TO THE
SECOND EDITION.
The first edition of the following view of the question of a Free Trade to India having been sold off in the space of two days, is a proof of the interest the public take in the question of a Free Trade; my aim has been to clear the subject of all extraneous matter, and present it in a plain and perspicuous manner to my readers, I have neither addressed myself to their prejudices nor their passions, but have endeavoured by a simple chain of reasoning to come at the truth, which is my single object, for being totally unconnected with Government, the East India Company, or mercantile concerns, I can have no motive for disguising it. Soon after the publication of the first edition on the 23d instant, I received the following letter, which will perhaps be more acceptable than any thing further from me by way of preface.
Tavistock Place, Jan. 25, 1813.
Dear Sir,
I have read your Common Sense, which is good sense, and so intelligible that he who runs may read, and he who reads can scarcely fail to understand.
I wish you had treated the subject of monopolies more copiously, and informed your readers that in the early ages of commerce monopolies were so extended, and the principle so abused, that they could not fail to become obnoxious to all, and tradition has made the name hateful ever since.
The kings of France, particularly Louis XIV. to raise money sold maitrices, as they were called, or a sort of privilege for exercising certain trades, and he at the same time limited the number, this practice, together with the former monopolies not abolished, created a general wish for Freedom of Trade in France.[A] The sect of economists were composed of republican philosophers, who proclaimed the grand advantages to be derived from the entire Freedom of Trade, nor was it then foreseen that under that pretext they were seeking Liberty and Equality, which but a few years after deluged France with the blood of her best sons, and had nearly ruined the world.