Pagina 665 de 2651

The increase of the quantity of gold and silver in Europe, and

the increase of its manufactures and agriculture, are two events

which, though they have happened nearly about the same time, yet

have arisen from very different causes, and have scarce any

natural connection with one another. The one has arisen from a

mere accident, in which neither prudence nor policy either had or

could have any share; the other, from the fall of the feudal

system, and from the establishment of a government which afforded

to industry the only encouragement which it requires, some

tolerable security that it shall enjoy the fruits of its own

labour. Poland, where the feudal system still continues to take

place, is at this day as beggarly a country as it was before the

discovery of America. The money price of corn, however, has

risen; the real value of the precious metals has fallen in

Poland, in the same manner as in other parts of Europe.