The constitution of Dr Smith, during infancy, was infirm and sickly, and required all the delicate attentions of his surviving parent. Though she treated him with the utmost indulgence, this did not produce any unfavourable effect either on his dispositions or temper, and he repaid her affectionate solicitude by every attention that filial gratitude could dictate during the long period of sixty years.

He received the first rudiments of his education at the grammar school of Kirkaldy, which was then taught by Mr David Miller, a teacher, in his day, of considerable reputation. He soon attracted notice by his passion for books, and the extraordinary powers of his memory. Even at this early period, too, he seems to have contracted those habits of speaking to himself, and of absence in company, for which, through life, he was so remarkable. The weakness of Dr Smith’s constitution prevented him from engaging in the sports and pastimes of his school companions, yet he was much beloved by them on account of his friendly and generous dispositions.

Having remained at Kirkaldy till he had completed his fourteenth year, he was sent, in 1737, to the university of Glasgow, where he prosecuted his studies during three years. Mr Stewart mentions on the authority of one of Mr Smith’s fellow students, Dr Maclaine of the Hague, that his favourite pursuits while attending that university were mathematics and natural philosophy. He attended, however, during his residence in Glasgow, the lectures of the celebrated Dr Hutcheson on moral philosophy; and it is probable that they had a considerable effect in afterwards directing his attention to those branches of science in which he was to become so distinguished.

Dr Smith’s friends having directed his views towards the English church, he went, in 1740, to Balliol college, Oxford, as an exhibitioner on Snell’s foundation, where he remained seven years. At this celebrated seat of classical learning he cultivated with the greatest assiduity and success the study both of the ancient and modern languages, and became intimately acquainted with the works of the Roman, Greek, French, and Italian poets, as well as with those of his own country. With the view of improving his style, he used frequently to employ himself in the practice of translation, particularly from the French, as he was of opinion that such exercises were extremely useful to those who wished to cultivate the art of composition. But Dr Smith’s obligations to the university of Oxford seem to be confined to his proficiency in classical learning, and a critical acquaintance with the niceties and delicacies of the English tongue. Very little could be learned from the public lectures on philosophy: the logic of Aristotle still maintaining its influence in both the English universities. A circumstance, however, which, upon good authority, is related to have occurred during his residence at Oxford, shows, that in his private studies Dr Smith did not confine his reading in philosophy to the works of Aristotle and the schoolmen. Something having excited the suspicion of his superiors with regard to the nature of his studies in private, the heads of his college entered his apartment one day without any previous notice, and unluckily found the young philosopher engaged in reading Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature. The offender was of course severely reprimanded, and the objectionable work seized and carried off.

Dr Smith, having found that the ecclesiastical profession was not suitable to his taste, resolved at last to renounce every prospect of rising to eminence by church preferment. He accordingly returned, in 1747, against the wishes of his friends, to Kirkaldy, and without having determined on any fixed plan of life, resided there nearly two years with his mother. In the end of the year 1748, Dr Smith fixed his residence in Edinburgh, and, under the patronage of lord Kames, delivered lectures during three years on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. These lectures were never published, but it appears that the substance of them was communicated to Dr Blair, who began his celebrated course on the same subject in 1755, and that that gentleman had a high opinion of their merits. In a note to his eighteenth lecture, Dr Blair thus notices them: "On this head, of the general character of style, particularly the plain and the simple, and the characters of those English authors who are classed under them in this and the following lecture, several ideas have been taken from a manuscript treatise on Rhetoric, part of which was shown to me many years ago, by the learned and ingenious author, Dr Adam Smith; and which, it is hoped, will be given by him to the public."

It appears to have been during the residence of Mr Smith at this time in Edinburgh that his acquaintance with Mr David Hume commenced, which lasted without the slightest interruption till the death of the latter in 1776. It was a friendship, Mr Stewart remarks, on both sides founded on the admiration of genius, and the love of simplicity; and which forms an interesting circumstance in the history of each of these eminent men from the ambition which both have shown to record it to posterity.

