become beggars.
-=-

[end of page #163]

It is difficult to say at what point this would stop, if the effect
produced did not affix the boundary.

The prices of land, of rent, of houses, and of provisions, sink low, and
induce some people to remain; for, as those articles cannot be
transported, or carried off, and are always worth possessing and
enjoying, it is clear there must be a term set to the decay and
emigration, by the nature of things. Unfortunately for countries that
have been great, that term does not seem to arrive till it is reduced far
below the level of other nations. {141}

There are, however, some peculiar causes that operate in some modern
nations, in counteracting this effect, so far as it is occasioned by a
superabundance of capital; but, as this is not general to all nations, the
proper place for speaking of it will be when we come to treat of the
tendency of capital to quit this country.

The effects, arising from that depreciation of money, which takes
place in every wealthy country, are great and numerous, and have
been always found where wealth abounded. The people in such
countries can easily command the labour of others that are not so rich,
but the others cannot afford to pay for theirs; this tends to remove
industry. On the other hand, if a supply of the necessaries of life are
wanted in a rich country, they may be obtained from countries where
the value of money is less, without throwing prices out of their level;