To M. M. L, Gresham's Law.

"Oftentimes have we reflected on a similar abuse In the choice of men for office, and of coins for common use; For your old and standard pieces, valued and approved and tried, Here among the Grecian nations, and in all the world beside, Recognized in every realm for trusty stamp and pure assay, Are rejected and abandoned for the trash of yesterday; For a vile, adulterate issue, drossy, counterfeit and base, Which the traffic of the city passes current in their place!"

"Whilst each of the two metals was equally a legal tender for debts of any amount, we were subject to a constant change in the principal standard measure of value. It would sometimes be gold, sometimes silver, depending entirely on the variations in the relative value of the two metals; and, at such times, the metal which was not the standard would be melted and withdrawn from circulation, as its value would be greater in bullion than in coin."