On David Ricardo (1772-1823)* Professor A. HEERTJE

(University of Amsterdam)

1. Introduction

David Ricardo was born in April 1772, and

published his treatise on economics, Principles

of Political Economy and Taxation, in April 1817.

He was just 45 years old and had recently retired from the Stock Exchange, where he

had earned a large fortune.1 From 1812 he

had lived at 56 Upper Brook Street in the

West End of London and after 1814 he divided

his time about equally between London and

his country house in Gloucestershire, Gatcombe

Park, which incidentally now belongs to the

distinguished statesman Lord Butler.

David Ricardo was the father of eight child?

ren, the eldest, Osman, being 23 years old and

the youngest, Birtha, seven in 1817, the year of the publication of the Principles. Ricardo was born a Jew in 1772 in the City of London, the third child of Abraham Ricardo and

Abigail Delvalie. On 20 December 1793 he

married Priscilla Anna Wilkinson, the daughter of a Quaker, after which he can no longer be

considered to belong to the Jewish com?

munity.2 At the time of the publication of the

Principles he was a Unitarian.

The printing of the first edition of the Prin?

ciples began at the end of February 18173 and

750 copies were issued. During his lifetime a

second edition was published in 1819, of which

1,000 copies were printed, and a third in

1821, also consisting of 1,000 copies. These

numbers indicate that Ricardo's book became

a success within rather a short time. The book,

however, is by no means a popular one. It is

difficult both from the point of view of composi? tion and style and from that of economic

theory. Ricardo did not plan the Principles in the sense that he had a framework in his

mind before he started writing, but, as Sraffa

puts it, . . he wrote according to the sequence of his own ideas'.4

Ricardo was a far better thinker than writer

on economics.5 His treatment of economics is

less descriptive than, for example, Adam

Smith's treatment in the Wealth of Nations.

James Mill, who knew Ricardo from about

1806, pressed him to write his Principles in order

to contribute to the body of political economy and he also had a political career for Ricardo

in mind. Already in 1814 Mill was writing to Ricardo that he might be of. . great use to

a favourite science, and to a most important

department of practical politics, which al?

together depend upon that science, ought to be

* Text of a lecture given to the Jewish Historical

Society of England at University College, London, on 19 April 1972. I should like to express my deepest thanks to all those who gave their time and

support in helping to prepare this lecture. In

particular, I am grateful to David Weatherall, who

helped me with its composition and who also corrected my English. Of my Dutch friends, I wish to offer my warmest thanks to Mr. E. Schoorl and Mr. J. Zwier, who did very important work in the archives of Amsterdam and were lucky enough to discover the will and estate of Joseph Israel

Ricardo, David Ricardo's grandfather. We all owe a great debt of gratitude to the vast knowledge of Dr. S. Hart, of the Amsterdam municipal archives, especially with regard to the labyrinth of notarial archives. This discovery is one of the principal elements of this lecture. The final text has been

improved through comments by Prof. Dr. H.

Baudet, Prof. Dr. P. Hennipman, Dr. A. S.

Rijxman, and Mr. J. B. Polak. 1 Compare a curious pamphlet by a practical

jobber, The Art of Stock Jobbing Explained, seventh edition (London, 1817), p. 49, in which it is stated 'A noted Jew, who has now, it is said, retired from the scene of action, has accumulated a fortune of

800,0001.; and this is all done by buying and

selling property belonging to the public' This may be an allusion to David Ricardo.

2 See for the main facts about Ricardo's life the well-known edition of his works by P. SrafTa, The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo

(Cambridge, 1951-1955 and 1973), Vols. I-XI. 3 See A. Heertje, 'Two Letters from James

Mill to Jean-Baptiste Say', History of Political

Economy, 1971, pp. 414-418. 4 SrafTa, I, page xxii.

5 Compare Mill's letter to Ricardo of 22 Dec?

ember 1815: Tor as you are already the best thinker on political economy, I am resolved you shall also be the best writer', SrafTa, VI, p. 340.

