James Denham-Steuart
Encyclopedia
Sir James Steuart, 3rd Baronet of Goodtrees and eventually 7th Baronet
of Coltness; late in life Sir James Steuart Denham, also called Sir James Denham Steuart (21 October 1713 – 26 November 1780) was a prominent Jacobite
, who wrote one of the first noteworthy books in English about economics. He assumed the surname of Denham late in life; he inherited his cousin's baronetcy of Coltness in 1773.
under Queen Anne
and George I, and was born in Edinburgh
. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh
he was admitted to the Scottish bar at the age of twenty-four.
He then spent some years on the Continent, and while in Rome
entered into relations with the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart
. He was in Edinburgh in 1745, and so compromised himself that, after the battle of Culloden
, he found it necessary to return to the Continent, where he remained until 1763. It was not until 1771 that he was fully pardoned for any complicity he may have had in the rebellion. He died at his family seat, Coltness
, in Lanarkshire
.
which had appeared in England and indeed the first full-fledged economics treatise to appear anywhere. Also the German philosopher Hegel recognized that book and wrote a comment about it in the year 1799. Although often regarded as part of the Scottish Enlightenment
which produced David Hume
and Adam Smith
, Steuart's economics hark back to the earlier Mercantilist era.
Mercantilism was the school of thought that held that a positive balance of trade was of primary importance for any nation and required a ban on the export of gold and silver. This theory led to high protective tariffs to maximaize the use of domestic resources, colonial expansion and exclusivity of trade with those colonies. British attempts to follow the mercantilist ideas led to the four Anglo-Dutch navigation wars
and the American colonials wars of 1776-1781 and 1812
. Additionally in 1815, Britain adopted the high tariff, called the corn laws
on all imported wheat at the suggestion of mercantalist advisors. Debate over the corn laws would be harsh and would dominate the political discussion and occupy all British governments until the corn laws were repealed in 1846.
At the level of any individual sales transaction, merchantilism held that profit was developed at the point of the sale. Steuart held that profit was a mere "surcharge" upon alienation (sale) of the commodity. Steuart was not a pure mercnatilist, however, he believed in a "scientific form of mercantilism." Steuart held that all profit arose from the seller "overcharging" the buyer in any single sales transaction. However, Steuart did allow that the "profit" obtained through exchange would "fluctuate" with the rise and/or fall in demand. Still like all good merchantilists, Steuart's eye remained on the exchange as the creator of profit and he recognized no value in a commodity before the sale.
Steuart was one of the last representatives of the merchantilist school of economic thought. More accurately, while on the Continent, Steuart had imbibed the sophisticated Enlightenment
Mercantilism that was in the air—particularly, German Neo-Cameralism -- which combined a legal-statist approach with a "natural" approach to economics. Although a promoter of old fashioned export subsidies and import tariffs, Steuart added several elements that tied this in with a more general theory of economic development. Unlike the old Mercantilists, he recognized Richard Cantillon
's "population-subsistence" dynamics. He also introduced the concept of diminishing returns
to land. Steuart juggled two interesting theories of price—a long-run labor theory of value
and a short-run "demand-and-supply" theory. Indeed, Steuart was among the first to introduce the term "equilibrium". Thus, Steuart was an important forerunner of both the Classical
and Neoclassical
schools in many respects. Steuart also provided one of the more able statements of the real bills doctrine
of money.
Although the work appears to have been well received its impact was overshadowed by Smith's Wealth of Nations that was published only nine years later. It is interesting to note that Adam Smith
never quotes or mentions Steuart's book, although he was acquainted with him. It has been argued that Smith avoided Steuart arguments because they would have undermined his Utopia. Moreover, the attacks on Mercantilism
in the Wealth of Nations appear to have been mainly directed against Steuart. As Smith appears to have thought that Steuart's conversation was better than his book, he probably wished to keep clear of controversy with him.
Steuart's book was received much more favourably a century later by the members of the Historical school of economics
.
of 1688: Sir Thomas Steuart of Coltness, the first son; Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, Lord Advocate
, the fourth son; Sir Robert Steuart of Allandale, the youngest of the seven sons; two of these baronetcies were eventually held by the subject of this article. The Lord Advocate, Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, was grandfather to the subject of this article; his father, also Sir James Steuart, was the eldest son of the Lord Advocate, and rose to be Solicitor General for Scotland.
