第522页 / 共2651页

The price of gold and silver, when the accidental discovery of

more abundant mines does not keep it down, as it naturally rises

with the wealth of every country, so, whatever be the state of

the mines, it is at all times naturally higher in a rich than in

a poor country. Gold and silver, like all other commodities,

naturally seek the market where the best price is given for them,

and the best price is commonly given for every thing in the

country which can best afford it. Labour, it must be remembered,

is the ultimate price which is paid for every thing; and in

countries where labour is equally well rewarded, the money price

of labour will be in proportion to that of the subsistence of the

labourer. But gold and silver will naturally exchange for a

greater quantity of subsistence in a rich than in a poor country;

in a country which abounds with subsistence, than in one which is

but indifferently supplied with it.