CHAP. XXVII. ASIA. 343 



As China is supposed to contain one half the in- 

 habitants of Asia, though in the territories longest 

 ruled by the East India company the wealth of 

 the inhabitants may be somewhat greater, yet as 

 in many and extensive portions of that quarter of 

 the world the same advance has not been made, 

 and the condition of the people is much lower, we 

 may consider the Chinese empire as a fair average 

 of the whole of Asia. It will be readily seen that 

 in such countries, notwithstanding some large ope- 

 rations of commerce may be carried on in a few of 

 the trading cities, or at the large fairs, the demand 

 for the precious metals must be very much less 

 than is required by such communities as people 

 the whole of Europe, and that part of America in 

 which the English have founded establishments. 



The money which circulates in Asia is chiefly 

 of silver. This, as we have before shown, is much 

 more susceptible of loss by wear than a currency 

 consisting of gold. On that account the yearly 

 quantity required to replace that which is consumed 

 must be greater in proportion to the whole mass 

 in circulation than is needed in Europe, where a 

 large part of the money consists of the more dura- 

 ble metal gold. On the other hand, it deserves to 

 be considered, that in the east, especially in India, 

 more care is taken by every individual to preserve 

 the money from friction than is practised in Europe. 

 This may arise from the greater value of the pieces 

 of money when compared with other commodities ; 



