



