own harness chafes; but he cannot know how much his neighbor suffers. It is said that a Yankee can splice a rope in many different ways; an English sailor knows but one method, but in that method he does his work well. Life is not long enough to allow any one to be really master of but one pursuit.

The history of eminent men in all professions and callings proves this. The great statesman, Daniel Webster, was a great lawyer. His boyhood was marked only by uncommon industry; as a speaker he did not excel in early life. With great deliberation he selected the law as his profession, nor could he be deterred from his chosen pursuit. While a poor student, not the tempting prize of fifteen hundred dollars a year as clerk of the courts, then a large sum, gained with great difficulty for him by the zeal and influence of his father, nor could all the persuasions of the father, turn him from the mark he had set before him; and his great eulogist, the Attorney-General of Massachusetts, is another marked illustration of resolute endurance and indomitable industry-life-long-centering in one profession, making him one of the chief ornaments of that profession, if not its head, in the United States.

Our late distinguished ambassador at the Court of St. James, Hon. Abbot Lawrence, whose wealth is poured out for all benevolent purposes in donations large as the sea, can recall the time when he had his profession to select, and the first dollar of his splendid fortune to earn. He chose deliberately a calling; he pursued that occupation with integrity and endurance, through dark days and trying seasons, and the result is before the world. This case affords an apt illustration of the proverb of the wise man, that a man "diligent in his business shall stand before kings, and not before mean men."

The late John Jacob Astor, as he left his native Germany, paused beneath a linden-tree not far from the line that separated his native land from another, and made three resolutions, which he intended should guide him through life: "1. He would be honest. 2. He would be industrious. 3. He would never gamble." He was on foot; his wealth was in the small bundle that swung from the stick laid on his shoulder. The world was before him. He was able to make such resolutions; he was able to carry them out. His success is the best comment on his endurance. Stephen Gerard, at the age of 40 years, was in quite moderate circumstances, being the captain of a small coasting vessel on the Delaware, and part owner of the same. No trait in his character was more marked than his endurance, and this element gave him a fortune.

All men who have succeeded well in life have been men of high resolve and endurance. The famed William Pitt was in early life fond of gaming, the passion increased with his years; he knew that he must at once master the passion, or the passion would master him. He made a firm resolve that he would never again play at a game of hazard. He could make such a resolution; he could keep it. His subsequent eminence was the fruit of that power. William Wilberforce, in his earlier days, like most young men of his rank and age, loved the excitement of places of hazard. He was one night persuaded to keep the faro-bank. He saw the ruin of the vice of gaming as he never saw it before; he was appalled with what he beheld. Sitting amid gaming, ruin, and despair, he took the resolution that he would never again enter a gaming house. He changed his company with the change of his conduct, and subsequently became one of the most distinguished Englishmen of his age.

Dr. Samuel Johnson was once requested to drink wine with a friend; the Doctor proposed tea. "But drink a little wine," said his host. "I cannot," was the reply. "I know abstinence-I know excess; but I know no medium. Long since, I resolved, as I could not drink a little wine, I would drink none at all." A man who could thus support his resolution by action was a man of endurance, and that element is as well displayed in this incident as in the compilation of his great work. When Richard Brinsley Sheridan made his first speech in Parliament, it was regarded on all hands as a most mortifying failure. His friends urged him to abandon a Parliamentary career, and enter upon some field better suited to his ability. "No," said Sheridan-"no, it is in me, and it shall come out!" And it did, and he became one of the most splendid debaters in England. Loyola, the founder of the order of Jesuits, the courtier, the man of gallantry and dissipation, obtained such mastery over himself by labor and endurance, that, to illustrate the fact, he stood several hours, apparently. unmoved, in a pond of ice and muddy water, up to his chin. Perhaps no other nation in Europe, at the time, could have won the battle of Waterloo except the British, because no other could have brought to that conflict that amount of endurance needed to win. For many hours that army stood manfully before the murderous fire of the French; column after column fell, while not a gun was discharged on their part. One sullen word of command ran along the line as thousands fell-"File up! file up!" "Not yet not yet!" was the Iron Duke's reply to earnest requests made to charge and fight the foe. At length the time of action came. The charge was given, and victory perched upon the standard of England.

4. BUSINESS THE CHARM OF LIFE.

No passion is more ruinous than the "haste to be rich." It is condemned alike by revelation, reason, and the sound practical experience of life. It leads men into unsafe and ruinous speculation; it seduces them from fast-anchored property to the mirage that glitters. It allows the hands of industry and employment to stand still on the dial-plate of life, while men grasp at shadows. It is this passion separates the business past from the business present by so wide a gulf.

The modern merchant, with small capital, and that, perhaps, not his own with his granite store, his mahogany desk, his country-seat, fast horse, and rash speculations, scorns the example of his sire, who, at his desk of pine and green baize, sat each day sixteen mortal hours at his business, doing his own errands, and being his own clerk. With so wide a contrast, it is not strange that many begin business where their sires left off, and leave off where the sires began.

