ad been pulled out
that morning, for a tick in the possession of Huckleberry Finn, and then
'the two boys separated, each feeling wealthier than before'. In fact,
of course, they both were wealthier than before, because each had got
something that he wanted more than the article with which he had parted;
and this pleasant result sums up the whole genesis and basis of
commerce.

But though commerce is thus merely an expression of an instinct which is
primitive and universal, it does not follow that it is its only or even
its earliest expression. Perhaps its earliest and most natural
expression was through robbery, with or without violence. A primitive
savage who saw something that he wanted would probably, if strong
enough, hit its owner on the head and take it, and this short and simple
method of acquisition still occasionally reappears in the realms of the
most highly civilized diplomacy. Nevertheless, at a very early stage its
limitations became obvious, and quite at the dawn of recorded history we
find commercial transactions referred to as an established branch of
human intercourse. The Old Testament story has not gone far before it
tells us of buying and selling. In the twenty-third chapter of Genesis
we find a very interesting bargain recorded between Abraham and Ephron.
Sarah had died in Kirjath-arba:

'the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to
mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from
before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a
stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a
buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear
us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of
our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee
his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. And Abraham
stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the
children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, If it be
your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me,
and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give
me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of
his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me
for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt
among the children of