april — sept. 1859.] Ancient and Modern times. 65 



mythical, will at any rate show the feeling in the minds of its 

 inventors that a convenient money was essential to trade and 

 civilization of any high order. The Spartans were certainly far 

 behind most of the other peoples of Greece in civilization. In 

 the art of war, and everything essential to success in military 

 matters, they excelled : but we know that such excellence is quite 

 compatible with barbarism, or at any rate with a condition but 

 little superior. If the Greek historians sought a reason for Lace- 

 demonian inferiority in civilization, the isolation of the Spartans 

 and their aversion to commerce accounted for it. If a cause for 

 these was wanting, they could not have invented one more plausible 

 than the necessity imposed by their great legislator, of using an 

 absurdly inconvenient medium of exchange. Indeed we have no 

 clearer means of estimating an ancient nation's advance in civili- 

 zation than that which its coins supply. On this Mitford re- 

 marks : " Coins are singularly adapted to convey to late ages and 

 distant countries exact information of the progress of art and fine 

 taste :" and his account of the coins of Sybara, describing them 

 as " of a beauty that modern art will with difficulty rival," tallies 

 with the proverbially high civilization which we ordinarily attri- 

 bute to its people. 



The universal acceptability of the metals, and more especially 

 of gold and silver, as well as their peculiar fitness for the purpose 

 in other respects presently to be examined, soon led to their em- 

 ployment in the form of coin. But I need scarcely say that their 

 value was antecedent to, and altogether independent of, their 

 employment in this manner. The demand for the metals in 

 general arises partly from their utility, partly from their beauty. 

 Their relative value depends upon demand, scarcity, and cost 

 of production. This last element of value it is most import- 

 ant to keep in mind, especially in considering the relative values 

 of the precious metals. It is a natural and a common mistake 

 to suppose that if silver is in a certain proportion more abun- 

 dant than gold, either in the commercial world generally or 

 in any particular country, that it is less valuable in the same 

 proportion. Speaking roughly, silver is forty times more abun- 

 dant than gold, but is not more than fifteen times less valu- 



Vol. xx, o. s. Vol. vi. n. s. 



