Страница 546 из 2651

But, without the bounty, it may be said the state of tillage

would not have been the same. What may have been the effects of

this institution upon the agriculture of the country, I shall

endeavour to explain hereafter, when I come to treat particularly

of bounties. I shall only observe at present, that this rise in

the value of silver, in proportion to that of corn, has not been

peculiar to England. It has been observed to have taken place in

France during the same period, and nearly in the same proportion,

too, by three very faithful, diligent, and laborious collectors

of the prices of corn, Mr Dupre de St Maur, Mr Messance, and the

author of the Essay on the Police of Grain. But in France, till

1764, the exportation of grain was by law prohibited; and it is

somewhat difficult to suppose, that nearly the same diminution of

price which took place in one country, notwithstanding this

prohibition, should, in another, be owing to the extraordinary

encouragement given to exportation.