The literary reputation of Dr Smith being now well established, he was elected, in 1751, professor of logic in the university of Glasgow, and in the year following he was removed to the chair of moral philosophy in the same university, vacant by the death of Mr Thomas Craigie, who was the immediate successor of Dr Hutcheson. In this situation he remained during thirteen years, a period which he used to consider as the happiest of his life, the studies and inquiries in which his academical duties led him to engage being those which were most agreeable to his taste. It is highly probable that his appointment to the professorship of moral philosophy was the means of inducing him to mature his speculations in ethics and political economy, and to undertake those great works which have immortalized his name in the literature of Scotland.

No part of the lectures which Dr Smith delivered either as professor of logic or of moral philosophy, has been preserved, except what has been published in the "Theory of Moral Sentiments," and the "Wealth of Nations." The following account of them, however, has been given by Mr Miller, the celebrated author of the Historical View of the English Government, and professor of law in the university of Glasgow, who had the advantage of being one of Mr Smith’s pupils.

"In the professorship of logic, to which Mr Smith was appointed on his first introduction into this university, he soon saw the necessity of departing widely from the plan that had been followed by his predecessors, and of directing the attention of his pupils to studies of a more interesting and useful nature than the logic and metaphysics of the schools. Accordingly, after exhibiting a general view of the powers of the mind, and explaining as much of the ancient logic as was requisite to gratify curiosity with respect to an artificial method of reasoning, which had once occupied the universal attention of the learned, he dedicated all the rest of his time to the delivering of a system of rhetoric and belles lettres. The best method of explaining and illustrating the various powers of the human mind, the most useful part of metaphysics, arises from an examination of the several ways of communicating our thoughts by speech, and from an attention to the principles of those literary compositions which contribute to persuasion or entertainment. By these arts everything that we perceive or feel, every operation of our minds, is expressed and delineated in such a manner, that it may be clearly distinguished and remembered. There is at the same time no branch of literature more suited to youth at their first entrance upon philosophy than this, which lays hold of their taste and their feelings.

" It is much to be regretted that the manuscript, containing Mr Smith’s lectures on this subject, was destroyed before his death. The first part, in point of composition, was highly finished; and the whole discovered strong marks of taste and original genius. From the permission given to students of taking notes, many observations and opinions contained in these lectures have either been detailed in separate dissertations, or engrossed in general collections, which have since been given to the public. But these, as might be expected, have lost the air of originality, and the distinctive character which they received from their first author, and are often obscured by that multiplicity of common-place matter in which they are sunk and involved.

" About a year after his appointment to the professorship of logic, Mr Smith was elected to the chair of moral philosophy. His course of lectures on this subject was divided into four parts. The first contained natural theology; in which he considered the proofs of the being and attributes of God, and those principles of the human mind upon which religion is founded. The second comprehended ethics, strictly so called, and consisted chiefly of the doctrines which he afterwards published in his ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments.’ In the third part, he treated at more length of that branch of morality which relates to justice, and which being susceptible of precise and accurate rules, is for that reason capable of a full and particular explanation.

"Upon this subject he followed the plan that seems to be suggested by Montesquieu; endeavouring to trace the gradual progress of jurisprudence, both public and private, from the rudest to the most refined ages, and to point out the effects of those arts which contribute to subsistence, and to the accumulation of property, in producing correspondent improvements, or alterations in law and government. This important branch of his labours he also intended to give to the public; but this intention, which is mentioned in the conclusion of the ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments,’ he did not live to fulfill.

In the last part of his lectures he examined those political regulations which are founded, not upon the principle of justice, but that of expediency, and which are calculated to increase the riches, the power, and the prosperity of a state. Under this view, he considered the political institutions relating to commerce, to finances, to ecclesiastical and military establishments. What he delivered on these subjects, contained the substance of the work he afterwards published under the title of ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Sources of the Wealth of Nations.’

