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A poor country, as it cannot afford to buy more, so it can as

little afford to pay dearer for gold and silver than a rich one;

and the value of those metals, therefore, is not likely to be

higher in the former than in the latter. In China, a country much

richer than any part of Europe, the value of the precious metals

is much higher than in any part of Europe. As the wealth of

Europe, indeed, has increased greatly since the discovery of the

mines of America, so the value of gold and silver has gradually

diminished. This diminution of their value, however, has not been

owing to the increase of the real wealth of Europe, of the annual

produce of its land and labour, but to the accidental discovery

of more abundant mines than any that were known before.