It is employment we all need-employment till life shall end. The plowboy is happy in his furrow, and the hours pass swifter that the weaver's shuttle, while the matron and maid sing amid their daily duties. No success and no wealth can make that man happy who has nothing to do. We have seen a boy grow up to the full stature of manhood, take his stand by the side and as one of our richest men; his elegant city residence and suburban abode became the envy of men-his horses and his equipage the most perfect in our midst. We have seen him, with his fortune made, bid adieu to the toils and vexations of business, take the balance of his life to himself, and resolve to be happy at his ease. We have watched him in his elegant retreat, possessed of "more than heart can wish." After a few years we have sought and found him not, learning, with sorrow, that, not

able to endure a life of leisure and ease, he had gone uncalled for into the presence of his Maker.

An eminent merchant of Boston, when asked by some one why he did not quit his business, as his fortune was ample, replied, "that his repose would be his death." We know well that the spring of enjoyment would dry up, and soon, with inactivity, life would become a burden. The celebrated commentator, Dr. McKnight, completed his work on the epistles when not far from sixty years of age. Nearly thirty years of his life had been occupied with that great labor. His employment had been regular and cheerful, and the purple current of life had flowed noiselessly and joyously along. He refused to go on with the Gospel, as he had earned his respite, he said. His faculties were in their usual vigor. In leaving his regular employment, his mind soon lost its tone, and he sunk almost into a driveling idiocy. Had he continued his employment, a mellow and a green old age would have been his portion, and his sun gone down at last in unclouded splendor.

It is employment that has made us what we are. Our sky is inclement, our soil hard and tough; but the sun shines on no land where so many people enjoy so much substantial good. The alchemy of labor can turn our ice into gold and our rocks into bread. Employment given to the millions of Europe now indolent and hungry, would quench many a volcano and put down misrule and insubordination. It was Lord Bacon, I think, who said that "all rebellions commence in the stomach." Let a nation be both destitute and idle, and it would not be strange if they should become turbulent also. Sodom had three great sins; one of them was "an abundance of idleness." Palestine, in the time of Solomon, contained a nation of men who were daily employed, and a race of women who could both "clothe their households with scarlet," and "consider a field and buy it." These were the days of Israel's prosperity. Gold and silver were abundant; the mountains were terraced up to their summits with fruit, and the valleys were hot-beds of vegetation. It is now a land of indolence. The same sky is above the people-they tread the same soil beneath their feet; but all is desolate, because all are indolent. The owl and the cormorant sit now in the palaces of David and Solomon. When men were proud to say, "I am a Roman citizen!" Rome was governed by emperors whom she called from the plow. They led her invincible legions to conquest. Now indolence broods over the whole land of the Cæsars like the miasma over the pleasant home of man-desolation and ruin are seen on all sides.

We should be glad to address you on many other topics which will, and must, enter into your business prosperity. That courtesy to all, based on principle, that costs so little and yields so large a return; that courage and business faith that will not only make you enterprising and far-seeing, but enable you to be singular and odd even when duty calls or danger is to be avoided; that regard for your word that will command credit; that high moral character which will make your word as good as your bond; that integrity that will induce you to meet with amputation sooner than repudiation, and cause you to select some other road to fortune than that of defrauding your creditors; that principle without which no smartness, no talent will avail; but these, and all other things by them suggested, must be left to your own thoughts and your own application, and so also must that certain success that will attend the application to the business of life.

Art. IV.-A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF COINAGE FOR COMMERCIAL NATIONS.

DR. J. H. GIBBON, of the United States' Branch Mint, North Carolina, has forwarded us a copy of his report on the utility of a uniform system in measures, weights, fineness, and decimal accounts for the standard coinage of commercial nations. This report was made in compliance with a resolution passed by the Commercial Convention assembled in Charleston, South Carolina, on the 10th of April, 1854.

The commercial importance of a uniform system for the coinage of commercial nations to facilitate mutual exchanges, and the interesting historical and other data furnished by Dr. Gibbon, renders any apology for publishing it entire in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine unnecessary.

The subject has already been introduced to Congress in a letter to the Hon. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, &c., in the United States' Senate, by ALEXANDER VATTEMARE, accompanied by a historical, popular description of the metrical-decimal system, by WM. W. MANN, Esq., of Georgia, and reports by Mr. SIBBERMANN, Superintendent of the Conservatoir des Arts et Metiers, and by Mr. DURAND, Commissary General of Coins and Medals.*

To render the subject of uniformity in coinage generally intelligible, slight references to history appear indispensable.

After the settlement of North America, from Europe, the earliest metallic currency of the colonies consisted of coins of the mother country. In 1652 Massachusetts provided for the coinage of shillings, six-pences, and three-pences. The example was followed by Maryland, where silver and copper coins were is sued in 1662.

