A general collection of discourses of the virtuosi of France, upon questions of all sorts of philosophy, and other natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris, by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent.

II. Whether ex∣change be more conve∣nient then buying and selling.

Upon the second Point it was said, As Unity is the beginning of Numbers in Arithmetick, and of causes in nature; so com∣munity of goods was no doubt at first amongst men. But be∣cause 'tis the occasion of negligence, and cannot continue long, in regard some are better husbands, more easie to be contented, and need less then others; hence arose the words of Mine and Thine, which are more efficacious then Ours and Yours; since even Monasticks take it for a mortification, and children cry when any thing proper to them is taken from them. In old time, when one had eaten or spent what was his own he re∣pair'd to his neighbour for more, accommodating him with some other thing whereof he stood in need, by way of exchange, the respective value of the things being limited according to their estimation of their goodness and scarcity, in the first place, and then of their beauty or comeliness. And because Oxen and Sheep afforded them the most commodities, as their skins for clothing, and their milk and flesh for food, besides other uses to which they were serviceable, they made all their traffick with Cattle, in which all their wealth consisted. But because 'twas too troublesome a thing for a man to drive always a flock of Sheep before him, or lead a Cow by the horn, for making of payment; the industry of men increasing, they cast their eyes upon that which was in the next degree of most use to them, and most durable; and finding that 'twas Iron and Cop∣per, and especially that the latter was the fairest and easiest to be melted and cast into Kettles and other domestick Utensils, they made choice thereof, mutually giving and receiving it, by weight, for other things they needed, and divided it by pounds, which word still remains amongst us, to signifie twenty shillings, which is very neer the just value that a pound of Copper had in those days. And to save the labour of weighing this pound

and the parts of it, they stamp'd upon one side the figure of a ship, with the weight and value (because Saturn, the inventer of money in Italy, arriv'd there in a ship) and on the other side the pourtait of one of those beasts which are design'd by the word Pecus, whence Money came to be call'd pecunia. After∣wards the Arms of the Prince were substituted in stead of the Ship, and Constantine put a Cross in place of the Beast. Now because, in old Gaulish, a Ship was call'd Pile (whence the word Pilote remains to this day) the side of the Coin on which the Ship was is still call'd Pile, and the other Cross, how different stamps so∣ever have succeeded since. Nevertheless exchange is more univer∣sal then buying and selling, particularly between State and State, transportation of money being generally forbidden, and on∣ly the carrying away of Merchandize for Merchandize allow'd. Moreover, there are more Nations who exercise Commerce by trucking, then there are that make use of Money. It seems al∣so to be more convenient for particular persons, it being more difficult for him that is in necessity to sell what he hath, many times, at a low rate in money, and to buy dearly what he wants, then to give out of his abundance to him that needeth, and re∣ceive from him in consideration thereof what himself wanteth.

The Second said, That Exchange being founded upon Com∣mutative Justice, and introduc'd by the mutual necessities men have of one another, consists in the comparing of things be∣tween themselves; so that according as one thing exceeds ano∣ther in price and value, or else is exceeded by it, the excess or defect of the one side or the other must be equally compensated. To which purpose men make use of two measures, the one na∣tural, and the other artificial. The natural measure is the scar∣city of things compar'd with their publick use. Whence it comes to pass that the less there is of a thing which is greatly us'd, 'tis the dearer; and, on the contrary, the price is diminish'd ac∣cording to the greater plenty thereof. For 'tis not barely the goodness of the thing, nor its rarity or its necessity, that is the cause of its value; but all these together referr'd to its use. So water, which is better and less hurtful to man then wine, is never∣theless of less price. Corn is more necessary then Sugar, yet not so dear; and the rarest Plants, which are no ingredients into the compositions of Physick, scarce find buyers. Now Money is the artificial measure, invented by men, for measuring the price and value of all things, both real and imaginary, moveable and immoveable. These two measures are different, in that the abundance of things diminishes their price; scarcity and defect augments it: but contrarily, the plenty of money enhances the price of things, and its scarcity diminishes it: whence the more money there is in a State, the dearer every thing is; as appears by comparing our Age with that of our Grand-fathers before the discovery of the West Indies; when they were richer and had more Merchandize with a thousand Crowns then we have

now with ten thousand. And on the contrary, the more things there are to exchange, the truck or traffick is the easier; al∣though that's the happiest Country from whence more is export∣ed then imported into it. But because many times the parties could not agree, he that needed an Oxe possessing nothing that lik'd the owner, and some things of too great value being with∣all uncapable of division, as a House or a Ship; therefore they invented money to supply all these defects. This money, in some Countries, consisted of Shells; in others, of precious Stones; elsewhere, of other things; but most commonly of Metal. And although it be not absolutely necessary, yet it is much more convenient then Exchange; for by means thereof a man may do every thing that can be done by permutation, and some thing more. Whence it is, that Princes always prohibit the transportation of it, but that of other things only upon some oc∣casions. For money is, with good reason, said to be every thing potentially.

The Third said, That as it was sometimes doubted whether Caesar's birth were more happy or fatal to the Roman Empire, which he on one side adorn'd with glory and triumphs, and on the other desolated by Civil Wars: so 'tis hard to judge whe∣ther the invention of Gold and Silver Coin hath been more be∣neficial or pernicious to mankind. For 'tis true, it greatly fa∣cilitates Commerce amongst men; but it likewise brings along with it covetousness, and the desire of having it. For whereas at first the most avaritious were forc'd to set bounds to their co∣vetousness, when their Granaries, Sellars and Houses were full; and also when Iron money came in use, it took up almost as much room as the things themselves; now, since the inven∣tion of Gold and Silver Coin, men have begun to reckon by Millions, which give less content to the possessors then pains to acquire, solliciotousness to preserve, and trouble to lose them.