CHAP. XII. FLUCTUATIONS IN CORN. 343 



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that vacuum which was created by the scarcity 

 of corn. The flocks of sheep were kept in Eng- 

 land then as they are now in Spain, in Saxony, 

 and in Poland for the sake of the profit gained 

 by the wool, and not for the sake of the meat, 

 which, unless in years following an unproductive 

 harvest, was of very little value. 



After these observations on the uncertainty 

 of the price of wheat as a standard by which to 

 measure the value of the precious metals, we 

 may be permitted to lay before our readers the 

 best account we have been enabled to collect of 

 those prices at different periods. 



The great fluctuations in the value of corn in 

 former ages have been already noticed. They 

 arose out of the want of capital by which a 

 part of the surplus produce of the most pro- 

 ductive years might be retained to meet the 

 exigencies of following years of scarcity. The 

 requisite capital was not then created, and the 

 land with its annual fruits was almost the only 

 kind of wealth in existence. The surplus of the 

 productive years could find no purchasers who 

 could store it, and the price fell so as scarcely to 

 repay even the labour which had been expended 

 on the crops. On the other hand, when a year 

 of scarcity occurred, as there was no previously 

 stored stock, the few who had money became 

 competitors with each other, and the prices 

 rose to a height above those of medium years 



