OF VALUE.

1923

measure. Let us try to discover how far it
would assist us here.
Suppose cloth in the year 1600 was worth
125. a yard, and in 1800 only 6s. Here we
have a fluctuation in the value of cloth, in relation
 to the standard commodity ; in 1800 it
was worth only half as much silver as it was in
1600. This, however, is not, let it be observed,
 a fluctuation ascertained by the circumstance
 of silver being produced by an invariable
 quantity of labour. Had silver varied
in the circumstances of its production, our information
 as to the relation between cloth and
silver would have been equally attainable, and
equally complete. What then could be ascertained,
 in this case, from the metal being invariable
 in the quantity of its producing labour?
 What inference would this circumstance
 enable us to draw? No inference, obviously,
 as to the value of cloth and silver;
for, on this point, the prices of the former tell
us all that it is possible to know. The inference
 we should draw would be, that the