PREFACE. xiii 



different with economical reasonings, which not only 

 profess to expound the principles on which the ma- 

 terial interests of society depend, but also to prescribe 

 rules for public action, and not infrequently for private 

 conduct. Hence the erroneous or incautious utter- 

 ances of writers on political economy, whose reputa- 

 tion, however gained, is high, have done more harm 

 than almost any other kind of dogmatism. Mr. Mill's 

 excuse for a limited or regulated protection in young 

 communities has been quoted as a complete and peren- 

 nial defence for such a policy. But there is no proof 

 that Mr. Mill ever examined the results which have 

 ensued from adopting the policy which he allows, 

 though there was abundant evidence for the purpose. 

 Mr. Ricardo's theory of rents has been accepted as 

 irrefragable, and of the highest practical value for the 

 conduct of society. The slightest reflection will show 

 that it applies only to land under the plough, that 

 there is in fact very little land in settled countries 

 which pays no rent, and that most of his reasoning is 

 relevant to a past time and to obsolete conditions. 



There is a peculiar interest in the facts contained in 

 these volumes. In the first two, the principal or 

 dominant event was the Black Death and its conse- 

 quences. In these two, it lies in the depravation 

 of the currency in England at a most critical juncture. 

 The old world was about to receive the accumulated 

 treasures of the new, and thereupon a general rise in 

 prices was inevitable. Had the administration of 

 affairs in England been in the hands of wise states- 



