(45°) 
AN INQUIRY 
Into the Principles by which the Importance 
of Foreign Commerce ought to be estimated. 
By HENRY DEWAR, M.D, 
(Read April 1, 1808.) 
(RRS 
‘Tue science of Political Giconomy, being 
connected with the best of all social senti- 
ments, that of a rational philanthropy, and 
comprehending an extensive range of inquiry, 
characterised by a delicate mutual dependence 
among its various parts, and consequently 
affording excellent scope for patient investi- 
gation, I hope we shall be agreeably employed 
in directing our conversation for this evening 
to one of the most interesting problems which 
this science affords. While we contemplate 
with unpleasant sensations some prominent 
features in the present state of Europe, we 
must, as friends to science, derive some little 
consolation from the light which modern dis- 
cussions are likely to throw on some of the 
most important questions of political ceconomy. 
This is, in some measure, the consequence of 
