صفحة 673 من 2651

It may be of some use to the public, by affording an easy proof

of the prosperous condition of the country. If the rise in the

price of some sorts of provisions be owing altogether to a fall

in the value of silver, it is owing to a circumstance, from which

nothing can be inferred but the fertility of the American mines.

The real wealth of the country, the annual produce of its land

and labour, may, notwithstanding this circumstance, be either

gradually declining, as in Portugal and Poland; or gradually

advancing, as in most other parts of Europe. But if this rise in

the price of some sorts of provisions be owing to a rise in the

real value of the land which produces them, to its increased

fertility, or, in consequence of more extended improvement and

good cultivation, to its having been rendered fit for producing

corn; it is owing to a circumstance which indicates, in the

clearest manner, the prosperous and advancing state of the

country.