American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1858-02-12
TIE PIsE-TREE SHILLING.
by NATHANIEL HAwTHoRN.

Captain John Hull was tho mini.
master of NJ Massachusetts, and coiuediall
the money that was made there. z His
was new line of business, for, in The
earlier day S"f the colony, the current
coinage consisting of Tho gold and sil..
veramoney of Eng land, Portugal, aud
Spain Thesegcoins being scarce, the
people were often fnrced tn barter their
commodities instead of selling them.
For instance, if man wanted To buy
coat, he perhaps exchanged bear.
skin for IL. If he wished for barrel
of molasses, he might purchase it with
a pile Of pine boards. Musket bulie,s
were used instead offar!hiugs, The
Indians had sort of money called
wampum, which wss made uf clam
shells; and this strange sort of specie
was likewise taken in payment Of debts
by The English settlers. Bank bills
had nevor been heard of. There was
not money enough Of any kind. in ma
ny parts OF the country, 20 pay their
ministers, SO that they had sometimes
to take quintalls of fish, bushels of corn,
or cords of wood, instead of silver or
golds 4.
AS the people grew more numerous,
and theirtrade with one another incIeas-
ed, the want OF current money was
still more sensibly felt. To supply The
demand, the general court passed a law
Tor establishing o coinage of shllngs,
siN-pences and three penccs. Captain
John Hull was appointed to manufac
lure this money, aud wac 10 have about
one shilling out OF every twenty, to paw
him for his trouble of making them. :
Hereupon, all the old silver in The
colony was handed over 10 Captain
Juhn Hull, The battered silver cars
and tankards, | suppose. and silver
buckles oi worn-out coats, ana silver
.hil,s Of swords that had figured at coult
ali such curious old articles were
doubtless thrown into the melting pot
together. But by far the greater pat
of the silver consisting Of bullion from
he mines of South America, which the
English buecaniers (who we're little bet,
ter than pirales) had taken from the
SPsniards, and brought 10 Massachu-
setts. 10. a'.'
All this old and new silver being mol
ted down aud coined, the result was an
immense amount of splendid shiIIings.
six Pences end threo'pences. Each had
the date of1652 on the ono side and
the figure of a pine'tree on the other
side; hence they were called pine.tree
shilIings; and for every twenty shillings
that he coined, You will remember,
Captain John Hull was entitled to nut
one shilling in his own pocket. .-.
The magistrates soon began to ss.
pect thai tie miur master would have
the best of the bargain. They offered
him large sum Of money, ifhe would
give up that goth shilling, which ho was
continually dropping into mis- own peck
ct. But Captain Hull declared he was
perfectly satisfied with the shilling
Aud we'll he might be; for so hiligent-
y did he labor, in few years, his pock.
cts, his money bags, and his stroug box
were ovclilowing with pine treo shll'
lings. This was probably the case
when he came into possession ofgrand-
fathers chair; and as ho had worked
so hard at the mint. it was certainly
proper that he should have a cotnfolta.
When the mint. master had grown
very itch, young man, Samuel Sewell
oy name, came ocourtiTg his only daugh.
ter His daughtor-- hose name do
not know; but we will call her Betsy
Betsy, was fine, hearty damsel, by no
means so slender as some young ladies
ot our own days. On the contrary, hav.
ing always fed heartily on pumpkin
pies, dough nuts, Indian puddings, and
othor Puritan dainties, she was round
aud plump as a pudding. With this
round, rosy Miss Betsy did Samuel
Sewell fall in love. AS he was young
man Of good character, industrious in
business, and member Of the church,
the mlnrmaster very readily gave his
consent.
"Fes-you may take her," said he,
in bis rough way, "and you will find
her a heavy burden enough" .
On tho wedding day we may suppose
that honest Hull dressed bimsclf in a
plain colored coat, all the buttons of
which were of pine Tree shillings, The
buttons of his waisl'coat six penccs and
the knees of bis small clothes were but.
toned with silver three.pouces. Thus
attircd, he sat with great dignity il his
grand.fathor's chair and being porty
old gentleman, ho completely filed il
from elbow to elbow. On The opposite
side Of the room, between her BRIDE.
maids, sat Miss Besey. Sue was blush.
ing With all her might, ond looked like
Ia iuIi bloom peony, great red apple
or sny other round and scarlet object.
There too was The bridegroom. dres
sed in ii0e purple coat and gold lace
waisi.coat. with as much other finely as
the Purton laws aud customs would
allow him TO put on. His hair was
cropt close TO his head, because Coy,