ny," and went on from that word to a
dozen or so that followed it. The words were spelled by the children
in turn, but nothing was said about the definition or meaning of
the word. He did not explain whether, in the opinion of the parents,
it was feared that disastrous events might follow if the children
knew what a "patrimony" was, but it seems that no objections were
raised to their knowing how to spell it.

We thanked him and took our leave, feeling that we were well repaid
for our visit, however it might have been with the teacher and
his school.

I have never been able to confine my attention to astronomy with
that exclusiveness which is commonly considered necessary to the
highest success in any profession. The lawyer finds almost every
branch of human knowledge to be not only of interest, but of actual
professional value, but one can hardly imagine why an astronomer
should concern himself with things mundane, and especially with
sociological subjects. But there is very high precedent for such
a practice. Quite recently the fact has been brought to light that
the great founder of modern astronomy once prepared for the government
of his native land a very remarkable paper on the habit of debasing
the currency, which was so prevalent during the Middle Ages. [1] The
paper of Copernicus is, I believe, one of the strongest expositions
of the evil of a debased currency that had ever appeared. Its tenor
may be judged by the opening sentence, of which the following is a
free translation:--

Innumerable though the evils are with which kingdoms,
principalities, and republics are troubled, there are four
which in my opinion outweigh all others,--war, death, famine,
and debasement of money. The three first are so evident that
no one denies them, but it is not thus with the fourth.

A certain interest in political economy dates with me from the age of
nineteen, when I read Say's work on the subject, which was at that
time in very wide circulation. The question of protection and free
trade was then, as always, an attractive one. I inclined towards
the free trade view, but still felt that there might be another
side to the question which I found myself unable fully to grasp.
I remember thinking it quite possible that Smith's "Wealth of Nations"
might be supplemented by a similar work on the strength of nations,
in which not merely wealth, but everything that conduces to national
power should be considered,