73

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74 Professor A. Heertje

sufficient motive with him, to improve every hour and every moment, nay to place himself

in that situation in which his tongue, as well

as his pen might be of use'.6

Ricardo himself made the prospect of a

career in Parliament depend on the success

of his book; this can be concluded from his

letter to Mill of 20 December 1816: T do not

readily fall in with your suggestions respecting a seat in Parliament: I fear I should be mere

lumber there. From the trials which I have

already made I am sure I should never be

able to deliver my sentiments on any subject in debate, and I cannot perceive in what other

way I could be in the least useful. If my book

succeeds, as you promise me, perhaps my ambition may be awakened, and I may

aspire to rank with senators, but at present I

have the greatest awe for the distinguished

persons who figure in St. Stephens. If you are

indeed right in your prognostications, if I

am really to be the author of a book of merit, I shall bow to your superior discernment. Let

me however first be convinced that you are not

a partial judge, and do not view my perform? ance through the medium of a too friendly bias.'7 As is well known, Ricardo entered the

House of Commons in the spring of 1819 and was a member till his death in 1823. He

reckoned himself to belong neither to the Tories

nor to the Whigs, and was later described as a

'moderate oppositionist' and as somebody who 'voted on the side of the people'.8

His speeches in Parliament mostly dealt with

economic subjects, but important exceptions were the speeches on religious toleration that

he made in 1823, one of which led to an

exchange of letters with Isaac Lyon Goldsmid.9

When Ricardo published his Principles of Political Economy he was already a well-known

author, above all on the subject of the currency. Thus the publication of the Principles did not

happen suddenly or accidentally. It was the

culmination of a long series of events, the

earlier writings on economics and the dazzling career on the Stock Exchange, which is not

independent of the Jewish environment and

background of David Ricardo. He was led

to write on the currency, his brother Moses

said, because of the . . immense transactions

which he had with the Bank of England'. In particular, he studied the difference which

existed between the value of the coin and the

bank notes and he wanted to 'ascertain from

what cause the depreciation of the latter arose'.10

The chief transactions he had with the Bank

of England were those of a loan contractor.

2. Ricardo on the Stock Exchange

Government expenditure is partly financed

by means of loans. In Ricardo's days these

loans were raised by contractors, operating on

the Stock Exchange, who competed for the

loan. Each contractor formed a list of sub?

scribers, who were associated with him and

who took a share in the loan. It was in 1806

that the names of John Barnes, James Steers, and David Ricardo were first found among the

would-be contractors, bidding on behalf of

their list from the Stock Exchange.11 There were

then loans every year until the end of the

Napoleonic war, and the biggest of the loans was raised on 14 June, just four days before the

Battle of Waterloo. Among the four contractors

was the Stock Exchange list of Barnes, Steers, and Ricardo. The terms were very favourable

to the lenders, and Ricardo, who invested a

* Sraffa, VI, p. 138. ? Sraffa, VII, pp. 113-114. 8 Sraffa, V, page xix, based on the Globe and

Traveller of 16 September 1823. ? Sraffa, V, pp. 277 and 324; in his letter to

Goldsmid, Ricardo wrote: 'The Jews have most reason to complain, for they are frequently re?

proached for the dishonesty, which is the natural effect of the political degradation in which they are

kept. I cannot help thinking that the time is ap? proaching, when these ill-founded prejudices against men, on account of their religious opinions will disappear and I should be happy if I in any way should be a humble instrument in accelerating their fall', Sraffa, IX, p. 278.

10 Sraffa, X, p. 7; 'A Memoir of David Ricardo', The Annual Biography and Obituary for the year 1824, Volume VIII, London, 1824, pp. 368-377; SrafFa's

suggestion that the Memoir was written by David's brother Moses (1776-1866) is confirmed by a

recently discovered letter of James Mill to McGulloch of 10 January 1824, 'You have probably seen the account of him in the Annual Obituary which has been written by his brother Moses'.

n Sraffa, X, p. 79.

On David Ricardo (1772-1823) 75

large amount in the stock, made a large profit after the victory. In all, he was a successful

contractor in seven loans.

