Aftir wh*t has been stated, it will be safficient^
\y apparent^ iq[>on what a faUe foundation the 6ld
hottoas .respecthig the advantage's of a fttvorabid
balance of trade are bailt, and ho^ fiitile kJl kt-*
tempts must be to procure and detain bullion, be-
yond the quantity that is actually wanti^ Fof con-
sumption. The transit of bullion fronb % high 6r

E



34

Ipw real exchange is an unnatural f mnsU;, tiot
arising from the v^ants of the country into which
it flows, but depending solely on the profits which
a temporary pressure for foreign payments afioirds'
to the bullion merchants on the sale of foreign
bills; and as soon as the causcf that has produced
the temporary influx subsides, (an event that will
sooner or later necessarily take place, by the im-
port of such ordinary pK)duce as is wanted for the
purposes of consumption, and increased enjoyment
of the people,) the superfluous and unused quantity
of; bullion , that has been accumulated, wifl flow
b^-ck from the country where its abundance has
rendered its real price low, *to those nations from
which it had been unnaturally sent, and where its
scarcity will have rendered its real price high.
