t, which it is
necessary for us to employ against wild beasts; and those men who being
intended by nature for slavery are unwilling to submit to it, on which
occasion such a. war is by nature just: that species of acquisition then
only which is according to nature is part of economy; and this ought to
be at hand, or if not, immediately procured, namely, what is necessary
to be kept in store to live upon, and which are useful as well for the
state as the family. And true riches seem to consist in these; and the
acquisition of those possessions which are necessary for a happy life is
not infinite; though Solon says otherwise in this verse:

"No bounds to riches can be fixed for man;"

for they may be fixed as in other arts; for the instruments of no art
whatsoever are infinite, either in their number or their magnitude; but
riches are a number of instruments in domestic and civil economy; it is
therefore evident that the acquisition of certain things according
to nature is a part both of domestic and civil economy, and for what
reason.

CHAPTER IX

There is also another species of acquisition which they [1257a]
particularly call pecuniary, and with great propriety; and by this
indeed it seems that there are no bounds to riches and wealth. Now many
persons suppose, from their near relation to each other, that this is
one and the same with that we have just mentioned, but it is not the
same as that, though not very different; one of these is natural, the
other is not, but rather owing to some art and skill; we will enter into
a particular examination of this subject. The uses of every possession
are two, both dependent upon the thing itself, but not in the same
manner, the one supposing an inseparable connection with it, the other
not; as a shoe, for instance, which may be either worn, or exchanged
for something else, both these are the uses of the shoe; for he who
exchanges a shoe with some man who wants one, for money or provisions,
uses the shoe as a shoe, but not according to the original intention,
for shoes were not at first made to be exchanged. The same thing holds
true of all other possessions; for barter, in general, had its original
beginning in nature, some men having a surplus, others too little of
what was necessary for them: hence it is evident, that the selling
provisions for money is not according to the natural use of things; for
they were obliged to use barter for those things which they wan