APPLICATION OF CHAP. xvil. 



into action the treasures contained in their soil. 

 In the fifty-seven years, upon the principle as- 

 sumed in this inquiry as the rate of consumption 

 by friction, the loss upon the new acquisitions of 

 the precious metals would amount to about one 

 million five hundred thousand pounds, and the 

 whole quantity in existence may perhaps be fairly 

 estimated at about fifty millions sterling. 



It is impossible to form any calculation of the 

 proportion which that part of the precious metals 

 which was converted into money bore to that 

 which was applied to purposes of ornamental or 

 useful articles. The first would have an influence 

 on the prices of all commodities; the latter falling 

 into the general mass of commodities would have 

 no influence on them. 



The age in which America was discovered was 

 one of intense religious feeling. New doctrines had 

 been propounded with zeal by its adherents, which 

 were rejected with equal zeal by their opponents. 

 The Spaniards who received the gold and silver from 

 the new world were remarkable for the most rigid 

 adhesion to the ancient faith. Their veneration for 

 its imposing and showy ritual, and their belief that 

 presents to the virgin and the saints would benefit 

 their worshippers, had the effect of drawing to the 

 public or private temples a portion of the first 

 fruits of those precious metals which America had 

 yielded to their perseverance. The same feeling 

 pervaded the rest of Europe j and as the gold and 