In 1694 the Carolinas struck a half-penny; and two-penny and penny pieces in 1723 and 1733. In 1773 Virginia also introduced a half-penny coinage. Trade was carried on principally by barter.

As Commerce and population increased, foreign gold coins were introducedthe English guinea, the Portuguese joannes, the Spanish doubloon, the French pistole, with Spanish dollars and their proportions, British silver coins, and, finally, French crowns.

After our Revolutionary struggle, various emissions of silver and copper were made by States-Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont issued cents of varied weights. In 1783, J. Chalmers, at Annapolis, in Maryland, fabricated the smaller silver coins, carelessly proportioned. In 1830, Templeton Reed, in Georgia, and Christopher Bechtler, in North Carolina, coined gold pieces, literally at the pit's mouth, from veins and deposits worked in those States.

The pound of the colonies was originally the same as the pound sterling of Great Britain, but became greatly altered in consequence of excessive issues of paper money, in very unequal proportions, by different colonial authorities.

In 1782 the Congress of the United States directed a report upon the subject of coins and currency, which was made by the financier, Gouverneur Morris. He labored to reconcile the moneys of the different States upon the pound basis, and expressed an opinion that it was "very desirable money should be increased in a decimal ratio, because, by that means, all calculations of interest, exchange, insurance, and the like, are rendered much more simple and accurate; and of course more within the power of the great mass of the people."

In 1784, Mr. Jefferson, on behalf of a committee, also advocated the decimal system, stating: "The most easy ratio of multiplication and division is that by

• We are indebted to M. Vattemare for a copy of his letter and the other documents referred to above, in English and French, and shall probably notice them in a future number of the Merchants' Magazine.

ten. Every one remembers the facility of decimal arithmetic at school, and the bulk of mankind are school-boys through life."

Mr. Jefferson differed from Mr. Morris upon the unit of value, and proposed the Spanish dollar as the basis, which was adopted in 1785.

The Confederation of the States had already provided that "Congress should have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coins." The Constitution of 1789 arrested local issues, and vested the right of coinage solely in the general government.

In 1790 Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, made "A Report on Moneys, Weights, and Measures."

In 1792 a code of laws and regulations was enacted for a mint, in Philadelphia, with denominations for coinage in gold, silver, and copper. The standard of fineness for gold being fixed at .917, that for silver at .882 milliemes, or thousandths, according to the French mode of computation, now employed in the mints of the United States, instead of the ancient expression by carats and eighths.

In 1793 and 1796 slight modifications were made in the weight of copper pieces, "on account of the increased price of copper in the commercial market."

In 1819 Mr. Lowndes proposed to raise the value of gold against silver. To provide a remedy for their recognized disproportion, engaged the attention of eminent statesmen for fifteen years. The fineness of the gold coins was ultimately reduced to .899 and a fraction.

In 1834 an act was passed changing the weight and fineness of the gold coins, and also the relative value of gold to silver. The first basis, 15 to 1, being found too low, at the market value, which, although constantly fluctuating, was near 16 to 1, the original Spanish ratio.

"The effect of our previous legal proportions was to reduce the coinage of gold, and to retain its circulation. Being always at a premium, the coin was immediately exported to Europe in the course of trade, and there quickly wrought into other shapes."

But the disadvantages of a complex standard of fineness in gold and in silver, determined the director of the mint to suggest the more simple and modern standard of France, established upon a distinct basis. This was acted upon by Congress in 1837, the standard being fixed at .900, or 90 per cent of fine metal, for gold and silver coins, in the 1,000 parts.

In the year 1835 branches of the mint were directed to be established in Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina, all the coins being uniform. A mint in California and an assay office in New York have since been decided upon.

In Great Britain, the basis of the value of money is the pound sterling of twenty shillings. This pound of standard silver was represented by the guinea, a gold coin, ordained in 1675, during the reign of Charles the Second.

From a depreciation of silver coins in England, Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the Mint, during George the First, recommended, in 1717, that the guinea should be rated at twenty-one shillings.

In 1816 the sovereign, a new gold coin of twenty shillings, slightly differing in weight from the guinea, was substituted, and an alteration again effected in the British silver coinage, silver being made a legal tender only to the amount of forty shillings at a time.

In the history of the British mint, the coinage of the year 1816" will be remarkable," writes Dr. Kelley, "not only on account of important alterations then made in the monetary system, but also for the great accommodation afforded to the public." At the present moment still greater conveniences are desired in that country.

A recent report of a select committee to the House of Commons of Great Britain, founded upon careful inquiry among intelligent and practical men, encourages a modification of measures and weights in all money accounts.

The decimal system of computation being acknowledged so simple and easily

* Manual of Coins and Bullion, by Eckfeldt and Dubois.