Page:Essays on Political Economy (Bastiat).djvu/144

 WHAT IS MONEY?

" money! hateful money!" cried F&mdash;&mdash;, the economist, despairingly, as he came from the Committee of Finance, where a project of paper money had just been discussed.

"What's the matter?" said I. "What is the meaning of this sudden dislike to the most extolled of all the divinities of this world?"

F. Hateful money! hateful money!

B. You alarm me. I hear peace, liberty, and life cried down, and Brutus went so far even as to say, "Virtue! thou art but a name!" But what can have happened?

F. Hateful money! hateful money!

B. Come, come, exercise a little philosophy. What has happened to you? Has Crœsus been affecting you? Has Mondor been playing you false? or has Zoilus been libelling you in the papers?

F. I have nothing to do with Crœsus; my character, by its insignificance, is safe from any slanders of Zoilus; and as to Mondor&mdash;

B. Ah! now I have it. How could I be so blind? You, too, are the inventor of a social reorganization&mdash;of the F&mdash;&mdash; system, in fact. Your