95 



and on various subjects, afforded instruction 

 and amusement to his readers. In 1807, he 

 appeared before the public as the author of a well- 

 written pamphlet, entitled " The radical cause of 

 " the present distress of the West-India Plan- 

 " ters pointed out, and the inefficacy of the 

 " measures which have been hitherto pro- 

 " posed for relieving them demonstrated." But 

 his reputation, as a political economist, was 

 chiefly established by the publication, in the 

 following year, of his celebrated work " Britain 

 independent of Commerce," which has passed 

 through numerous editions. The able man- 

 ner in which he treated his subject, and the 

 forcible arguments which he adduced in favour 

 of his adopted theory, attracted the attention of 

 the public. The spirited answer to the work, by 

 Mr. James Mill, in his " Commerce defended," 

 and the attacks made upon it, by the Edinburgh 

 reviewers and others, served only to augment the 

 fame of its author. Within the same year, Mr. 

 Spence replied to these attacks, in a work enti- 

 tled "Agriculture the source of the Wealth of 

 " Britain." But political economy was not the 

 only pursuit which occupied Mr. Spence's atten- 



with the means of obtaining information and instruction, have invariably 

 had his steady support : but it is only to those who have been associated 

 with him on committees for the promotion of such objects, that the extent 

 of his personal exertions and of his sacrifice of time, for the public benefit, 

 can be duly appreciated. 