"There was no situation in which the abilities of Mr Smith appeared to greater advantage than as a professor. In delivering his lectures, he trusted almost entirely to extemporary elocution. His manner, though not graceful, was plain and unaffected; and, as he seemed to be always interested in the subject, he never failed to interest his hearers. Each discourse consisted commonly of several distinct propositions, which he successively endeavoured to prove and illustrate. These propositions, when announced in general terms, had, from their extent, not unfrequently something of the air of a paradox. In his attempts to explain them, he often appeared at first not to be sufficiently possessed of the subject, and spoke with some hesitation. As he advanced, however, the matter seemed to crowd upon him, his manner became warm and animated, and his expression easy and fluent. In points susceptible of controversy, you could easily discern, that he secretly conceived an opposition to his opinions, and that he was led upon this account to support them with greater energy and vehemence By the fulness and variety of his illustrations, the subject gradually swelled in his hands, and acquired a dimension which, without a tedious repetition of the same views, was calculated to seize the attention of his audience and to afford them pleasute as well as instruction, in following the same subject through all the diversity of shades and aspects in which it was presented, and afterwards in tracing it backwards to that original proposition, or general truth, from which this beautiful train of speculation had proceeded.

"His reputation as a professor was accordingly raised very high; and a multitude of students from a great distance resorted to the university merely upon his account. Those branches of science which he taught became fashionable at this place, and his opinions were the chief topics of discussion in clubs and literary societies. Even the small peculiarities in his pronunciation or manner of speaking became frequently the objects of imitation."

The first publications of Mr Smith, it is understood, were two articles which he contributed anonymously to a work called the "Edinburgh Review," begun in 1755, by some literary gentlemen, but of which only two numbers ever appeared.. The first of these articles was a Review of Dr Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, which displays considerable acuteness, and the other contained some general observations on the state of literature in the different counties of Europe.

In 1759, his great ethical work, entitled, "Theory of Moral Sentiments, or an Essay towards an analysis of the Principles by which men naturally judge concerning the Conduct and Character, first of their Neighbour, and afterwards of Themselves," made its appearance. This work contributed greatly to extend the fame and reputation of the author; and is unquestionably entitled to a place in the very first rank in the science of morals. Dr Brown, in his eighteenth lecture, thus speaks of it: "Profound in thought, it exhibits, even when it is most profound, an example of the graces with which a sage imagination knows how to adorn the simple and majestic form of science; that it is severe and cold only to those who are Themselves cold and severe, as in these very graces it exhibits in like manner an example of the reciprocal embellishment which imagination receives from the sober dignity of truth. In its minor details and illustrations, indeed, it may be considered as presenting a model of philosophic beauty of which all must acknowledge the power, who are not disqualified by their very nature for the admiration and enjoyment of intellectual excellence; so dull of understanding as to shrink with a painful consciousness of incapacity at the very appearance of refined analysis, or so dull and cold of heart, as to feel no charm in the delightful varieties of an eloquence, that, in the illustration and embellishment of the noblest truths, seems itself to live and harmonize with those noble sentiments which it adorns." But it is chiefly in its minor analyses that the work of Dr Smith possesses such excellence. Its leading doctrine has been often shown to be erroneous, and by none with more acuteness than by Dr Brown. We shall very shortly explain the nature of that leading doctrine, and endeavour to show how it has been refuted.

It is impossible for us to contemplate certain actions performed by others, or to perform such actions ourselves, without an emotion of moral approbation or disapprobation arising in our minds; without being immediately impressed with a vivid feeling, that the agent is virtuous or vicious, worthy or unworthy, of esteem. An inquiry regarding such moral emotions, must form the most interesting department of the philosophy of the mind, as it comprehends the whole of our duty to God, our fellow creatures, and ourselves. This department of science is termed Ethics, and is sometimes, though not very correctly, divided into two parts; the one comprehending the theory of morals, and the other its practical doctrines. The most important question to be considered in the theoretical part of ethics, is the following:—What is essential to virtue and vice—that is to say—what is common, and invariably to be found in all those actions of which we morally approve, and what is in the same way peculiar to those which we morally condemn? Philosophers have formed various opinions upon this subject. Hobbes and his followers contended that all merit and demerit depends upon political regulations: that the only thing essential to a virtuous or vicious action, is its being sanctioned or discountenanced by the association of men, among whom it is performed. Mr Hume and others have supported the more plausible theory, that what is utility to the human race, unavoidably makes itself the measure of virtue: that actions are virtuous or vicious, according as they are generally acknowledged to be, in their final effects, beneficial or injurious to society in general. These, and many other theories of morals, have been often shown to be erroneous; and it would be out of place here, to enter into any discussion regarding them. We pass on to notice the theory of Dr Smith.