But it is noteworthy and illustrative of the

detached scientific reasoning of Ricardo that

while his grandfather, his father, and he had

enriched themselves on the Stock Exchange, he held a negative view of the existence of

any public debt at all.12

Ricardo was employed on the Stock Exchange

by his father at the age of 14, in 1786, and by the beginning of 1793 he was doing some

business there on his own. He was what was

called a stock jobber, one of those who dealt

on their own account. The stock jobber phase was crucial in the development of David

Ricardo. It led directly to the loan contractor

and the economist; and it came directly from

his ancestral tradition.

During the reign of George III (1760?

1820) the Jewish community held a less alien

position than before, although the influx of

Jews from the Continent tended to maintain

their foreign character. But Jews such as

Benjamin and Abraham Goldsmid became

important financiers and especially after

Waterloo the Jewish community had improved its economic position, which also led to a higher

ranking in social and cultural life.13 Thus

during Ricardo's lifetime the position of the

Jews rose steadily, notwithstanding the absence

of legislative action. This environment helped to make him a financier. His heredity helped too; and perhaps his heredity helped more.

What his heredity means can clearly be shown

in the history of his family at Amsterdam.

3. Ricardo's Jewish Background

The Jewish heritage can be traced through five generations. Previous to those, all that can

be said is that the family came from Spain or

Portugal, probably around 1593, when Jews were invited by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to settle in the free port of Leghorn. The earliest

ancestor of whom we know anything certain

is Samuel van Mozes Israel, whose burial in

1692 is registered at the Sephardic burying

ground at Ouderkerk, near Amsterdam.

According to the municipal archives at

Amsterdam, the profession of his son Benjamin was 'Koraalmaker' (coral-worker), which then

meant 'jeweller', which suggests that his father,

Samuel, may also have been a 'jeweller'. David

Ricardo in 1822 noted the excellence of the

jewellers' shops in Leghorn. Then some time

between 1660 and 1670 Samuel van Mozes

Israel left Leghorn, and together with other

Portuguese Jews went to join the great

Sephardic community of Amsterdam.

Among the Marranos, the Ricardos were

relative latecomers. In the second half of the

sixteenth century the Spanish Inquisition became very severe on the seemingly converted

Jews and, after the Spanish General Parma

conquered the greater part of Flanders, partic?

ularly severe in Antwerp. As a result, many fled to the north. Some historians have even

attributed the rise of Amsterdam to the influx

of Jews. This view is no longer held, but it is

clear that the Jews had an important share in

the rise of the mercantile city. As an example, from the foundation of the

Amsterdam Wisselbank in 1609 till 1620, the

initial total number of 731 accounts was not

even doubled, while the original number of

24 accounts kept by Portuguese Jews was

more than quadrupled, to 106.14

As a rule, the Sephardim were more well-to

do than the Ashkenazim. As bankers, they were

accepted in the upper strata of Dutch Society and some maintained good relations with the

House of Orange, a few of them even being

knighted. In the second half of the eighteenth century,

the wealth of the Sephardic community suffered

some decline, in which the Ricardos do not

seem to have shared. David Ricardo, however, later had to support a poor relative in The

Hague. David Israel, of Leghorn, the son of Samuel,

was born in Leghorn in 1652 and married

Strellia Amadios on 14 August 1692. He was a

12 Compare Hansard, New Series, Vol. VII,

p. 665; Vol. VIII, p. 220; see also E. L. Hargreaves, The National Debt (London, 1930), p. 139, and P. H. Emden, Jews of Britain (London, 1943), p. 56.

13 See for further details C. Roth, A History of the Jews in England (Oxford, 1964), pp. 224-266.

14 Compare H. Brugmans and A. Frank (Eds.),

Geschiedenis derJoden in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1940).

76 Professor A. Heertje

'coopman' (merchant), which illustrates the rise

of the family. He and his brothers used the name Israel, most of them being described as

'of Livorno', and not by the name Ricardo.

