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