Western statesman., 1844-06-20

A committee Of the GoIdsmth| Company
appointed to try the coinage, assembled at the
privy Council Chamber, when the Chancellor
Iaddrc Sed them nearly aS follows
"GenlIcmen-No on are assembled here TO
dav 10 try the value Of coinage; and, as the
coal merchant is said TO have remarked that
Goals is Goals it will be for you to say if
money is really money.
"Gen,lemen, there is no pleasure in life
without some alloy, and money which is one
Of the greatest Of earthly delights, has also It's
IaIloy; but you will have to take care there IS
not too much of il. Formerly, every gold
watch weighed so many carats, from which 1t
became usual to call a silver watch turniP;
but this will not, at present, form branch OF
your inquiry. Troy weight, gentlemen, Is de-
rived from the heavy responsibility the Tro'
ians were under to their creditors. The Ro
mans were in the habit of tossing up their
coins in the presence of the leglonS and II a
piece OF money went higher than the tip OF
the ensign'S flag, it was pronounced to be
above lhe standard. You, gentlemen, will
not be required to do this. 1t will be sutii-
cient if YOU ring the money on the mahogony
dning-tabIe that you will find prepared for
you.
The early Italians used cattle instead of
coin, and a person would sometimes send Tor
change for a thousand pound bullock, when
he would receive twenty fifty pound sheep,
or perhaps, if lie wanted very small change,
there would be few lambs among them
The Inconvenience of keeping flock OF sheep
at ones bankers, or paying in short-horned
heter to ones private account, led to the IN
PRODUCTION of bullion
$40 return, however, gentlemen, to the
dutv that will devoIve upon yourselves. You
will be called upon to examine into the un-
healthy custom OF sweating soverelgnS; and
with regard to this point, will do well to rec
oIect that Charles the First was, perhaps, the
earliest sovereign who was sweated to such
an extent that his immediate successor,
Charles the Second, beanie one OF the lghteSt
sovercigns ever known in this country.
"With these remarks, gentlemen, leave
YOU to the discharge of your important duties,
There are weights and scales IN the next room; !;
and while British honesty holds the beam,
am sure British wealth can never suffer; Tor 1t
iq the boast of our blessed nation, that the
merchant may hold his head as high as the
/ noble (aside) if the washermoman- has put SUI
6cient starch in his shirt collar"
The learned lords speech was so much APP
lnlauded when he arrived at the beautiful little
! fgpre of the merchant and the noble, that the
concluding words, spoken aside, were not au-
dibIe.
The foreman of the Pyx jury, in the enthu-
siasm of the moment, asked the who lie OF the
Privy Council to a banquet to be given the
same evening in the Hall of the Goldsmlths'
| Company.
The Lord Chancellor, in the name OF the
Privy Council, observed, that they were all
| lindispoSed, and all their medical attendants
had said, that by all means they must ali
keep quiet, and therefore could not acceP, the
| Pyx jury's polite invitation. The jury then
amused themselves by tossing up, weighing,
breathing upon. biting, and otherwise expert
mentaIizing with the coin OF the realm, which
they declared TO be honest and satisfactory
: Punch.
The lower house OF the Massachusetts L9gis-