Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/448

396 would immediately go and seek it under another, or retire into the woods and live there with their families. The liberty of the man is so great among these people, that it necessarily draws after it the liberty of the citizen.

RISTIPPUS being cast away, swam and got safe to the next shore; where seeing geometrical figures traced in the sand, he was seized with a transport of joy, judging that he was amongst Greeks, and not in a nation of barbarians.

Being alone, and cast by some accident amongst an unknown people; if you see a piece of money, be assured, that you are arrived in a civilized nation.

The culture of lands requires the use of money. This culture supposes many arts and degrees of knowledge; and we always see ingenuity, the arts, and a sense of want, making their progress with an equal pace. All this conduces to the establishment of a sign of value.

Torrents and eruptions have made the discovery that metals were concealed in the earth. When they have once been separated, they have easily been applied to their proper uses.

HEN a people have not the use of money, they are seldom acquainted with any other Rh