Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/101

102 "The building rent is the interest or profit of the capital expended in building the house. This surplus rent [the second] is the price which the inhabitant of the house pays for some real or supposed advantage of the situation." Bk. v, ch. ii.

Petty.—"An house is of a double nature, viz., one, wherein it is a way and means of expence, the other as it is an instrument and tool of gain" (26).

One is very open to errors in endeavoring to prove in a case of this sort that the later writer has copied his predecessor. Often when there is even greater similarity than in the above examples, the coincidence may be accidental. Smith did not recognize that the earlier writers whom he classed as mercantilists contained anything but false principles. At the present day it is possible to take a broader view without detracting from the fame of the "Wealth of Nations." A place in the development of economic doctrine is conceded to Smith's predecessors. Among them there is no one more worthy of recognition, no one whose place is more assured, than Petty. However imperfectly he is interpreted here, enough has been said to establish his claim to the respect and consideration of the students of economic literature.