Page:Craik History of British Commerce Vol 2.djvu/88

86 his partial entanglement in the prejudices of his age has led liim to admit that the precious metals, though not the spring and original, are yet the measure, of trade in all nations; which, except in a very qualified sense indeed, and in reference to mere convenience of calculation, they really no more are than any other species of merchandise. Pollexfen also contended that there had been a regular annual decrease of the wealth and trade of the country ever since the year 1666; a position taken up about this time by various popular writers, among others by the author of a famous discourse entitled "Britannia Languens," published in 1680, who, by not only confining his view to one side of the question, but by looking at that through the medium of a false theory, contrived to make out to his own satisfaction, and doubtless also to that of many of his readers, that the country had been advancing towards ruin at a round pace for many years. The main argument of this writer is, simply, that there had been less money coined from 1657 to 1675 than in any former period of the same length from the beginning of the century,—a fact which, if it could have been ever so conclusively established, had no more to do with the subject of debate than a similar calculation of the comparative quantities of rain that had fallen in the several periods fixed upon would have had. This test, as applied by the author of Britannia Languens, would have proved a rapid decline of national prosperity indeed; for, whereas, according to his showing, the value of gold and silver coined from 1600 to 1619 had been nearly 4,800,000l.; and from 1619 to 1638, 6,900,000l.; and from 1638 to 1657 above 7,700,000l.; the amount from 1657 to 1675 had only been about 2,239,000l.; and even of that he observes, about a million had been partly harp and cross money, partly old money recoined. So that, by this measure, the trade of these last eighteen years must have fallen to a fourth or a fifth of what it had been before! This was a "languishing" state of things truly. Davenant first shows, by the increase in the value of landed property, from twelve years' purchase in ancient times, to fourteen,