Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Price, Richard 1723-1791

Clergyman; born in Tynton, Glamorganshire, Wales, Feb. 23, 1723; was a dissenting minister, connected with churches at Stoke-Newington and Hackney, as pastor and preacher, from [294] 1743 until a short time before his death. He wrote much on morals, politics, and political and social economy. His Appeal on the subject of the National debt is said to have been the foundation of Pitt's sinking-fund scheme. In 1776 he published Observations on Civil liberty and the justice and policy of the War with America. It was a powerful plea for justice and right, and 60,000 copies were distributed. The corporation of London gave him a vote of thanks and the freedom of the city; and in 1778 the American Congress invited him to become a citizen of the United States, and to aid them in the management of their finances, promising him a liberal remuneration. In 1783 Yale College conferred on him the honorary degree of Ll.D., and in 1784 he published Observations on the importance of the American Revolution. His philosophical writings procured for him a fellowship in the Royal Society in 1764. He died in London, England, March 19, 1791.