PREFACE. and freed from every tinge of feeling and asse- ciation *. To judge from his writings, Mr. Ricardo possessed little of this faculty ; little conscious- ness of the nature of the operations in which he excelled, and little familiarity with the ana- lysis of terms. His was a sort of natural vigour of reasoning, exerting itself without the ad- vantages of discipline, without much acquaint- * The author feels a pleasure in paying this passing tribute to the talents of a philosopher, who has taken a giant-stride in the science to which he devoted him- self, and who will be hereafter considered as one of the most remarkable men of a period prolific in great names. The reputation of writings like his, far in advance of the age in which they appear, making no appeals to the senses, and having no obvious connection with the immediate and palpable affairs of life, is necessarily of slow growth, but it will flourish when hundreds of names, which fill more of the public ear, have passed to that oblivion which certainly awaits them.