COMMERCE. 



113 



one question only is to be asked : at what rate is specie to be 

 procured ? If it be high, trade declines for want of a due en- 

 couragement, and of the a6live intercourse by which it should 

 be sustained. If, on the other hand, it be low, the circula- 

 tion is animated and revived by the extension of its limits, and 

 by the distribution of the funds among the most useful and in- 

 dustrious part of the nation. Spain, which, in 1 500, paid 

 an interest of ten per cent, reduced it, in 1550, to four per 

 cent, by the rapid and excessive augmentation her treasury 

 acquired by the discovery of America. 



As the merchant does not contradt a debt, unless to acquire 

 by his industry, a substantial profit ; and as the lender does 

 not advance his money, unless to appropriate to himself a part 

 of this advantage ; it is certain that the interest is a pension 

 imposed by the rich possessor on the a6live trader. Conse- 

 quently, in a state, the prosperity and opulence of which de- 

 pend on the augmented number and labour of men, it is im- 

 portant that this burthen should be light. 



The superiority and advantages of a state are founded on 

 the extension and combination of its commerce. When the 

 interest of money is reduced, more persons are enabled to 

 trade, because there are more lenders, and because the con- 

 sumption's augmented by the opportunity of selling at a more 

 commodious price. The low rate of interest, and the mode- 

 rate value of the merchandizes, are naturally derived from an 

 extended commerce, which, by the produ6tion of great funds, 

 diminishes the interest and the gains. There being such an 

 intimate connexion between the causes and elFedts, the interest 

 of money may be considered as the true barometer of the 

 prosperity of a kingdom ; as the sure token of the activity of 



« its 



