300

CONTINENTAL

CHAP. XXVI.

hundred and fifty-seven thousand two hundredand twenty-one pounds annually.

The view here taken of the consumption of theprecious metals in England receives some corro-boration from the best accounts that can be col-lected from the other parts of Europe . Thegeneral peace which prevailed in the greater partof the twenty years here under considerationseems to have had the gradual effects of extendingindulgence in articles of ornament and luxury ofevery kind. This has been so marked that notraveller who has visited the Netherlands, France ,Italy, or Germany , at intervals, with a few yearsbetween, could have failed to remark the progress’from one date to another, of the greater applica-tion of gold and silver to purposes of personal or-naments, and to the higher class of domestic uten-sils. This has been strikingly obvious in most ofthe capitals of the several countries, in all the com-mercial cities, and even among the middle classes,including the inns and hotels. Even in the townsof inferior consequence, it has been remarked thatthe silversmiths, the watchmakers, and the jew-ellers, have increased greatly in their numbers,and have found the demand for their goods keepat least equal pace with the increase of their popu-lation.

In France , the portion of gold and silver con-verted into articles of luxury approaches thenearest to that of England. A person who con-