According to him, all moral feelings arise from sympathy. It is a mistake to suppose that we approve or disapprove of an action immediately on becoming acquainted with the intention of the agent, and the consequences of what he has done. Before any moral emotion can arise in the mind, we must imagine ourselves to be placed in the situation of the person who has acted, and of those to whom his action related. If, on considering all the circumstances in which the agent is placed, we feel a complete sympathy with the feelings that occupied his mind, and with the gratitude of the person who was the object of the action, we then approve of the action as right, and feel the merit of the person who performed it, our sense of the propriety of the action depending on our sympathy with the agent; our sense of the merit of the agent on our sympathy with the object of the action. If our sympathies be of an opposite kind, we disapprove of the action, and ascribe demerit to the agent.

In estimating the propriety or merit of our own actions, on the other hand, we, in some measure, reverse this process, and consider how our conduct would appear to an impartial spectator. We approve or disapprove of it, according as we feel from the experience of our own former emotions, when we imagined ourselves to be placed in similar circumstances, estimating the actions of others, that it would excite his approval or disapprobation. Our moral judgments, with respect to our own conduct are, in short, only applications to ourselves of decisions, which we have already passed on the conduct of others.

Dr Smith’s "Dissertation on the Origin of Languages," which is now generally bound up with the "Theory of Moral Sentiments," made its first appearance with the second edition of that work. In this ingenious and beautiful tract, the author gives a theoretical history of the formation of languages, in which he endeavours to ascertain the different steps by which they would gradually arrive at their present so artificial and complicated state.

As the "Theory of Moral Sentiments" contains the most important part of Dr Smith’s ethical doctrines, he was enabled, after the publication of that work, to devote a larger part of his course of lectures, than he had previously done, to the elucidation of the principles of jurisprudence and political economy. From a statement which he drew up in 1755, in order to vindicate his claim to certain political and literary opinions, it appears that, from the time when he obtained a chair in the university of Glasgow, and even while he was delivering private lectures in Edinburgh, he had been in the habit of teaching the same liberal system of policy, with respect to the freedom of trade, which he afterwards published in the "Wealth of Nations." His residence in one of the largest commercial towns in the island, must have been of considerable advantage to him, by enabling him to acquire correct practical information on many points connected with the subject of his favourite studies; and Mr Stewart states, as a circumstance very honourable to the liberality of the merchants of Glasgow, that, notwithstanding the reluctance so common among men of business to listen to the conclusions of mere speculation, and the direct opposition of Dr Smith’s leading principles to all the old maxims of trade, he was able, before leaving the university, to rank some of the most eminent merchants of the city among the number of his proselytes.

The publication of the "Theory of Moral Sentiments," served greatly to increase the reputation of its author. In 1762, the Senatus Academicus of the university of Glasgow unanimously conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, in testimony, as expressed in the minutes of the meeting, of their respect for his universally acknowledged talents, and of the advantage that had resulted to the university, from the ability with which he had, for many years, expounded the principles of jurisprudence.

Towards the end of 1763, an important event occurred in Dr Smith’s life. Having received an invitation from Mr Charles Townsend, husband of the duchess of Buccleuch, to accompany the young duke, her grace’s son, on his travels, he was induced, from the liberal terms in which the proposal was made, and the strong desire he entertained of visiting the continent, to resign his chair at Glasgow, and accept of the offer. "With the connection which he was led to form, in consequence of this change in his situation," Mr Stewart remarks, "he had reason to be satisfied in an uncommon degree; and he always spoke of it with pleasure and gratitude. To the public, it was not, perhaps, a change equally fortunate, as it interrupted that studious leisure for which nature seems to have destined him, and in which alone he could have hoped to accomplish those literary projects which had flattered the ambition of his youthful genius."

