BOOK neither brought money into the country, it was IV. faid, nor carried any out of it. The country therefore could never become either richer or poorer by means of it, except fo far as its profperity or decay might indirectly influence the state of foreign trade. A country that has no mines of its own muft undoubtedly draw its gold and filver from foreign countries, in the fame manner as one that has no vineyards of its own muft draw its wines. It does not feem neceffary, however, that the attention of government should be more turned towards the one than towards the other object. A country that has wherewithal to buy wine, will always get the wine which it has occafion for; and a country that has wherewithal to buy gold and filver, will never be in want of thofe metals. They are to be bought for a certain price like all other commodities, and as they are the price of all other commodities, so all other commodities are the price of thofe metals. We truft with perfect fecurity that the freedom of trade, without any attention of government, will always fupply us with the wine which we have occafion for and we may truft with equal fecurity that it will always fupply us with all the gold and filver which we can afford to purchafe or to employ, either in circulating our commodities, or in other uses. The quantity of every commodity which human industry can either purchase or produce, naturally regulates itself in every country according to the effectual demand, or according to the demand THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM, I. 149 demand of those who are willing to pay the whole C HA P. rent, labour and profits which must be paid in order to prepare and bring it to market. But no commodities regulate themselves more easily or more exactly according to this effectual demand than gold and filver; becaufe, on account of the fmall bulk and great value of those metals, no commodities can be more eafily transported from one place to another, from the places where they are cheap, to those where they are dear, from the places where they exceed, to those where they fall fhort of this effectual demand. If there were in England, for example, an effectual demand for an additional quantity of gold, a packet-boat could bring from Lifhon, or from wherever elfe it was to be had, fifty tuns of gold, which could be coined into more than five millions of guineas. But if there were an effectual demand for grain to the fame value, to import it would require, at five guineas a tun, a million of tuns of shipping, or a thousand fhips of a thousand tuns each. The navy of England would not be fufficient. When the quantity of gold and filver imported into any country exceeds the effectual demand, no vigilance of government can prevent their exportation. All the fanguinary laws of Spain and Portugal are not able to keep their gold and filver at home. The continual importations from Peru and Brazil exceed the effectual demand of those countries, and fink the price of those metals there below that in the neighbouring countries. If, on the contrary, in any particular country their quantity fell fhort of the effectualdemand, L 3 BOOK of its accumulated gold and filver; or fecondly, IV. fome part of the annual produce of its manu factures; or last of all, fome part of its annual rude produce. The gold and filver which can properly be confidered as accumulated or ftored up in any country, may be distinguished into three parts; first, the circulating money; fecondly, the plate of private families; and last of all, the money which may have been collected by many years parfimony, and laid up in the treasury of the prince. It can feldom happen that much can be spared from the circulating money of the country; becaufe in that there can feldom be much redun dancy. The value of goods annually bought and fold in any country requires a certain quantity of money to circulate and diftribute them to their proper confumers, and can give employ ment to no more. The channel of circulation neceffarily draws to itself a fum fufficient to fill it, and never admits any more. Something, however, is generally withdrawn from this channel in the cafe of foreign war. By the great number of people who are maintained abroad, fewer are maintained at home. Fewer goods are circulated there, and lefs money becomes necef. fary to circulate them. An extraordinary quantity of paper money, of fome fort or other too, fuch as exchequer notes, navy bills, and bank bills in England, is generally iffued upon fuch occafions, and by fupplying the place of circulating gold and filver, gives an opportunity of fending a greater quantity of it abroad. All I. this, however, could afford but a poor refource CHA P. for maintaining a foreign war, of great expence and feveral years duration. The melting down the plate of private families, has upon every occafion been found a ftill more infignificant one. The French, in the beginning of the laft war, did not derive fo much advantage from this expedient as to compenfate the lofs of the fashion. The accumulated treafures of the prince have, in former times, afforded a much greater and more lafting refource. In the present times, if you except the King of Pruffia, to accumulate treasure seems to be no part of the policy of European princes. The funds which maintained the foreign wars of the prefent century, the moft expenfive perhaps which history records, feem to have had little dependency upon the exportation either of the circulating money, or of the plate of private families, or of the treasure of the prince. The laft French war coft Great Britain upwards of ninety millions, including not only the feventyfive millions of new debt that was contracted, but the additional two fhillings in the pound land tax, and what was annually borrowed of the finking fund. More than two-thirds of this expence were laid out in diftant countries; in Germany, Portugal, America, in the ports of the Mediterranean, in the Eaft and Weft Indies. The Kings of England had no accumulated treafure. We never heard of any extraordinary quantity of plate being melted down. The cir culating IV. BOOK culating gold and filver of the country had not been fuppofed to exceed eighteen millions. Since the late recoinage of the gold, however, it is believed to have been a good deal under-rated. Let us fuppofe, therefore, according to the most exaggerated computation which I remember to have either feen or heard of, that, gold and filver together, it amounted to thirty millions. Had the war been carried on, by means of our money, the whole of it muft, even according to this computation, have been fent out and returned again at leaft twice, in a period of between fix and feven years. Should this be fuppofed, it would afford the most decifive argument to demonftrate how neceffary it is for government to watch over the preservation of money, fince upon this fuppofition the whole money of the country must have gone from it and returned to it again, two different times in fo fhort a period, without any body's knowing any thing of the matter. The channel of circulation, however, never appeared more empty than ufual during any part of this period. Few people wanted money who had wherewithal to pay for it. The profits of foreign trade, indeed, were greater than ufual during the whole war; but efpecially towards the end of it. This occafioned, what it always occafions, a general over-trading in all the parts of Great Britain; and this again occafioned the ufual complaint of the fcarcity of money, which always follows over-trading. Many people wanted it, who had neither wherewithal to buy it, nor credit to borrow it; and becaufe the debtors |