This name began to be used after 1720, in

the form of Israel Ricardo, and during the

second half of the eighteenth century the name Israel gradually disappears. As is well

known, it was common practice to use a civil

name together with a synagogue name. Around

1700, the name Ricardo also turns up in cases

where it probably does not belong to relatives

but is carried as a Koopman's 'alias'. This

stems from the habit of doing business under

different names in order to lead the Inquisition

astray. Once in Amsterdam, the Ricardos became

active members of the Sephardic community.

4. Ricardo's Grandfather

Joseph Israel Ricardo, the son of David

Israel, was the grandfather of the later econ?

omist. He was born in 1699 in Amsterdam and

died in 1762. In 1721 he married Hannah

Abaz. who died in 1781.15

Much new evidence has been found on

Joseph Israel Ricardo in the municipal archives of Amsterdam. Besides the information on his private life, the discovery of the exact

figures of his transactions on the Amsterdamsche

Wisselbank is of some importance. The complete

description of his estate also gives some insight into his financial and social position. The list,

amounting to 1,534 guilders, seems typical of a not too wealthy eighteenth-century bourgeois

family. The linen seems more than complete

(e.g., 52 sheets and 64 shirts). Except for the

Standing clock valued at 100 guilders, and the

Sabbath lamp valued at 161 guilders, there are no pieces of furniture of notable value. There is some silver, there are candlesticks, forks and

spoons, but no knives, and of course two silver salt-cellars. Owning two coffee-pots and two

teapots, the family followed the eighteenth century fashion. But there is no mention of a

tobacco pot, which could have pointed to the

other new fashion of the time.

His marriage contract with Hannah Abaz

in 1721 stipulated that he brought in all his

goods and that Hannah brought in a thousand

guilders cash, and jewellery and clothes to the

value of a thousand guilders. After the death of Abraham Abaz, Hannah's

father, three of his heirs disposed of three

quarters of the house in the Weesperkerkstraat to Joseph Israel Ricardo; and he got a fourth

part by hereditary law because Hannah was

the fourth heir. Although his estate in 1762

clearly shows his large interest in English

stock, we can only guess what his dealings included. One important reference can be

found in the letter-book for 1757 and 1758

of a British-paid commissariat in the Seven

Years War for the troops serving under Prince

Ferdinand of Brunswick. Joseph Israel Ricardo was one of the Continental agents of the

commissary, then David Mendes da Costa.16

Although we must be very careful not to

make too broad a generalisation from the

dealings of one person, the transactions of

Joseph Israel Ricardo illustrate one of the last

boom periods of the Amsterdam capital market

at the time of the Seven Years War. Altogether, three periods can be distinguished in his

transactions at the Wisselbank.17

15 SrafTa writes that Joseph married twrice, the first marriage being in 1721 to Hannah Israel, the second in 1727 to Hannah Abaz. This must be considered an error. The certificate of marriage of

Joseph Israel Ricardo and Hannah Abaz in the

municipal archives is dated 31 January 1721 and in the Portuguese archives it is dated 8 Sebat

5481; the error is understandable. In the archives of the Portuguese Synagogue Hannah Abaz is named Hannah Israel. After her name was written

'Gijoret', which means 'Christian converted to

Judaism'. It is quite possible that in view of the old Dutch style of writing the year 1721 may have been misinterpreted as 1727.

16 The letter-book is now in the British Museum. The document referred to by H. I. Bloom (Sraffa, X, p. 19) is interpreted by Sraffa as an official one. It must be noted, however, that Joseph Israel Ricardo's name does not figure in the list of members of the brokers' guild. 17

Compare J. G. van Dillen, Van Rijkdom en

Regenten (Den Haag, 1970), pp. 596ff., and 'The Bank of Amsterdam', reprint from the History of the

Principal Public Banks (1930). Van Dillen makes it clear that the period of the Seven Years War was

very profitable for the commerce of the Republic and that around 1760 the bank system was highly developed in Amsterdam.

On David Ricardo (1772-1823) 77

(a) 1743-1750, the annual turnover during these years did not exceed 2,000 guilders,

with the exception of 7,600 guilders for the

first half of 1745. (b) 1750-1758, the annual turnover was

between 10,000 and 20,000 guilders.

