CHAP. IX. Historical account of the variations of the British 576 coin, Purport of this treatise not to dictate, but to —— inquire, How the disorder in the coin may be remedied without —— inconveniences, By making the nation itself choose the remedy, 577 If the present standard is departed from, every other —— that might be pitched on is arbitrary, People imagine the present standard is the same with 578 that of Queen Elizabeth, Debasements of the standard during the reformation, —— Raised by Edward VI. —— Debased by Elizabeth, —— Supported by her successors, —— Until it was debased by the clipping, after the 579 revolution, Lowndes’s scheme refuted by Locke: the standard raised 580 to that of Elizabeth, and the consequences of that measure, Silver has been rising from the beginning of this —— century, The English standard has been debased by law, since —— 1726, The trading interest chiefly to be blamed for this 581 neglect, Debasing the standard chiefly affects permanent —— contracts, And prevents prices from rising as they should do, —— CHAP. X. Of the disorder of the British coin, so far as it 582 affects the circulation of gold and silver coin, and of the consequences of reducing guineas to twenty shillings, Why silver coin is so scarce, 583 Consequences of fixing the guineas at 20 shillings, —— with regard to circulation, Will make coin disappear altogether, 584 How light shillings are bought by weight, —— Consequences as to the circulation with merchants and 585 bankers, That guineas would still pass current for 21 shillings, —— That the standard would be affixed to the light silver, —— as it was in the year 1695, That merchants would gain by it, 586 Debtors would be ruined, —— Consequences as to the bank, —— Reducing guineas to 20 shillings is the same as making 587 them a commodity,