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‘gold. Aye, but they would be better together, quoth he—if thou wilt come ’prentice to me, I will put the finiſhing hand to thee; and as thou already underſtandeſt ſo well the making of purſes, I’ll teach thee how to fill them, for I am a money-maker by trade; and as both profeſſions agree ſo well, thoſe that carry them on ſhould go hand in hand. Very well, ſaid I, I accept your offer, provided you have the management of a lawful mint, where money is coined for the uſe of a free city or ſovereign ſtate; but if you coin on your own bottom, it is neck-breaking work, and commonly ends at the gallows, and ſo I waſh my hands of the concern. Faint heart never won fair lady, returned he—he that ſits by the meat and never helps himſelf, deſerves to ſtarve. What, pr’ythee, is the difference whether thou dieſt by hunger or of ſuffocation? Every man muſt die at laſt.—The difference is, interrupted I, that in the one caſe

‘you