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271.: mcculloch to ricardo1[Reply to 267.—Answered by 285] - David Ricardo, The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 7 Letters 1816-1818 [1816]

Edition used:

The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, ed. Piero Sraffa with the Collaboration of M.H. Dobb (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2005). Vol. 7 Letters 1816-1818.

Part of: The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, 11 vols (Sraffa ed.)

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


271.

mcculloch to ricardo1
[Reply to 267.—Answered by 285]

Dear Sir

I was duly favoured with your very kind letter of the 22nd ulto for which I ought ere now to have returned you my best thanks—Although I am perfectly aware that the manner in which you have spoken of my review of your great work is much too flattering, it has, I will confess, afforded me the greatest possible gratification—Laudem a viris laudatis is a species of praise which I do not affect to despise; and on which, in the present instance, I set the highest value, because I am sure it would not have been given had you not judged it deserved—

I do not know that you have as yet got many converts in Edinburgh—Smith was here worshipped as a demigod; and when your work appeared it was reckoned little better than petty treason to presume to doubt one of his dogmas—This thorough paced belief in the accuracy of all that is stated in the Wealth of Nations, has now, however, been a good deal modified—and although there are a considerable number who continue as warm and as indiscriminating in their praise as ever, I am quite confident that at no distant period it will be generally admitted that it is to your work, and to Smith’s, that those who wish to cultivate an acquaintance with the real doctrines of the science must have recourse—

I have written a paper on the Corn Laws, and another on the Cottage System for the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Brittannica, which I have entirely founded on your principles —I gave one of them to your brother, Mr Ralph, whom I was fortunate enough to meet with here, to deliver to you—

I have never been in London, and there is nothing that I should like more than to pay a visit to that city—Unfortunately however I see no near prospect of my being able to gratify my wishes in that respect; but you may be assured that if I ever am in London, a short period only will elapse before I do myself the honour of waiting upon you—I remain

With the sincerest respect and esteem Yours faithfully

J. R. McCulloch

David Ricardo Esqre

[1 ]Addressed: ‘David Ricardo Esquire / Gatcomb Park / Minchinhampton / Gloucestershire’.— (Received after writing letter 270; cp. postscript to letter 274.)

MS in R.P.