{"product_id":"2940012477033","title":"Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, Public Finances and Other Subjects: Published during the American War, and continued up to the present Year, 1791.","description":"Scanned, proofed and corrected from the original edition for your reading pleasure.  It is also searchable and contains hyper-links to chapters. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn excerpt from the:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePREFACE Of the Author.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE first thirty years of my life were spent in the literary way, and generally employed in a course of hard study, and close attention to some subject or other; after which, by a turn in my private affairs, I went into a course of mercantile business, which was indeed more a matter of necessity than inclination. My old habits of reading and thinking could not easily be shaken off, and I was scarce ever without either a book or some subject of discussion ready prepared, to which I could resort, the moment I found myself at leisure from other business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy usual method of discussing any subjects which I undertook to examine, was, as far as possible, to find out and define the original, natural principles of them, and to suffer my mind to be drawn on without bias or any incidental prejudice, to such conclusions as those original principles would naturally lead to and demonstrate, i. e. I endeavoured, as far as I could, to make myself my own original, and draw all my knowledge from the original and natural sources or first principles of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe powerful pressures of the British force during the war, and the obstinate and determined defence of the Americans, soon threw every thing into disorder, and produced every day new occurrences and new problems, which America had never seen before, and, of course, knew not how either to obviate or solve them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first operations of the war affected my connexions in trade so much, that it threw me out of my usual course of business, and left me at leisure to contemplate those occurrences; and I thought I might render an essential service to my country by examining them, reducing them to their original principles, explaining their nature, and pointing out their natural operation and probable effects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI conceived that the most important and alarming of these events and questions were those which respected our resources, and especially the state of the Continental money, which was the sole supply of the public treasury at that time. This induced me to turn my attention very seriously to the nature and operation of money and finance; a subject which I had never before examined, further than daily practice and private economy made necessary.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome reasonings and conclusions on this subject were published under the signature of A Financier in 1776, and make the first of the following Essays; all the rest were published successively (as dated) under the signature of A Citizen of Philadelphia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhilst I reasoned on the great subjects of the natural operation of money and of national finances, and drew such theorems and conclusions as appeared to me to result from their natural, original principles, I had an opportunity to compare those conclusions with real fact, and to judge of their truth by experiment of their actual effects; and in this I was rarely mistaken. The effects or consequences which I inferred from the principles on which I reasoned, scarcely in one instance failed to follow in the kind, tho’ not always in the degree, which I expected, e. g. the strength of the States, and the patriotism, the patience, the firmness, and steady virtue of our people, were greater than I could expect, whilst I reasoned on human nature and human passions, as exhibited in the example of other nations, especially in the instance of unpaid armies. From these sprang resources for continuing the war, beyond my sanguine calculations, whilst national ruin appeared to me more near and certain than it really was.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain, the obstinate perseverance of the British nation in continuing the American war was less than I computed on. I believe, the American independence was the only point which that nation ever yielded, after exerting every nerve of their strength to carry their purpose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFurther, I had no idea that the Continental money could be made to pass at all as a medium of trade at a depreciation even of 50 or 100, much less of 500, for 1.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt may be worth notice here, that these Essays exhibit not only a discussion of the principles and nature of money and national finances, but contain also a kind of history of these principles compared with facts or their real operation, during the convulsions of America thro’ a seven years’ war, when the dangers, the distresses, the firmness, the terrors, the wisdom, the folly, the expedients, the exertions, the resources, the strength and the weakness, the successes and the disappointments, which appeared under all modes and forms, put every principle into operation, and every conclusion and theorem to the test, and left no room for false reasonings or idle projections, because their fallacy was sure to be detected...","brand":"Leila's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152460431600,"sku":"2940012477033","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012477033_p0.jpg?v=1763569111","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012477033","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}