In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

11 Correspondence1 1. Letter to Victor Calmètes Bayonne, 12 September 1819 [vol. 1, p. 1] . . . . . . . My friend, we are in the same boat. Both of us are attracted to intellectual activity rather than the kind to which duty calls us, the difference being that the reflection which takes our fancy is closer to that of a lawyer than to that of a trader. You know that I mean to go into commerce. When I entered the world of business, I conceived of business as purely mechanical and thought that six months would be enough to make me a trader. This being so, I did not think it necessary to work very hard and I concentrated in particular on the study of philosophy and politics. I have since lost any illusions I had on this point. I now recognize that the science of commerce is not enclosed within the limits of routine. I have learned that a good trader, in addition to knowing his merchandise and where it comes from, and knowing the worth of what he can exchange, and bookkeeping, all of which experience and routine can teach in part, must also study the law and broaden his knowledge of political economy, which is not part of routine and requires constant study. These considerations caused me considerable perplexity. Should I continue to study philosophy, which I like, or should I plunge into finance, 1. (Paillottet’s note) Among the letters of F. Bastiat which we are publishing here, many, especially the first, are of autobiographical interest only. Others relate to economic matters and the history of the free-trade movement of which Bastiat was the promoter and effective leader in France. We consider that his correspondence with R. Cobden, which reveals the essential agreement in the views of these two illustrious men and their reciprocal influence on each other, is genuinely important as a collection of historical documents. 12 Correspondence which I dread? Should I sacrifice my duty to my inclination or my inclination to my duty? Having decided to put my duty before everything, I was about to start my studies when I thought of taking a look at the future. I weighed up the wealth I might hope to gain and balanced it against my needs and ascertained that whatever small happiness commerce might afford me, I might, while still a young man, free myself of the burden of work that would not make for my happiness. You know my tastes, you know whether, if I were able to live happily and peacefully, however little my wealth exceeded my needs, I would choose to impose the burden of a boring job on myself for three quarters of my life in order to possess a pointless surplus for the rest of my life. . . . So now you know. As soon as I have acquired a certain prosperity, which I hope will be soon, I will be giving up business. 2. Letter to Victor Calmètes Bayonne, 5 March 1820 [vol. 1, p. 2] . . . I had read the Treatise on Political Economy by J. B. Say, an excellent and highly methodical work. Everything flows from the principle that riches are assets and that assets are measured according to utility. From this fertile principle, he leads you naturally to the most far-flung consequences so that, when you read this work, you are surprised, as when reading Laromiguière,2 at the ease with which you go from one idea to the next. The entire system passes before your eyes in its various forms and gives you all the pleasure that a sense of the obvious can provide. One day when I was in quite a large gathering, a question of political economy was discussed in conversation, and everyone was talking nonsense. I did not dare to put my opinions forward too much, since they were so diametrically opposed to the conventional wisdom. However, as each objection forced me to go up a notch to put forward my arguments, I was soon driven to the core principle. This was when M. Say made it easy for me. We started from the principle of political economy, which my adversaries admitted to be just. It was easy for us to go on to the consequences and reach that which was the subject of the conversation. This was the point at which I perceived 2. Bastiat is possibly making a reference to Laromiguière, Leçons de philosophie sur les principes de l’intelligence...

Share