XVI]

PREFACE.

nagement of his materials, a defect either in
the disposition of his ideas or the employment
of his terms. It is the triumph of dexterity in
dissertation to present every proposition in
such due order and such perspicuous language,
as to lead the reader to imagine, that he should
himself have expressed the meaning nearly in
the same manner and in the same words. There
is scarcely a single train of thought in the
Wealth of Nations, which a mere tyro would
feel it difficult to follow, and of which the aim
and connection with the subject would not be
perfectly intelligible : but there are many ob-
servations in the writings of Mr. Ricardo, which
it requires the effort of a vigorous mind to
connect with the other propositions amongst
which they stand. His ideas are often
imperfectly developed, and his reasoning ap-
pears elliptical and disjointed ; defects, in-
deed, which have possibly elevated rather