Sismondi's statement, putting in a nutshell the vital differences between the parts played by the proletariat in a modern society and in the society of ancient Rome, shows his profound insight into historical connections. He shows no less discernment, in his polemics against Ricardo, when analysing the specific economic character of the slave-system and of feudal economy as well as their relative historical significance, and finally when emphasising, as the dominant universal tendency of bourgeois economy, 'that it severs completely all kind of property from every kind of labour'. The second round, no more than the first, between Sismondi and the classical school, brought little glory for Sismondi's opponents.[209] FOOTNOTES: [193] It is typical that on his election to Parliament in 1819, when he already enjoyed the highest reputation on account of his economic writings, Ricardo wrote to a friend: 'You will have seen that I have taken my seat in the House of Commons. I fear I shall be of little use there. I have twice attempted to speak but I proceeded in the most embarrassed manner, and I have no hope of conquering the alarm with which I am assailed the moment I hear the sound of my own voice' (_Letters of D. Ricardo to J. R. MacCulloch_, N.Y., 1895, pp. 23-4). Such diffidence was quite unknown to the gasbag MacCulloch. [194] _Nouveaux Principes_ ..., book iv, chap. vii. [195] Ibid., book vii, chap. vii. [196] D. Ricardo, _On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation_ (3rd edition, London, 1821), p. 474. [197] Ibid., p. 478. [198] This essay, _Sur la Balance des Consommations avec les Productions_, is reprinted in the second edition of _Nouveaux Principes_, vol. ii, pp. 408 ff. Sismondi tells us about this discussion: 'M. Ricardo, whose recent death has been a profound bereavement not only to his friends and family but to all those whom he enlightened by his brilliance, all those whom he inspired by his lofty sentiments, stayed for some days in Geneva in the last year of his life. We discussed in two or three sessions this fundamental question on which we disagreed. To this enquiry he brought the urbanity, the good faith, the love of truth which distinguished him, and a clarity which his disciples themselves had not heard, accustomed as they were to the efforts of abstract thought he demanded in the lecture room.' [199] Ricardo, op. cit., p. 339. [200] Sismondi, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 361. [201] _Nouveaux Principes_ ..., book iv, chap, iv: 'Comment la Richesse commerciale suit l'Accroissement du Revenu' (vol. i, p. 115). [202] Sismondi, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 412. [203] Ibid., p. 416. [204] Ibid., p. 424. [205] Ibid., p. 417. [206] Sismondi, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 425-6. [207] Ibid., p. 429. [208] Ibid., pp. 434-5.