I have mentioned my suspicions respecting the writer of the article on population in the Edinburgh Review to several persons. I will not utter them from this time. I hear nothing about Murray and Place. I hope your visit at Holland House was an agreeable one. Mrs. Ricardo unites with me in kind regards to Mrs. Malthus; we are all well and are leading gay lives, one week at Worcester Music meeting and Bromesberrow, another at Bath, etc.
Ever truly yours,
David Ricardo.
Note.—Francis Place, the radical tailor, is well known to every reader of Prof. Bain's Life of Mill (see e.g. p. 77). His book on Population, perhaps the best of the long series that followed the 'Essay' of Malthus, was published by Longman early in 1822. He differed from Malthus mainly on the nature of the preventive checks. The collection of Scrap Books known by his name in the British Museum library contains the following autograph letter of Malthus (whom he seems to have first known through Ricardo):—'Mr. Malthus sends to Mr. Place, at the request of Mr. Ricardo, the edition of the Essay on Population which was first published in reply to the speculations of Mr. Godwin and other writers. The copy sent is the only one which Mr. Malthus has left. He will be much obliged to Mr. Place, therefore, as soon as he has done with it, to send it to Mr. Ricardo's house in Upper Brook St., to be kept till Mr. M. is in town, which will be in a fortnight. Mr. Godwin, in his last work, has proceeded to the discussion of the principles of population with a degree of ignorance of his subject which is really quite inconceivable.' E. I. Coll. Feb. 19, 1821.
LXXXI[254].
Gatcomb Park, 27 Nov., 1821.
My dear Malthus,
Your excuse for not going on with the discussion which you commenced is ingenious, and I ought to be satisfied with it, as it is accompanied with a pretty compliment to me—indeed as pretty an one as could well be paid to a person who is so uniformly your adversary. I however agree with you;—we know each other's sentiments so well that we are not likely to do each other much good by private discussion. If I could manage my pen as well as you do yours, I think we might do some good to the public by a public discussion.
I am sorry that I shall be obliged to miss two of the Political Economy meetings[255], as I shall not be in London till towards the latter end of the month of January.
On the 7th of December I am to dine at Hereford, by invitation, with Hume, at a public dinner, which is to be given to him for the purpose of presenting him a silver tankard and a hogshead of cider, in token of the respect and gratitude of the inhabitants of Hereford for his public services. Hume comes from town on the occasion, and is to be met at Ross at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, and escorted with due honour into Hereford. I hope everything will be conducted in an orderly and peaceable manner. I have a great aversion to a row.
I have not yet seen Torrens' book[256], nor shall I see it in all probability till I get to London. Torrens has some concern in the Champion, in which there is a paper weekly on Political Economy[257]. I think these essays are well done, but you probably would not agree with me in that opinion.