Dr Smith having joined the duke of Buccleuch at London, in the early part of the year 1764, they set out for the continent in the month of March. After remaining only ten or twelve days in the capital of France, they proceeded to Toulouse, where they resided during eighteen months. Toulouse was at that time the seat of a parliament; and the intimacy in which he lived with some of its principal members, afforded him an opportunity of acquiring the most correct information in regard to the internal policy of France.

After leaving Toulouse, they proceeded through the southern provinces to Geneva; and having spent two months in that city, returned to Paris about Christmas, 1765, where they remained nearly a year. During their abode in Paris, Dr Smith, through the recommendation of Mr Hume, and his own celebrity, lived on the most intimate terms with the best society in the city. Turgot, (afterwards comptroller-general of finance,) Quesnay, Necker, d’Alembert, Helvetius, Marmontel, the duc de la Rochefoucault, and Madame Riccaboni, were among the number of his acquaintances; and some of them he continued ever afterwards to reckon among his friends. It is highly probable that he derived considerable advantage from his intercourse with Quesnay, the celebrated founder of the sect of Economists. Of this profound and ingenious man, Dr Smith entertained the highest opinion; and he has pronounced his work upon Political Economy, with all its imperfections, to be the nearest approximation to the truth, that had then been published, on the principles of that very important science. Dr Smith intended to have dedicated to Quesnay the "Wealth of Nations," but was prevented by his death.

Although Dr Smith had made some very severe remarks in his "Theory of Moral Sentiments," on the celebrated maxims of the duke of Rochefoucault, this did not prevent him from receiving the utmost kindness and attention from the author’s grandson. A short time before Dr Smith left Paris, he received a flattering letter from the duke of Rochefoucault, with a copy of a new edition of the Maxims of his grandfather; and informing Dr Smith, at the same time, that he had been prevented from finishing a translation of his "Theory of Morals" into French, only by the knowledge of having been anticipated in the design.

During the seventeenth, and the earlier part of the eighteenth century, various pamphlets had appeared, in which some of the fundamental principles of political economy were distinctly enough laid down, and which had a tendency to show the futility of the mercantile theory. For a particular account of these publications, and their various merits, we must refer to Mr M’Culloch’s able Introductory Discourse to the last edition of the "Wealth of Nations." We shall here only remark, that though several of these treatises contain the germs of some of the truths to be found in the "Wealth of Nations;" yet the principles laid down in them are often stated only in a cursory and incidental manner. Their authors frequently appear not to be aware of the importance of the truths which they have discovered; and in none of them is anything like a connected view of political economy to be found.

Few chapters in the "Wealth of Nations" are more valuable, than that in which the illustrious author explains the causes of the apparent inequality in the wages and profits derived from different employments. He has shown, in the fullest and most satisfactory manner, that when allowance is made for all the advantages and disadvantages attending the different employments of labour and stock, wages and profits must, in the same neighbourhood, be either perfectly equal, or continually tending to equality. The circumstances which he enumerates, as waking up for a low state of wages in some employments, and counterbalancing a high one in others, are five in number. First, the agreeableness or disagreeableness of the employments themselves; secondly, the easiness and cheapness, or the difficulty and expense of learning them; thirdly, the constancy or inconstancy of employment in them; fourthly, the small or great trust which must be reposed in those who exercise them; and, fifthly, the probability or improbability of success in them. Differences in the rate of profit seem to be occasioned, chiefly from the risk to which capital is exposed, being greater in some employments than in others.

One of the most important inquiries in political economy, is the investigation of the laws which regulate the exchangeable value of the different productions of industry; and the disquisitions of Dr Smith on this subject, are extremely valuable. He has shown, in opposition to the opinion commonly before entertained on the subject, that the price of commodities, the quantity of which may be indefinitely increased, does not depend upon their scarcity or abundance, but upon the cost of their production; that although variations in the supply of any article, or in the demand for it, may occasion temporary variations in its exchangeable value, the market price is permanently regulated by the natural price, and on an average corresponds with it. In estimating the elements, however, which form the necessary price of commodities, he has fallen into some very important errors, particularly with regard to rent, which, from being unacquainted with the causes that produce it, he considered to be one of the component parts of price. It was subsequently suggested by Dr Anderson, and more specifically laid down by Ricardo and others, that rent is the difference between the product of the fruitful soil of a country, (in comparison with the amount of labour and capital expended on it,) and the product of such less fruitful soil, as the pressure of population renders it necessary to bring into cultivation; and that rent being the difference between returns from an equal amount of capital applied to superior soils, and to that which is the most unproductive, is the effect, and not the cause, of the dearness of agricultural products; and cannot, therefore, form an element in their natural price.