(c) 1758-1762. In the last years of his life, transactions showed a rapid growth to 112,000

guilders in 1761 and 54,000 in the first half of 1762. Also, from 1757 onwards a whole page is reserved for his entries in the ledgers of the

Wisselbank under a new number. Until then, the annual number of his entries being under

twenty, he had to share a page with other

holders of small accounts.18

Joseph Israel Ricardo was thus a man of

substance when he died in June 1762 in

Amsterdam. According to his will, the bene?

ficiaries were his wife, his children, and his

grandchild Rachel da Silva Curiel. There

were also two legacies: one of/200 (/ =

guild?

ers) to the 'Sedaca' (fund for poor members of

the Jewish community), with the stipulation that every year on the Day of Atonement and on

the Sabbath following the anniversary of his

wife's death the prayer 'Ascabah' should be

read for him and his wife; and the other of

7"100 to the Abi Tetomim (aid for orphans). The

executors, Mozes Raphael Hisquia da Vega and David Israel Ricardo, authorised, among

others, Emanuel Fernandes and Abraham

Ricardo in London to act on their behalf on

the London stock market. His capital was in

English stocks: the 4% and 3% Funds, the

stock of the United Company of Merchants

trading to the East Indies, the stock of the

South Sea Company, and the capital and

principal stock of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England: the total sum amount?

ing to ?8,000. After the death of da Vega the new executors were Abraham da Vega, Samuel Israel Ricardo, and Mozes Israel

Ricardo, the last two being uncles of the

economist.

His daughter Ribca received a legacy of

4,500 guilders minus what she had already received during her father's life. This legacy

had to be paid after the death of Hannah

Abaz. As, however, Ribca died in 1770 and

Hannah in 1781, the legacy had to be paid in 1781 to Ribca's children. According to the

will of Joseph Israel Ricardo, the executors

would have to be the guardians of his heirs

under age. The guardians of Ribca's children bought

half of the house in the Weesperkerkstraat. The other half was bought by Rehuel Lobatto, the widower of Ribca. When Lobatto died in

1789, the executors of the will of Joseph Israel Ricardo and the executors of Lobatto's

will sold the house to Salvador Bonaguetti Fano for 5,012 guilders. Since this house was

in the possession of the family when David

Ricardo was in Amsterdam, it is likely that he

paid a visit there.

5. Ricardo's Father

Abraham Israel Ricardo was born in

Amsterdam on 19 September 1738. He was

the youngest son of Joseph Israel Ricardo, who had three other sons and two daughters. Abraham became a stockbroker, like two of

his brothers. He spent his youth in Amsterdam

and like his brothers, gave financial support to the Talmud Tora and Ets Haim. Ricardos,

however, were not inclined to stay at home.

They not only settled in The Hague and in

London but also went to North and South

America and Curasao. The son of David

Hizkiau Ricardo (1730-1778)," Mordechay Ricardo (1771-1842), went to Curacao and

became the protector of Simon Bolivar. His

sister Rebecca Ricardo was the mother of the

well-known Dutch poet Isaac Da Costa

(1798-1860). But David Hizkiau Ricardo

stayed in Holland, and in 1765 was able to

buy a country house near Maarssen for 4,000

guilders.

During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) the Dutch invested enormous amounts in

English Funds. Many firms had agents in

London to manage their investments, and one

of the agents in 1760 was Abraham Israel

Ricardo. And in 1760, when he was still a

bachelor, he seems to have decided that his 18

Compare this with Cantillon's position, as described by R. Hyse, 'Richard Cantillon, Financier to Amsterdam,' The Economic Journal (1971), p. 816. 19 Brother of Abraham Ricardo.

78 Professor A. Heertje

future lay in England. He continued to act as

an agent, but soon began business on the

London stock market in his own right. It seems certain that it was financial rather than

social considerations that prompted his deci?

sion; and it was not in any event a hasty decision, for he was still a Dutch citizen,

though living in London, when on 30 April 1769 he married Abigail Delvalle, the daughter

of a Sephardic family which had been estab?

lished in England for three generations. Then

in 1770 he became a denizen; and in 1773 he was appointed to one of the twelve brokerships allotted to Jews in the City of London.20

When David Ricardo was born his father was thus an Englishman; and when he was a

boy an established London stockbroker; but

he was also a prominent figure in the Sephardic

community of London. He was elected to serve as Parnas in 1785, 1789, 1798, and 1802.2*

He died in 1812, eleven years after his wife,

leaving a fortune of about ?45,000.