The third Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, the subject of this article, inherited his baronetcy and estates at the age of fourteen; he was also to acquire much of the possession of his cousins, the senior line of Steuarts. Sir Thomas Steuart of Coltness, had married twice: to Margaret Elliot, his step-mother's daughter, and then to Susan, the sister of Sir William Denham
, 1st Baronet of Westshield, Master of the Mint
for Scotland, and had fourteen sons by them. His eldest son had sold the estate and mansion (but not the title) of Coltness to his uncle, Sir James Steuart, the Lord Advocate, in 1712. The subject of this article is therefore often called of Coltness, since it was his house; he sold the estate of Goodtrees after he returned from France.
By that time, the last surviving son of Sir Thomas Steuart had inherited the Coltness baronetcy, from his father; he had also inherited the property and baronetcy of Denham of Westshield through his mother; he styled himself Sir Archibald Steuart Denham, Baronet. When Sir Archibald died, in 1773, the baronetcy of Coltness and the Steuart property passed to Sir James Steuart; the Denham title and property passed to the last heir of the Denhams, Sir Archibald's half-nephew on his mother's side, who took the style of Sir William Lockhart Denham. When he died, three years later, in 1776, the Denham baronetcy became extinct; he also left his property, including the estate of Westshield, to Sir James Steuart, who then assumed the name of Denham, although he was not descended fom.
For the last four years of his life, therefore, he was Sir James Steuart Denham, Baronet, of Coltness and Westshield. His major book and his posthumous collected works were published as by Sir James Steuart; economic literature also calls him Sir James Steuart Denham.
He had one son, another Sir James Steuart Denham, born in 1744, before he went to France. That son, who called himself Denham in England and Steuart in Scotland, edited his father's complete works, was a Member of Parliament, and an officer, Colonel of the Scots Greys. He was promoted full General, and lived to be ninety-five, ranking officer in the British Army. On his death, both baronetcies went to a cousin, a grandson of a younger son of the Lord Advocate, who died in 1851, since when they have been dormant.
Reliable sources differ on when and to whom the Goodtrees baronetcy was given. It was in honour of the Lord Advocate, but while the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography twice says it was conferred on him in 1695, the Complete Baronetcy says it was given to his son, the future Solicitor General, in 1705, on the occasion of the son's marriage, in the father's lifetime. The chief significance of this question is the numbering of the baronets; it is not inconceivable that both grants occurred.
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Steuart Baronets
Three baronetcies were given to three brothers, the first, fourth, and seventh of the seven sons of Sir James Steuart, knight, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who died in 1681...
of Coltness; late in life Sir James Steuart Denham, also called Sir James Denham Steuart (21 October 1713 – 26 November 1780) was a prominent Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
, who wrote one of the first noteworthy books in English about economics. He assumed the surname of Denham late in life; he inherited his cousin's baronetcy of Coltness in 1773.
Life
He was the only son of Sir James Steuart, Solicitor General for ScotlandSolicitor General for Scotland
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...
under Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
and George I, and was born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
he was admitted to the Scottish bar at the age of twenty-four.
He then spent some years on the Continent, and while in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
entered into relations with the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
. He was in Edinburgh in 1745, and so compromised himself that, after the battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
, he found it necessary to return to the Continent, where he remained until 1763. It was not until 1771 that he was fully pardoned for any complicity he may have had in the rebellion. He died at his family seat, Coltness
Coltness
Coltness is the largest suburb of the town of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 2001 census indicated a population of almost 4,500.Lying to the north east of the town centre, Coltness is an area of mainly local authority built housing, divided into the two distinct areas of East and West...
, in Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
.
Works
In 1767 he published Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy. It was the most complete and systematic survey of the science from the point of view of moderate mercantilismMercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
which had appeared in England and indeed the first full-fledged economics treatise to appear anywhere. Also the German philosopher Hegel recognized that book and wrote a comment about it in the year 1799. Although often regarded as part of the Scottish Enlightenment
Scottish Enlightenment
The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By 1750, Scots were among the most literate citizens of Europe, with an estimated 75% level of literacy...
which produced David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
and Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
, Steuart's economics hark back to the earlier Mercantilist era.