The error which Dr Smith has fallen into, with regard to rent, is certainly the most important mistake in the "Wealth of Nations," and has vitiated a considerable part of the work. [Dr Smith’s theory of rent, however, is not without its defenders. See, in particular, the Westminster Review.] Among other mistakes, it has led him into error, in regard to the ultimate incidence of different taxes, and the circumstances which determine the rate of wages and profits. Had the illustrious author, too, been acquainted with the true theory of rent, he would not have contended that corn, upon an average, was the most invariable of all commodities in its value.

Many other important subjects, besides those we have so briefly noticed, are discussed by Dr Smith; but we cannot farther extend our remarks. With all its defects, the "Wealth of Nations" will ever remain a great standard work in the science of political economy, and an illustrious monument of the genius and talents of its author. The publication raised him to the highest rank in the literary world; and he enjoyed, during fifteen years, the fame which he had so justly acquired. His work soon after being published, was translated into all the languages of Europe; his opinions were referred to in the house of commons, and he himself consulted by the minister. Before his death, too, he had the satisfaction of seeing that the principles of commercial freedom, which he had so ably advocated, were beginning to influence the councils of Great Britain, and other European states.

A few months after the publication of the "Wealth of Nations," Dr Smith lost his highly esteemed friend, Mr Hume, who died upon the 25th of August, 1776. Dr Smith was most assiduous in his attentions during the last illness of this illustrious man; and gives an interesting account, in a letter to Mr Straban of London, of the circumstances attending his death, and a eulogium upon his character. To those who are acquainted with Mr Hume’s religious opinions, some parts of this eulogium must certainly appear too high; and the author was, accordingly, attacked on the subject by Dr Horne, bishop of Norwich, who rashly ascribed to him, without any evidence, the same sceptical opinions which had been entertained by his illustrious friend.

Dr Smith resided chiefly in London for about two years after his great work had been given to the public, during which time his society was courted by the most distinguished persons in the metropolis. In 1778, he was appointed one of the commissioners of customs in Scotland, through the unsolicited application of his friend and former pupil, the duke of Buccleuch. Upon obtaining this appointment, he removed to Edinburgh, where he spent the remaining years of his life, enjoying comparative affluence, and the society of his earliest and most esteemed friends. His mother, who was then in extreme old age, accompanied him to town; and his cousin, Miss Jane Douglas, who had formerly been a member of his family in Glasgow, undertook the superintendence of his domestic arrangements.

The accession to his income which he had now obtained, enabled him to gratify, to a much greater extent than formerly, the natural generosity of his disposition. "The state of his funds at the time of his death," Mr Stewart remarks, "compared with his very moderate establishment, confirmed, beyond a doubt, what his intimate acquaintances had often suspected, that a large proportion of his savings was allotted to offices of secret charity."

In 1787, Dr Smith was elected lord rector of the university of Glasgow. A letter addressed to the principal of the university on the occasion, shows the high sense he felt of this honour. "No preferment," he writes, "could have given me so much real satisfaction. No man can owe greater obligations to a society, than I do to the university of Glasgow. They educated me: they sent me to Oxford. Soon after my return to Scotland, they elected me one of their own members; and afterwards preferred me to another office, to which the abilities and virtues of the never to be forgotten Dr Hutcheson, had given a superior degree of illustration. The period of thirteen years, which I spent as a member of that society, I remember as by far the most useful, and therefore as by far the happiest and most honourable period of my life: and now, after three and twenty years’ absence, to be remembered in so very agreeable a manner by my old friends and protectors, gives me a heartfelt joy, which I cannot easily express to you."