6. Ricardo's Education

David Ricardo was born on 18 April 1772, the third son. After him six girls and eight

more boys were born. Till 1792 the family lived in the City and in that year they moved to Bow. About his youth very little is known. In 1824 a memoir of David Ricardo was

published by his brother Moses. From this we quote the following:

. . in point of education [he] had the same

disadvantages which are usually allotted to

those who are destined for a mercantile line of life. When very young, he was sent to Holland.

His father, who had designed him to follow the same business in which he was engaged, and

whose transactions lay chiefly in that country, sent him there not only with a view to his

becoming acquainted with it, but also that he

might be placed at a school of which he

entertained a very high opinion. After two

years' absence he returned home, and con?

tinued the common school-education till his

father took him into business. At his intervals

of leisure he was allowed any masters for

private instruction whom he chose to have; but he had not the benefit of what is called a

classical education ... In the early days of Mr. Ricardo but little appeared in his intellec?

tual progress, which would have led even an

acute observer to predict his future eminence. But after having seen him attain that station,

they who have passed through life with him from

his boyish days now bring to their recollection

circumstances, which though overlooked as

trivial at the time, serve to show that the

plentiful harvest was the natural consequence of a generous spring'.22

It is perhaps of some interest to compare this type of education with that given to Isaac

dTsraeli (1766-1848). His father, also a London

stockbroker, hoped his son would carry on the

family business. In 1780 Isaac was sent to stay with his father's agent in Amsterdam and

studied there under a private tutor. This tutor ran a private school, but had really only an

appearance of learning: DTsraeli's parents were taken in by him. Yet the young Isaac

learned a lot through browsing in his tutor's

library, and what he learned left a permanent

impression. He made little or no progress with Greek and Latin, but began to acquire a considerable knowledge of modern lan?

guages.23 According to a letter of Maria

Edgeworth of 14 November 1821 Ricardo's

education appears to have been remarkably similar. She writes that Ricardo told her:

'My father gave me but little education. He

thought reading, writing and arithmetic

sufficient because he doomed me to be nothing but a man of business, he sent me at eleven to

Amsterdam to learn Dutch, French and Span? ish. But I was so unhappy at being separated from my brothers and sisters and family, that

I learned nothing in two years but Dutch which

I could not help learning'.24 David lived from 1783 to 1785 in Amsterdam

in the house of one of his uncles, probably Samuel. Assuming that David went to the

Portuguese Synagogue, it is of some interest

20 Sraffa, X, p. 22.

21 A. M. Hyamson, The Sephardim of England (London, 1951), pp. 437-439.

22 SrafTa, X, pp. 3-4. 23

J. Ogden, Isaac d'Israeli (London, 1969), p. 9. 24 Maria Edgeworth, Letters from England, edited

by Christina Calvin (Oxford, 1971), p. 266.

On David Ricardo (1772-1823) 79 to quote in full the description by John Aikin,

who in 1784 visited Amsterdam and the

synagogue. 'Amsterdam appeared to be about a third

the size of London. We went first to the Jews

Quarter, a number of streets, inhabited solely

by this people, who are confined to it. It is

extremely populous and full of odd faces and

dresses. We stepped into the Portuguese Jews'

Synagogue, a very fine large building. It was

the Sabbath and we stayed part of the service, which was reading the Hebrew psalter. One man on a kind of stage, railed around, read

in a sort of chanting tone, and every now and

then this congregation joined in, making a

strange discordant clamour. Many were

conversing together, and the appearance of the

assembly was as far as possible from indicating reverence or devotion. The men had all a

sort of towel wrapped round them. The women

were in a sort of gallery, scarcely visible. We

also saw the German Synagogue which is not so large in this town. The Jews look sharp, designing, dark: the women frequently hand?

