game of all kinds, &c. in proportion to that
of corn, is a most decisive one. It clearly demonstrates,
first, their great abundance in proportion
to that of corn, and, consequently, the
great extent of the land which they occupied
in proportion to what was occupied by corn;
and, secondly, the low value of this land in
proportion to that of corn land, and, consequently,
the uncultivated and unimproved state
of the far greater part of the lands of the
country. It clearly demonstrates, that the stock
and population of the country did not bear
the same proportion to the extent of its territory,
which they commonly do in civilized
countries; and that society was at that time,
and in that country, but in its infancy. From
the high or low money price, either of goods
in general, or of corn in particular, we can
infer only, that the mines, which at that time
happened to supply the commercial world with
gold and silver, were fertile or barren, not
that the country was rich or poor. But from
the high or low money price of some sorts of
goods in proportion to that of others, we
infer, with a degree of probability that approaches
almost to certainty, that it was rich
or poor, that the greater part of its lands were
improved or unimproved, and that it was either
in a more or less barbarous state, or in a more
or less civilised one.
Any rise in the money price of goods which
proceeded altogether from the degradation of
the value of silver, would affect all sorts of
goods equally, and raise their price universally,
a third, or a fourth, or a fifth part higher, according
as silver happened to lose a third, or
a fourth, or a fifth part of its former value.
But the rise in the price of provisions, which
has been the subject of so much reasoning
and conversation, does not affect all sorts of
provisions equally. Taking the course of the
present century at an average, the price of
corn, it is acknowledged, even by those who
account for this rise by the degradation of the
value of silver, has risen much less than that
of some other sorts of provisions. The rise
in the price of those other sorts of provisions,
therefore, cannot be owing altogether to the
degradation of the value of silver. Some
other causes must be taken into the account;
and those which have been above assigned,
will, perhaps, without having recourse to the
supposed degradation of the value of silver,
sufficiently explain this rise in those particular
sorts of provisions, of which the price has actually
risen in proportion to that of corn.
As to the price of corn itself, it has, during
the sixty-four first years of the present century,
and before the late extraordinary course
of bad seasons, been somewhat lower than
was during the sixty-four last years of the preceding
century. This fact is attested, not only
by the accounts of Windsor market, but by
the public fiars of all the different counties of
Scotland, and by the accounts of several different
markets in France, which have been
collected with great diligence and fidelity by
Mr Messance, and by Mr Dupré de St Maur.
The evidence is more complete than could
well have been expected in a matter which is
naturally so very difficult to be ascertained.
As to the high price of corn during these
last ten or twelve years, it can be sufficiently
accounted for from the badness of the seasons,
without supposing any degradation in the
value of silver.
The opinion, therefore, that silver is continually
sinking in its value, seems not to be
founded upon any good observations, either
upon the prices of corn, or upon those of
other provisions.
The same quantity of silver, it may perhaps
be said, will, in the present times, even according
to the account which has been here given,
purchase a much smaller quantity of several
sorts of provisions than it would have done
during some part of the last century; and to
ascertain whether this change be owing to a
rise in the value of those goods, or to a fall in
the value of silver, is only to establish a vain
and useless distinction, which can be of no
sort of service to the man who has only a certain
quantity of silver to go to market with,
or a certain fixed revenue in money. I certainly
do not pretend that the knowledge of
this distinction will enable him to buy cheaper.
It may not, however, upon that account be altogether
useless.
It may be of some use to the public, by affording
an easy proof of the prosperous condition
of the country. If the rise in the price
of some sorts of provisions be owing altogether
to a fall in the value of silver, it is owing
to a circumstance, from which nothing can be
inferred but the fertility of the American
mines. The real wealth of the country, the
annual produce of its land and labour, may,
notwithstanding this circumstance, be either
gradually declining, as in Portugal and Poland;
or gradually advancing, as in most other
parts of Europe. But if this rise in the price
of some sorts of provisions be owing to a rise
in the real value of the land which produces
them, to its increased fertility, or, in consequence
of more extended improvement and
good cultivation, to its having been rendered
fit for producing corn; it is owing to a circumstance
which indicates, in the clearest
manner, the prosperous and advancing state
of the country. The land constitutes by far
the greatest, the most important, and the most
durable part of the wealth of every extensive
country. It may surely be of some use, or,
at least, it may give some satisfaction to the
public, to have so decisive a proof of the increasing
value of by far the greatest, the most
important, and the most durable part of its
wealth.
It may, too, be of some use to the public,
in regulating the pecuniary reward of some of