During the last residence of Dr Smith in Edinburgh, his studies appear to have been almost entirely suspended. The petty routine duties of his office, though requiring little exertion of thought, were sufficient to occupy a considerable portion of his time and attention; and it is deeply to be regretted, that, in all probability, these duties alone prevented him from giving that "Account of the general principles of Law and Government, and of the different Revolutions they have undergone in the different ages and periods of society," which he had stated in the concluding paragraph of the "Theory of Moral Sentiments," it was his intention to do.

In 1784, Dr Smith lost his mother, to whom he had been most tenderly attached; and her death was followed, four years afterwards, by that of Miss Douglas. These domestic afflictions contributed to hasten the decline of his health. His constitution had never been robust, and began early to give way. His last illness, which arose from a chronic obstruction of the bowels, was lingering and painful. He had the consolation, however, of receiving the tenderest sympathy of his friends; and he bore his affliction with the most perfect resignation. His death took place in July, 1790.

A few days before his death, when Dr Smith found his end rapidly approaching, he caused all his manuscripts to be destroyed excepting a few essays, which he entrusted to the care of his executors, Dr Black and Dr Hutton. The intention of destroying all those of his manuscripts which he did not think worthy of publication, he had long entertained, and seems to have proceeded from a laudable anxiety in regard to his literary reputation. It is not exactly known what were the contents of the manuscripts which were destroyed, but there is every reason to believe that they consisted in part of the lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres which he had delivered at Edinburgh in 1748, and of the lectures on natural religion and jurisprudence, which formed an important part of the course he had delivered at Glasgow. Of the essays which were left to the care of his friends six were published a few years after his death by his illustrious executors. Three of them are fragments of a great work which he at one time intended to write on the principles which lead and direct philosophical inquiries, but which he had long abandoned as far too extensive. The first contains the history of astronomy, which seems to be the most complete of the three; the second contains the history of ancient physics; and the third gives the history of the ancient logics and metaphysics. To these essays, which are all written upon the plan of his Essay on the formation of the Languages, are subjoined other three, which treat, 1st. Of the nature of that imitation which takes place in what are called the Imitative Arts. 2nd. Of the affinity between certain English and Italian Verses; and 3rd. Of the External Senses. As to the merits of these essays the distinguished editors express their hopes "that the reader would find in them that happy connexion, that full and accurate expression, and that clear illustration which are conspicuous in the rest of the author’s works, and that though it is difficult to add much to the great fame he so justly acquired by his other writings, these would be read with satisfaction and pleasure." The library which Dr Smith had collected during his life though small was va1uable. The books were well selected, and he was particularly careful that the bijous which he admitted into his collection should be in excellent order. Mr Smellie, in his life of Dr Smith, says, "The first time I happened to be in his library, observing me looking at the books with some degree of curiosity and perhaps surprise, for most of the volumes were elegantly, and some of them superbly bound,—‘You must have remarked,’ said he, ‘that I am a beau in nothing but my books.’" This valuable library, together with the rest of his property, Dr Smith bequeathed to Mr David Douglas, advocate, his cousin.

We shall close this sketch of Dr Smith’s life with a few observations on his habits and private character, extracted from the valuable Account of his Life and Writings given by Mr Stewart.

"To his private worth, the most certain of all testimonies may be found in that confidence, respect, and attachment which followed him through all the various relations of life; the serenity and gayety he enjoyed under the pressure of his growing infirmities, and the warm interest he felt to the last in everything connected with the welfare of his friends, will be long remembered by a small circle, with whom, as long as his strength permitted, he regularly spent an evening in the week; and to whom the recollection of his worth still forms a pleasing, though melancholy bond of union.

"The more delicate and characteristical features of his mind, it is perhaps impossible to trace. That there were many peculiarities both in his manners and in his intellectual habits was manifest to the most superficial observer; but although, to those who knew him, these peculiarities detracted nothing from the respect which his abilities commanded; and, although to his intimate friends they added an inexpressible charm to his conversation, while they displayed in the most interesting light the artless simplicity of his heart; yet it would require a very skilful pencil to present them to the public eye. He was certainly not fitted for the general commerce of the world, or for the business of active life. The comprehensive speculations with which he had been occupied from his youth, and the variety of materials which his own invention continually supplied to his thoughts, rendered him habitually inattentive to familiar objects, and to comnion occurrences; and he frequently exhibited instances of absence which have scarcely been surpassed by the fancy of La Bruyere. Even in company he was apt to be engrossed with his studies; and appeared, at times, by the motion of his lips, as well as by his looks and gestures, to be in the fervour of composition. I have often, however, been struck, at the distance of years, with his accurate memory of the most trifling particulars, and am inclined to believe, from this and some other circumstances, that he possessed a power, not perhaps uncommon among absent men, of recollecting, in consequence of subsequent efforts of reflection, many occurrences which at the time when they happened did not seem to have sensibly attracted his notice.

