Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/511

The Principles of Economics is a work worthy of its author's reputation, and of his position as the doyen of English economists. It casts into the background almost all that has been written in England since John Stuart Mill; it sums up the economic movement of the last forty years, and furnishes the point of departure for a new and fruitful development. It is the more welcome because it brings a message of conciliation to divergent schools, and makes it possible for 'deductive' and 'historical,' 'scientific' and 'ethical' economists to work together in harmony. But it has the defects of its qualities; and one of these defects is illustrated by the passages we have been considering. There are two possible ways of judging a great writer of the past, such as Ricardo. If we wish to form a complete picture of his mind and character we must examine every sentence he has written, and put even a 'generous' construction on his lightest phrase. We may thus learn not only what he succeeded in saying, but what he tried to say; we may drag out the doubts that he managed to overcome; and perhaps, in some cases, save his heart at the expense of his head. But in tracing the growth of economic doctrine we must proceed otherwise. We want to know what was his especial message; what did he himself lay emphasis upon; how was he understood by his contemporaries. Our 'generosity' may find in him charming anticipations of our own ideas; and yet, if it fails to lay stress upon what was really learnt from the teacher by those he immediately influenced, we shall give a false impression. The economic historian, we are told, is apt to be confused in theory; I am afraid we must add that the sympathetic theorist runs the risk of being unhistorical.

W. J. ASHLEY⁠