ABSTRACT
Money is not, properly speaking, one of the subjects of commerce; but only the instrument, which men have agreed upon to facilitate the exchange of one commodity for another. The English fleet, during the late war, requir'd as much money to support it as all the Roman legions, which kept the whole world in subjection, during the time of the emperors. It seems a maxim almost self-evident, that the prices of everything depend on the proportion betwixt commodities and money, and that any considerable alteration on either of these has the same effect either of heightening or diminishing the prices. The necessary effect is, that provided the money does not encrease in the nation, everything must become much cheaper in times of industry and refinement, than in rude, uncultivated ages. For money, after the conquest of Egypt, seems to have been nearly in as great plenty at Rome, as it is in the richest of the European kingdoms.
