My memory stuck in 'kings' where it didn't belong, yours forgot an apostrophe or something -g- ... we no longer need memory however, only a sense of google search structure, Smith would have loved this, it would have saved him considerable time -
'... For in every country of the world, I
believe, the avarice and injustice of princes and sovereign
states, abusing the confidence of their subjects, have by degrees
diminished the real quantity of metal, which had been originally
contained in their coins. The Roman as, in the latter ages of the
Republic, was reduced to the twenty-fourth part of its original
value, and, instead of weighing a pound, came to weigh only half
an ounce. The English pound and penny contain at present about a
third only; the Scots pound and penny about a thirty-sixth; and
the French pound and penny about a sixty-sixth part of their
original value. By means of those operations the princes and
sovereign states which performed them were enabled, in
appearance, to pay their debts and to fulfil their engagements
with a smaller quantity of silver than would otherwise have been
requisite. It was indeed in appearance only; for their creditors
were really defrauded of a part of what was due to them. ... '
socserv.mcmaster.ca |
