Your standard or measure, for instance,
must, in the first place, possess a certain uniformity; if it be a measure
of capacity, it must not be of the size of a thimble in the morning, and as
big as a haystack at night, like the mystic bottle of the fairy tale; if
a measure of length, it must not be made of caoutchouc, as long as your
finger to-day, and as long as the Atlantic Cable to-morrow; and so, if a
measure of value, it must not equal one thousand at ten o'clock, and equal
zero at three. But the precious metals do possess this uniformity; they
are not scarce, as diamonds are, so that a pinch of them might measure
the value of a city; nor are they as plenty as blackberries, so that a
wagon-load could scarcely buy a fat goose for dinner. They cannot be washed
away like a piece of soap, nor wear out like a bit of wampum, nor crumble
like agate or carnelian in dividing. In short, they combine all the
advantages that are needed, with few or none of the disadvantages that
would be troublesome, in a substance which is used for money. They possess
intrinsic utility, they are equably supplied, they may be easily divided
and then fused again, they take a stamp, and they retain the same qualities
everywhere and at all times.
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