some, though brown, with black wanton eyes and lively features. Among the old men were

several excellent Shylock faces.'25

There is a possibility that the school to

which David Ricardo was sent was the great Amsterdam Talmud Torah. But there is no

evidence in favour of this possibility in the

archives at Amsterdam. It is a fact that one

of the managers of the Talmud Torah in 1784 was Dr. Immanuel Capadose, who was de?

scribed by David Ricardo in 1822 as 'a very

friendly man, whom I knew when I was in

Holland'.26 But the Ricardo and Capadose families had had business relations for genera? tions and this fact alone is inconclusive.

On balance it seems more likely that David Ricardo was educated at a private school, in Amsterdam as in London, like the young

Isaac dTsraeli. From an intellectual point of view he was a late-flowering person; and

though already in his youth he showed 'a taste for abstract and general reasoning'27 there is no evidence of a systematic education

and development, so that his natural intellectual

gifts were only expressed in his financial

operations. These financial operations, how?

ever, enabled him in his 25th year to study for himself mathematics, chemistry, and

geology; and then in his 28th year he came more

or less by accident upon The Wealth of Nations,

by Adam Smith.

It was the decisive stage in the education of the economist. Ten years later the first

of his publications, the anonymously written

article 'The Price of Gold', appeared in the

Morning Chronicle.

7. Marriage

David Ricardo's family moved from the

City to Bow in 1792. Their house in Bow was

not far from that of a Dr. Edward Wilkinson.

The Wilkinsons were Quakers and the

Quakers at that time suffered many of the civil

handicaps suffered by the Jews. Hence they were natural allies. Priscilla Wilkinson and

David Ricardo met, fell in love, and married:

married against the wishes of both families.

8. Ricardo and religion

According to Lord Hardwick's Act of 1753

all marriages in England had to be performed in the established Church, except for Jews and

Quakers; and since David Ricardo had

renounced his Jewish faith and Priscilla

Wilkinson had been disowned by the Quakers,

they were married on 20 December 1793 in

their parish church of St. Mary's, Lambeth.

But this did not mean that Ricardo was

baptised as a member of the Church of England; and though the births of all his children were

registered with the Society of Friends, he

never was a Quaker. For several years after the

marriage he seems occasionally to have attend?

ed Quaker Meetings28 and then he was drawn

25 This passage is from his Travel Diary of 1784. John Aikin was a doctor and Benjamin d'Israeli was one of his patients. His family were Unitarians. He knew Maria Edgeworth and in later life he was the editor of a General Biography in ten volumes.

26 Letters written by David Ricardo during a Tour on the Continent (London, 1891), p. 21; Sraffa, X, p. 210.

27 Ibid., p. 205. 28

Compare the anonymous note in the Sunday Times of21 September 1823.

80 Professor A. Heertje

to the Unitarians. As is well known, the Unit?

arians do not accept the dogma of the Trinity. In 1809 he became a 'hearer' at 'Mr. Aspland's

Chapel in Hackney'.29 With the established Church his relations

were always less clearly defined. In 1808, when

he was living at Bromley St. Leonard's, he

was elected churchwarden; but though the

churchwarden had to take an oath on the

whole Bible, the office was of more secular

than religious significance. The position of

High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, to which he

was nominated in 1817, was, however, more

difficult for him. It was customary for the

High Sheriff to take Corporate Communion; and Ricardo showed very clearly that he did

not want to take Corporate Communion. He

went to the length of obtaining counsel's

opinion on the point, which was to the effect

that he was excused by the Toleration Acts.

Then in 1819 he entered Parliament, and took

the oath on 'the true faith of a Christian'.

A Unitarian of course considers himself a

Christian, although he denies the divinity of

Christ; and there can be no doubt that David

Ricardo felt himself to be a Unitarian. But his

wife did not share his views and it was said of

him towards the end of his life that 'when he

attended public worship at all, it was usually at church'.30 Certainly he was buried with the

rites of the established Church.

