A DEFENCE Of An ESSAY On The PUBLICK DEBTS Of This KINGDOM, &c.; In Answer to a Pamphlet, entitled, A State of the National Debt, &c. By the Author of the ESSAY.
London: Printed for J. Peele, at Locke's Head in Pater-Noster-Row, 1727. 1st Edition (Goldsmith 6548). 72 pp. Headpiece & decorative initial capital letter, p. 3. 8vo, signed in 4s. Disbound, with binding remnants along spine. Now housed in an archival mylar sleeve. Paper flaw to I3 fore-edge. I4 with corner creases. Still, a VG+ copy. Item #47777
Gould a successful merchant & politician, who served in Parliament, essentially, from 1701 until his death in 1728. His government service was lacking in distinction "until until the later years of Anne's reign when, in 1713, he spoke three times (and very effectively) against the treaty of commerce with France. Following the accession of George I, he seconded a motion of 12 April 1717 that English trade to the Baltic could not be carried on unless the king of Sweden was brought to reason, and during the South Sea crisis he advocated strong measures against the directors. ... It was on this subject [of public debt] that Gould made his last recorded parliamentary speech in February 1728." [ODNB].
Herein, Gould comments on the current level of public debt, a view then beginning to resonate with the public... as Schumpeter notes, "The English public was in fact so nervous [by the level of the national debt] that the Pitt government in 1786 resumed, on a larger scale and more seriously, the policy of paying an annual sum into a Sinking Fund. ... The plan adopted is usually attributed to the suggestion of Richard Price [in his 1772 publication, An Appeal .. on the Subject of the National Debt]. Sir Nathaniel Gould had published similar views before [reemphasized in this offered pamphlet]. Cf. Schumpeter: History of Economic Analysis, p. 327.
ABPC shows just one copy to auction in the last 30+ years, that in 2004.
Price: $1,500.00