Thoughts on finance, suggested by the measures of the present session.
London.
Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, 1797.
First edition.
[4], 55pp, [1]. With a half-title. ESTC T174622.
[Bound after:] [GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND]. An illustration of the principles of the bill proposed to be submitted to the consideration of Parliament, for correcting the abuses and supplying the defects in the internal government of the royal boroughs... Edinburgh. Printed by Neill and Company, 1787. First edition. [4], 54, 31pp, [1]. Appendix erroneously bound prior to main text. ESTC T78640.
[And:] GRANT, Robert. The substance of the speech of robert grant...in support of a bill "To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India.' London. Printed by James Gillet, [1814]. First edition. [4], 123pp, [9]. With a half-title.
[And:] SPANKIE, Robert. The substance of the speech of robert grant...in support of a bill "To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India.' London. Printed by James Gillet, [1814]. First edition. [4], 55pp, [1]. With a half-title.
[And:] [DOWDESWELL, William?] The sentiments of an english freeholder, on the late decision of the middlesex election. London. Printed for J. Dodsley, 1769. First edition. [4], 60pp. With a half-title. ESTC T47461.
[Bound before:] HANWAY, Mr. [Jonas]. Three letters to the marine society, On Occasion of their clothing Men and Boys for the Sea, pointing out the various advantages accruing to the nation from this institution. Also a full Detail of the rules and forms Of this society... London. Sold by R. and J. Dodsley, 1758. viii, 32, 23, [1], 67, [1], 14pp, [1]. Each letter has separate title page, pagination, and register. Title in red and black. With an engraved frontispiece, one further engraved plate, two engraved vignettes, and a terminal list of subscribers to the Marine Society. Letter I is of the third edition, corrected and enlarged. ESTC N47426.
Quarto. Contemporary half-calf, tooled in gilt and blind. Lightly rubbed and marked, slight loss to head of spine. Very occasional light spotting, half title of first mentioned work marked, head of fifth mentioned work dampstained, half-title heavily so.
[Bound after:] [GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND]. An illustration of the principles of the bill proposed to be submitted to the consideration of Parliament, for correcting the abuses and supplying the defects in the internal government of the royal boroughs... Edinburgh. Printed by Neill and Company, 1787. First edition. [4], 54, 31pp, [1]. Appendix erroneously bound prior to main text. ESTC T78640.
[And:] GRANT, Robert. The substance of the speech of robert grant...in support of a bill "To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India.' London. Printed by James Gillet, [1814]. First edition. [4], 123pp, [9]. With a half-title.
[And:] SPANKIE, Robert. The substance of the speech of robert grant...in support of a bill "To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India.' London. Printed by James Gillet, [1814]. First edition. [4], 55pp, [1]. With a half-title.
[And:] [DOWDESWELL, William?] The sentiments of an english freeholder, on the late decision of the middlesex election. London. Printed for J. Dodsley, 1769. First edition. [4], 60pp. With a half-title. ESTC T47461.
[Bound before:] HANWAY, Mr. [Jonas]. Three letters to the marine society, On Occasion of their clothing Men and Boys for the Sea, pointing out the various advantages accruing to the nation from this institution. Also a full Detail of the rules and forms Of this society... London. Sold by R. and J. Dodsley, 1758. viii, 32, 23, [1], 67, [1], 14pp, [1]. Each letter has separate title page, pagination, and register. Title in red and black. With an engraved frontispiece, one further engraved plate, two engraved vignettes, and a terminal list of subscribers to the Marine Society. Letter I is of the third edition, corrected and enlarged. ESTC N47426.
Quarto. Contemporary half-calf, tooled in gilt and blind. Lightly rubbed and marked, slight loss to head of spine. Very occasional light spotting, half title of first mentioned work marked, head of fifth mentioned work dampstained, half-title heavily so.
A sammelband of six Georgian pamphlets concerning governance, finance, and shipping; notably including the first edition of an excoriating critique of the Pitt administrations budgetary expedients by political economist James Maitland, eighth Earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839).
'There is no task more discouraging, from its repeated failure, than any attempt to attract public attention to the Finances of the country. It is a subject understood by few, and amusing to none'.
Lauderdale contended that the proposition to fund navy and exchequer bills to the amount of £15,000,000 had resulted in colossal waste due to the negligence and inattention of the government, particularly in regard to price scales. He further contended, with direct reference to the contemporary writings of Burke and Adam Smith, that the French Revolution had been occasioned by public frustration with financial error, and were similar errors allowed to be perpetrated in Britain, a similar result must be expected. The allusion to Adam Smith is intriguing as in 1804 Lauderdale would publish An Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth, and into the Means and Causes of its Increase, in which he questioned Smith's theory of the relationship between labour and value, arguing that profits resulting from capital investment in labour in order to supply public demand arose only when unimpeded by commercial legislative restraints, such as Pitt's sinking fund to redeem the national debt.