" To the defect now mentioned, it was probably owing that he did not fall in easily with the common dialogue of conversation, and that he was somewhat apt to convey his own ideas in the form of a lecture. When he did so, however, it never proceeded from a wish to engross the discourse, or to gratify his vanity. His own inclination disposed him so strongly to enjoy in silence the gayety of those around him, that his friends were often led to concert little schemes in order to engage him in the discussions most likely to interest him. Nor do I think I shall be accused of going too far when I say, that he was scarcely ever known to start a new topic himself, or to appear unprepared upon those topics that were introduced by others. Indeed, his conversation was never more amusing than when be gave a loose to his genius upon the very few branches of knowledge of which he only possessed the outlines.

The opinions he formed of men upon a slight acquaintance were frequently erroneous; but the tendency of his nature inclined him much more to blind partiality, than to ill-founded prejudices. The enlarged views of human affairs on which his mind habitually dwelt, left him neither time nor inclination to study in detail the uninteresting peculiarities of ordinary characters, and accordingly, though intimately acquainted with the capacities of the intellect and the workings of the heart, and accustomed in his theories to mark with the most delicate hand the nicest shades both of genius and of the passions; yet in judging of individuals it sometimes happened that his estimates were in a surprising degree wide of the truth.

" The opinions to which in the thoughtlessness and confidence of his social hours, he was accustomed to hazard on books and on questions of speculation, were not uniformly such as might have been expected from the superiority of his understanding, and the singular consistency of his philosophical principles. They were liable to be influenced by accidental circumstances, and by the humour of the moment: and when retailed by those who only saw him occasionally, suggested false and contradictory ideas of his real sentiments. On these, however, as on most other occasions, there was always much truth, as well as ingenuity in his remarks; and if the different opinions which at different times he pronounced upon the same subject had been all combined together, so as to modify and limit each other, they would probably have afforded materials for a decision equally comprehensive and just. But, in the society of his friends, he had no disposition to form those qualified conclusions that we admire in his writings; and he generally contented himself with a bold and masterly sketch of the object from the first point of view in which his temper or his fancy presented it. Something of the same kind might be remarked when he attempted in the flow of his spirits to delineate those characters which from long intimacy he might have been disposed to understand thoroughly. The picture was always lively and expressive, and commonly bore a strong and amusing resemblance to the original, when viewed under one particular aspect; but seldom, perhaps, conveyed a just and complete conception of it in all its dimensions and proportions. In a word, it was the fault of his unpremeditated judgments to be systematical, and too much in extremes.

"But in whatever way these trifling peculiarities in his manners may be explained, there can be no doubt that they were intimately connected with the genuine artlessness of his mind. In this amiable quality he often recalled to his friends the accounts that are given of good La Fontaine; a quality which in him derived a peculiar grace from the singularity of its combination with those powers of reason and of eloquence which in his political and moral writings have long engaged the admiration of Europe.

"In his external form and appearance there was nothing uncommon. When perfectly at ease, and when warmed with conversation, his gestures were animated, and not ungraceful; and in the society of those he loved, his features were often brightened with a smile of inexpressible benignity. In the company of strangers his tendency to absence, and perhaps, still more, his consciousness of this tendency, rendered his manner somewhat embarrassed,—an effect which was probably not a little heightened by those speculative ideas of propriety, which his recluse habits tended at once to perfect in his conception, and to diminish his power of realizing. He never sat for his picture; but the medallion of Tassie conveys an exact idea of his profile, and of the general expression of his countenance."

His book "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" was the corner-stone of the concept of political economy.