PREFACE.

that neatness and elegance of deduction, of
which the subject is susceptible; and certainly
at the risk of incurring, if not hostility, at
least the utmost severity of examination from
the talents and acumen, which such a course
necessarily puts on the defensive. In the present
 state of political economy, however, a
critical reference to the doctrines of preceding
and contemporary economists cannot be
avoided, and ought not to be avoided if it
could. A mere direct expository treatise would
be of far inferior utility. However true a
doctrine may be, it is of little service until its
relation to other doctrines, and its connection
with knowledge already extant, has been
shown. Embarrassed as the science is with
difficulties on which opinion is divided, it
is of the utmost importance for its future
progress, not only to explain and establish
correct principles, but to expose the de-