The Critical Review (Vol. XIX, 1797, p.319) were effusive in their praise: 'A more important pamphlet, indeed, than this, has scarcely ever fallen under our inspection; and we recommend the serious perusal of it to every reader who wishes to inform himself of the actual state of the country'.
ESTC records copies of the first edition at just seven locations (Duke, Harvard, Huntington, Johns Hopkins, NLA, RIA, and Senate House).
Two of the publications contained within concern a contemporary Parliamentary bill 'To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India'; both recording speeches expressing ardent support in favour of passing the bill, delivered by administrator in India Robert Grant (1780-1838) and lawyer Robert Spankie (1774-1842) respectively.
The primary article of the bill proposed that the 'Collector of Duties at any Port to the East India Company' should be made responsible for registering and certifying vessels built in India 'where there is no Collector or Comptroller of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs'; a proposal uncontested by the Company. The bill was passed in June 1815. Grant's effusive support in particular is unsurprising, given that the year prior to delivering his speech to Parliament he had published a defence of the East India Company's trading monopoly. In later life he would serve as Governor of Bombay.
The final mentioned work is an early collected issue of three letters by English merchant and philanthropist Jonas Hanway (bap. 1712, d.1786) concerning the operations of the Marine Society.
Hanway founded the Marine Society, the first public charity devoted solely to the care and provision seamen, in 1756. The primary aim of the Society, to raise service numbers, was immensely successful: by the end of the Seven Years War, more than 10,000 men and boys had been recruited for the navy. Hanway's letters proved sufficient to convince Lord Bute to award him a commission as a victualler in 1762. He seized upon this appointment with characteristic zeal, and pioneered efforts to improve sailors' diet in the North American stations.
ESTC records copies of this edition of the letters at just two locations (NLA and Stanford).
£ 1,750.00
Antiquates Ref: 25165
'There is no task more discouraging, from its repeated failure, than any attempt to attract public attention to the Finances of the country. It is a subject understood by few, and amusing to none'.
Lauderdale contended that the proposition to fund navy and exchequer bills to the amount of £15,000,000 had resulted in colossal waste due to the negligence and inattention of the government, particularly in regard to price scales. He further contended, with direct reference to the contemporary writings of Burke and Adam Smith, that the French Revolution had been occasioned by public frustration with financial error, and were similar errors allowed to be perpetrated in Britain, a similar result must be expected. The allusion to Adam Smith is intriguing as in 1804 Lauderdale would publish An Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth, and into the Means and Causes of its Increase, in which he questioned Smith's theory of the relationship between labour and value, arguing that profits resulting from capital investment in labour in order to supply public demand arose only when unimpeded by commercial legislative restraints, such as Pitt's sinking fund to redeem the national debt.
The Critical Review (Vol. XIX, 1797, p.319) were effusive in their praise: 'A more important pamphlet, indeed, than this, has scarcely ever fallen under our inspection; and we recommend the serious perusal of it to every reader who wishes to inform himself of the actual state of the country'.
ESTC records copies of the first edition at just seven locations (Duke, Harvard, Huntington, Johns Hopkins, NLA, RIA, and Senate House).
Two of the publications contained within concern a contemporary Parliamentary bill 'To make further Regulations for the Registry of Ships built in India'; both recording speeches expressing ardent support in favour of passing the bill, delivered by administrator in India Robert Grant (1780-1838) and lawyer Robert Spankie (1774-1842) respectively.
The primary article of the bill proposed that the 'Collector of Duties at any Port to the East India Company' should be made responsible for registering and certifying vessels built in India 'where there is no Collector or Comptroller of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs'; a proposal uncontested by the Company. The bill was passed in June 1815. Grant's effusive support in particular is unsurprising, given that the year prior to delivering his speech to Parliament he had published a defence of the East India Company's trading monopoly. In later life he would serve as Governor of Bombay.
The final mentioned work is an early collected issue of three letters by English merchant and philanthropist Jonas Hanway (bap. 1712, d.1786) concerning the operations of the Marine Society.
Hanway founded the Marine Society, the first public charity devoted solely to the care and provision seamen, in 1756. The primary aim of the Society, to raise service numbers, was immensely successful: by the end of the Seven Years War, more than 10,000 men and boys had been recruited for the navy. Hanway's letters proved sufficient to convince Lord Bute to award him a commission as a victualler in 1762. He seized upon this appointment with characteristic zeal, and pioneered efforts to improve sailors' diet in the North American stations.
ESTC records copies of this edition of the letters at just two locations (NLA and Stanford).
