Pagina 768 van 2651

That the greater part of the gold and silver which being forced

abroad by those operations of banking, is employed in purchasing

foreign goods for home consumption, is, and must be, employed in

purchasing those of this second kind, seems not only probable,

but almost unavoidable. Though some particular men may sometimes

increase their expense very considerably, though their revenue

does not increase at all, we maybe assured that no class or order

of men ever does so; because, though the principles of common

prudence do not always govern the conduct of every individual,

they always influence that of the majority of every class or

order. But the revenue of idle people, considered as a class or

order, cannot, in the smallest degree, be increased by those

operations of banking. Their expense in general, therefore,

cannot be much increased by them, though that of a few

individuals among them may, and in reality sometimes is.