126 APPLICATION OF 



CHAP. XXI. 



the silver and gold which was transferred from 

 America to India through Europe amounted an- 

 nually to one-tenth of the supply furnished by the 

 western continent. Although the Dutch, the 

 English, and the French had shared with the 

 Portuguese in the trade to India, and had en- 

 larged it very considerably, yet there is no reason 

 to conclude that the demand for silver and gold 

 for the trade with Asia had proceeded through 

 the whole of the century at a rate which would 

 make it necessary to send to the east a larger pro- 

 portion of the whole produce than in the pre- 

 ceding century. If then, as before, the supply for 

 the east be taken as one-tenth, the additional 

 quantity to be applied to Europe would be three 

 hundred and four million seven hundred and 

 fifty thousand pounds. 



It is difficult to fix what proportion of this 

 amount would be applied to other purposes than 

 that of money. It is natural to conclude that 

 with the low price of any commodity the con- 

 sumption of it will increase. This is the same 

 with the precious metals as with every other com- 

 modity, though some confusion of ideas arises 

 from viewing them most commonly in their other 

 character, that of a measure of the value of all 

 other commodities. An ounce of silver may be 

 considered as worth at all times five shillings or 

 six francs, and therefore an alteration in its value 

 is marked in a different manner from that of other 