Mercantilism was the school of thought that held that a positive balance of trade was of primary importance for any nation and required a ban on the export of gold and silver. This theory led to high protective tariffs to maximaize the use of domestic resources, colonial expansion and exclusivity of trade with those colonies. British attempts to follow the mercantilist ideas led to the four Anglo-Dutch navigation wars
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
and the American colonials wars of 1776-1781 and 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Additionally in 1815, Britain adopted the high tariff, called the corn laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
on all imported wheat at the suggestion of mercantalist advisors. Debate over the corn laws would be harsh and would dominate the political discussion and occupy all British governments until the corn laws were repealed in 1846.
At the level of any individual sales transaction, merchantilism held that profit was developed at the point of the sale. Steuart held that profit was a mere "surcharge" upon alienation (sale) of the commodity. Steuart was not a pure mercnatilist, however, he believed in a "scientific form of mercantilism." Steuart held that all profit arose from the seller "overcharging" the buyer in any single sales transaction. However, Steuart did allow that the "profit" obtained through exchange would "fluctuate" with the rise and/or fall in demand. Still like all good merchantilists, Steuart's eye remained on the exchange as the creator of profit and he recognized no value in a commodity before the sale.
Steuart was one of the last representatives of the merchantilist school of economic thought. More accurately, while on the Continent, Steuart had imbibed the sophisticated Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
Mercantilism that was in the air—particularly, German Neo-Cameralism -- which combined a legal-statist approach with a "natural" approach to economics. Although a promoter of old fashioned export subsidies and import tariffs, Steuart added several elements that tied this in with a more general theory of economic development. Unlike the old Mercantilists, he recognized Richard Cantillon
Richard Cantillon
Richard Cantillon was an Irish-French economist and author of Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général , a book considered by William Stanley Jevons to be the "cradle of political economy". Although little information exists on Cantillon's life, it is known that he became a successful banker and...
's "population-subsistence" dynamics. He also introduced the concept of diminishing returns
Diminishing returns
In economics, diminishing returns is the decrease in the marginal output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is increased, while the amounts of all other factors of production stay constant.The law of diminishing returns In economics, diminishing returns (also...
to land. Steuart juggled two interesting theories of price—a long-run labor theory of value
Labor theory of value
The labor theories of value are heterodox economic theories of value which argue that the value of a commodity is related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that commodity. The concept is most often associated with Marxian economics...
and a short-run "demand-and-supply" theory. Indeed, Steuart was among the first to introduce the term "equilibrium". Thus, Steuart was an important forerunner of both the Classical
Classical economics
Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. Its major developers include Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill....
and Neoclassical
Neoclassical economics
Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to economics focusing on the determination of prices, outputs, and income distributions in markets through supply and demand, often mediated through a hypothesized maximization of utility by income-constrained individuals and of profits...
schools in many respects. Steuart also provided one of the more able statements of the real bills doctrine
Real bills doctrine
The real bills doctrine holds that issuing money in exchange for real bills is not inflationary. It is best known as "the decried doctrine of the old Bank Directors of 1810: that so long as a bank issues its notes only in the discount of good bills, at not more than sixty days’ date, it cannot go...
of money.
Although the work appears to have been well received its impact was overshadowed by Smith's Wealth of Nations that was published only nine years later. It is interesting to note that Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
never quotes or mentions Steuart's book, although he was acquainted with him. It has been argued that Smith avoided Steuart arguments because they would have undermined his Utopia. Moreover, the attacks on Mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
in the Wealth of Nations appear to have been mainly directed against Steuart. As Smith appears to have thought that Steuart's conversation was better than his book, he probably wished to keep clear of controversy with him.
Steuart's book was received much more favourably a century later by the members of the Historical school of economics
Historical school of economics
The Historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century....
.
Family and titles
This Sir James Steuart was descended from another Sir James Stewart, knight, an Edinburgh merchant, a staunch Presbyterian, who supported Charles II in the British civil wars of 1642-1660. This Sir James died in 1681, having made enough money to purchase landed estates for his sons; three of those sons were prominent enough to have their families receive the title of baronet after the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688: Sir Thomas Steuart of Coltness, the first son; Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, Lord Advocate
Lord Advocate
Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...
, the fourth son; Sir Robert Steuart of Allandale, the youngest of the seven sons; two of these baronetcies were eventually held by the subject of this article. The Lord Advocate, Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, was grandfather to the subject of this article; his father, also Sir James Steuart, was the eldest son of the Lord Advocate, and rose to be Solicitor General for Scotland.
