parently not. Amongst ourselves the chief
subjects of gilding are books, picture-frames, and some varieties of
porcelain. But none of these would be bought more extensively in
consequence of gold being cheap: a man does not buy a book, for
instance, simply with a view to its being gilt; the gilding follows as a
contingency depending upon a previous act not modified in any degree by
the price of gold. In the decoration of houses it is true that hitherto
our English expenditure of gilding has been very trifling compared with
that of France and Italy, and to a great extent therefore would allow of
an increased use. Cornices, for instance, in rooms, and sections of
panels, are rarely gilt with us; and apart from any reference to the
depreciation of gold, I believe that this particular application of it
is sensibly increasing at present. Of course an improvement, which has
already begun, would extend itself further under a reduced price of
gold; yet still, as the class of houses so decorated is somewhat
aristocratic, the effect could not be very important. On the Continent
it is probable that at any rate gilding will be more extensively applied
to out-of-doors decoration, as for example, of domes, cupolas,
balustrades, etc. But all architectural innovations are slow in
travelling! And I am of opinion that five to seven thousand pounds'
worth of gold would cover all the augmented expenditure of this class.
It is doubtful, indeed, whether all the increase of gilding will do more
than balance the total abolition of it on the panels of carriages. In
the time of Louis XIV. an immense expenditure occurred in this way, and
the disuse of it is owing to the superior chastity of taste amongst our
English carriage-builders, who, in this particular art, have shot far
ahead of continental Europe. But the main consumption of gold occurs,
first, I should imagine, in watches and watch chains; secondly, in
personal ornaments; and thirdly, in gold plate. Now we must remember, at
starting, that what is called jewellers' gold, even when manufactured by
honourable tradesmen, avowedly contains a very much smaller proportion
of the pure metal than our gold coinage. Consequently an increase in the
use of watches and personal ornaments, or of such trinkets as
snuff-boxes, supposing it in the first year of cheapened gold to go the
length of 20 per cent., would not even in that department of the gold
demand enhance it by one-fifth, but perhaps by one-fo