CHAP. XXIV. AND OF MATERIAL WEALTH.

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plate was sold to supply the means of emigration,whether it was confiscated by the decrees of theconvention, or devoted to unauthorised pillage,the greater part of it would, for the sake of morefacility in its circulation, be converted into coinedmoney. In Italy , where the churches, shrines,and religious institutions were richly furnishedwith ornaments of silver and gold, the greater partwas seized either by the assailants or the defenders,and was converted into coin. The same courseof events may be observed in the Netherlands , inAustria, in the parts of Southern Germany , and,though at a later period, in Saxony , in Prussia,and the north of Germany, and finally in Portugal and Spain .

During the first ten years of the French revolu-tion, there could be little disposition to apply goldand silver to articles of luxury; and it is henceprobable that the greater portion of those metalswhich were drawn to Europe from the mines wasappropriated to coin. These circumstances mayin some measure account for the rate of the pricesof general commodities not having fallen, thoughthe mass of material wealth had increased fasterthan the metallic w'ealth by which its value wasmeasured.

After the destruction of the Republic under theconsulate, but more under the Empire, some degreeof security was given to property in France . Thelove of magnificence was displayed in the use of