The third Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, the subject of this article, inherited his baronetcy and estates at the age of fourteen; he was also to acquire much of the possession of his cousins, the senior line of Steuarts. Sir Thomas Steuart of Coltness, had married twice: to Margaret Elliot, his step-mother's daughter, and then to Susan, the sister of Sir William Denham
William Denham
William Mortimer Clarence Denham was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1935 to 1946, when he was defeated.-References:...
, 1st Baronet of Westshield, Master of the Mint
Master of the Mint
Master of the Mint was an important office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain, between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Master was the highest officer in the Royal Mint. Until 1699, appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet...
for Scotland, and had fourteen sons by them. His eldest son had sold the estate and mansion (but not the title) of Coltness to his uncle, Sir James Steuart, the Lord Advocate, in 1712. The subject of this article is therefore often called of Coltness, since it was his house; he sold the estate of Goodtrees after he returned from France.
By that time, the last surviving son of Sir Thomas Steuart had inherited the Coltness baronetcy, from his father; he had also inherited the property and baronetcy of Denham of Westshield through his mother; he styled himself Sir Archibald Steuart Denham, Baronet. When Sir Archibald died, in 1773, the baronetcy of Coltness and the Steuart property passed to Sir James Steuart; the Denham title and property passed to the last heir of the Denhams, Sir Archibald's half-nephew on his mother's side, who took the style of Sir William Lockhart Denham. When he died, three years later, in 1776, the Denham baronetcy became extinct; he also left his property, including the estate of Westshield, to Sir James Steuart, who then assumed the name of Denham, although he was not descended fom.
For the last four years of his life, therefore, he was Sir James Steuart Denham, Baronet, of Coltness and Westshield. His major book and his posthumous collected works were published as by Sir James Steuart; economic literature also calls him Sir James Steuart Denham.
He had one son, another Sir James Steuart Denham, born in 1744, before he went to France. That son, who called himself Denham in England and Steuart in Scotland, edited his father's complete works, was a Member of Parliament, and an officer, Colonel of the Scots Greys. He was promoted full General, and lived to be ninety-five, ranking officer in the British Army. On his death, both baronetcies went to a cousin, a grandson of a younger son of the Lord Advocate, who died in 1851, since when they have been dormant.
Reliable sources differ on when and to whom the Goodtrees baronetcy was given. It was in honour of the Lord Advocate, but while the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography twice says it was conferred on him in 1695, the Complete Baronetcy says it was given to his son, the future Solicitor General, in 1705, on the occasion of the son's marriage, in the father's lifetime. The chief significance of this question is the numbering of the baronets; it is not inconceivable that both grants occurred.
Literature
- The Works, Political, Metaphysical and Chronological, of the late Sir James Steuart of Coltness, Bart., now first collected, with Anecdotes of the Author, by his Son, General Sir James Denham Steuart, were published in 6 vols 8vo in 1805. Besides the Inquiry they include:
- A Dissertation upon the Doctrine and Principles of Money applied to the German Coin (1758)
- Apologie du sentiment de M. le Chevalier Newton sur l'ancienne chronologie des Grecs (4to, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1757)
- The Principles of Money applied to the Present State ef Bengal, published at the request of the East India Company (4to, 1772)
- A Dissertation on the Policy of Grain (1783)
- Plan for introducing Uniformity in Weights and Measures within the Limits of the British Empire (1790)
- Observations on Beattie's Essay on Truth
- A Dissertation concerning the Motive of Obedience to the Law of God, and other treatises.
Secondary sources
- Hutchison, Terence (1988) - Before Adam Smith: the emergence of political economy.
- Monroe, Arthur Eli (1923) - Monetary theory before Adam Smith
- Sen, Samar Ranjan (1957) - The economics of Sir James Steuart
- Skinner, Andrew (1966) - "Introduction" in An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy, (2 vols.) ed. by A. Skinner for the Scottish Economic Society.
- Vickers, Douglas (1959) - Studies in the Theory of Money, 1690-1776
- Viner, Jacob (1937) - Studies in the Theory of International Trade
External reference
- Profile of Sir James Denham Steuart at the History of Economic Thought website.
- An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy, book on marxists.org
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