His attitude towards matters of religion

may be illustrated by the following quotation, taken from his speech in Parliament on 26

March 1823: 'All religious opinions, however

absurd and extravagant, might be conscien?

tiously believed by some individuals. Why,

then, was one man to set up his ideas on the

subject as the criterion from which no other

was to be allowed to differ with impunity?

Why was one man to be considered infallible, and all his fellow-men as frail and erring creatures? Such a doctrine ought not to be

tolerated: 'It savoured too much of the

Inquisition to be received as genuine in a free

country like England. A fair and free dis?

cussion ought to be allowed on all religious

topics.' William Wilberforce, who spoke after

Ricardo, made the following entry in his diary :

T had hoped that Ricardo had become a

Christian; I see now that he has only ceased

to be a Jew.'31

Defining a Jew as a man who professes the

Jewish religion, David Ricardo had of course

'ceased to be a Jew'. But there was also his

Jewish heritage. In October 1822 he went to

Leghorn, where together with his wife and

daughters he visited the synagogue, 'which is a

very beautiful one;?we saw a manufactory of

coral beads, and polishing pieces of coral and

fitting them for necklaces'.32 I cannot avoid

thinking that Ricardo's feelings dwelt for some

time on his great-grandfather Samuel van

Mozes Israel, the necklace-maker, who around

1660 went from Leghorn to Amsterdam.

9. Conclusion

Ricardo is the real founder of the science of

economics, in the sense that he derives his

conclusions from clearly formulated sup?

positions. Modern economics can to a large extent be conceived of as a collection of models, in which on the basis of axioms and hypotheses

propositions are derived by means of abstract

reasoning and mathematics. This method was

used by Ricardo, although he did not make use

explicitly of mathematics. His liberal attitude

in life in general is also an aspect of his

scientific opinions, as his conclusions change as

soon as he introduces a different supposition from which the reasoning starts. Ricardo is

never a dogmatic author. This can perhaps be illustrated best by the fact that on the one

hand he is one of the main representatives of

classical political economy, together with

Adam Smith and Malthus, and on the other

hand to a certain extent a forerunner of Marx

and of Lassalle.

For both Ricardo's labour theory of value

and his ideas on the effects of machinery on the

labouring classes were taken up by another

Jew, whose father had abandoned his faith,

29 Sraffa, X, p. 40. 30

Sunday Times, 21 September 1823.

31 See Sraffa. V, p. 280, and compare W. B.

Whitehead, Prosecutions of Infidel Blasphemers briefly indicated in a letter to David Ricardo (London, 1823).

32 Sraffa, X, p. 322.

On David Ricardo (1772-1823) 81 to construct one of the most influential theories on the development of capitalism in the history of economics. The link between Karl Marx

and David Ricardo, which I cannot discuss

in greater detail, is remarkable, as Ricardo

belonged to the classical school in economics, founded on the idea that God's invisible hand

made for harmony and optimum welfare.

Ricardo, however, also paved the way for the creator of the conflict model in economics, in the form of a description of the struggle between workers and capitalists.33 Marx

quoted Ricardo's famous phrase: 'Machinery and labour are in constant competition.' The

idea that the workers suffer from the intro?

duction of machinery is one of the main

elements in the theory of Karl Marx. In our

days this aspect of the economic theories of

both Ricardo and Marx is of more importance

than the labour theory of value, which has moved so many pens.

A man who knows how to combine conflict and harmony in his vision of the world and of society may be called a liberal in the true sense of the word. Ricardo was such a liberal.

The final sentences of his last letter to Malthus, from whom he often differed sharply in opinion, read as follows: 'And now, my dear Malthus, I have done. Like other disputants after much discussion we each retain our own opinions. These discussions however never influence our friendship; I should not like you more than I do if you agreed in opinion with me.'34

Ricardo's tolerance in this way so dominated his personality that despite the fact that he

expressed ideas that conflicted with those of others his attitude and character expressed the

harmony that is the prerequisite for a better world. 33 We leave aside here the conflict between the

workers and capitalists in Ricardo's economics. 34 Letter of 31 August 1823, SrafTa, IX, p. 382.