his "Wealth of Nations." His views upon the theory of jurisprudence, except inasmuch as he has embodied some of its important principles in that work, were confined to his lectures; though it is clear from an intimation conveyed in the closing paragraph of the" Moral Sentiments," and still more so from the advertisement he prefixed to the last edition of that work, written only a few months before his death, that it was a subject which, during the whole of his life, he had deeply meditated, and upon which he had always designed to communicate his labours to the public, if the engagements with which he was occupied during the latter period of it had not interfered to prevent him.

For himself, Dr. Smith has undoubt edly done enough, and so far as regards his own interest and his fame, it would be idle to indulge in regrets. For the world however, and for the interests of science, perhaps a greater loss has been rarely sustained than in the unfortunate circumstances, whatever they were, which concurred to deprive it of this most valuable portion of his labours. The enlarged views he had evidently formed of the objects and principles of legislation; the glimpses which we occasionally catch in his other writings of the spirit in which he was accustomed to contemplate such subjects; the pure and lofty sources to which he was accustomed to refer for those principles; all assure us of the invaluable addition which would have been made to this department of philosophy, had it been illustrated by his pen.

From this, however, and from his academical labours generally, he was withdrawn in the year 1763, by an invitation to accompany the Duke of Buccleugh on his travels; an appointment which was principally recommended to him at the time, by the desire which he had conceived of visiting the continent. The proposal, which was made to him through Mr. Charles Townsend, was liberal in the extreme; as might be expected to be made to such a man, to induce him to quit the scene of his honourable and useful labours, the society of his friends, and those studious delights, known only to the pure and devoted lovers of truth, which constitute the highest charm of human existence.

It is well known that, whatever pleasure Smith might derive from his tour, or whatever advantage from his connexion with the noble family of Buc

cleugh, the separation from the university of Glasgow was a source to him of very heartfelt regret. An interesting and characteristic anecdote has been recorded of him, relative to his resignation of his duty as professor there, which is well worth preserving.

It was at the latter end of his course of lectures, that it became necessary for him to take his departure, and it was well ascertained that he had been at exceeding pains to provide, in a friend, a very competent successor for that part of the course which yet remained unfinished. He had suffered the greatest possible anxiety upon this point, and had done everything that might satisfy the most scrupulous of his friends and his pupils. This, however, did not satisfy the conscientious delicacy of Dr. Smith. He was of course aware of the high estimation in which he was held in the university, and the just value which was put upon his lectures. The day at length arrived when he was to address the students of his class for the last time, and it was a moment deeply affecting to both parties. He took leave of them in a tone of affection and regret, which enlivened their mutual sorrow; and when they were about to depart, he called them severally to his chair, and tendered to each of them, carefully folded in paper, the amount of the fee V which he had received for the whole course of his lectures, notwithstanding so small a portion of it only remained unfinished. This was of course refused resolutely, as by acclamation; the professor, however, persisted in his endeavour, assuring them that he should not be satisfied otherwise, and that he should quit them under the impression of having failed in his duty, and of having wronged them, if they did not take back the fee for the entire course of lectures, which circumstances prevented him from completing. It was in vain that they assured him how far they were overpaid by the smallest portion of his labour bestowed upon them for the trifling emolument he derived; how real a wrong they should be committing to consent to such a proposal, and, in short, their firm determination by no means to listen to it. The professor was sensibly touched by their generous avowal, but he was not to be moved from his purpose. When they were at last on the point of quitting the lecture room, he seized hold of the foremost of the students, and

absolutely forced the money into his hands, exclaiming, with his accustomed Wardour, "Nay, gentlemen, I will not suffer this; it is a matter of conscience with me, and I must have my way;" and in this manner seeing him so deeply concerned in his object, they were obliged to submit; and thus to terminate a struggle of very unusual occurrence, equally honourable to the delicacy and generosity of the professor, and the attachment of his pupils.

It may safely be said, without disparagement to the many eminent successors of Dr. Smith, that his removal from the chair of moral philosophy was perhaps the greatest loss which the University of Glasgow has sustained. Of his merits and his method as a lecturer, we have presented our readers with an interesting memorial in the last section; but there is a circumstance related of him which may still better serve to evince the pains and sagacity which he exerted in the performance of his duty, and may suggest a standing and instructive lesson to both public and private teachers in all times and places. It is said that in the delivery of his daily lectures, his observation had been drawn, in an especial manner, to a certain student of his class, whose general habit of close and riveted attention to what was going on, became a mark or indication to the professor of the degree in which he succeeded in the developement and expression of his subject that he was accustomed to fix his eye upon the student in question, and as long as he found that he retained his hold of his attention, he felt satisfied; but whenever he remarked any relaxation in his manner, whether in the wandering expression of his countenance, or the position of his body, which seemed to indicate a diminishing interest in the lecture" I took this as a valuable admonition," he used to say; "I was sure that there was something wanting either of connection in my reasoning or of sufficient fulness and perspicuity in my exposition, and I immediately paused. I recapitulated what I had been saying-I explained-I re-argued -I endeavoured further to illustrate my propositions, and I never felt quite satisfied that I was going on right, until I had regained complete hold of my monitor, till I saw by the resumption of his usual manner and gaze that I possessed the whole of his attention."

Having disengaged himself as well as

he could from the ties that bound him to Glasgow, Smith quitted that city in January, 1764, and joined the Duke off Buccleugh in London, where they remained together a couple of months. In March they set out on their route to Paris, and had the fortune to be joined at Dover by Sir James Macdonald, who accompanied them as far as the French capital, where they parted ;-Sir James on his way to Italy, where he died within two years after, in the twenty-fifth year of his age. Were there no other testimony to the merit of this accomplished person, it would be sufficient to shew that He enjoyed in so high a degree the esteem and admiration of two such men as Dr. Smith and Mr. Hume; and a letter which the latter addressed to Smith, on the occasion of his death, contains strong evidence of this-" Were you and I together," says he, 66 we should shed tears at present for the death of poor Sir James Macdonald: we could not possibly have suffered a greater loss than in that valuable young man."

It was about the same time when Smith set out for the continent with the Duke of Buccleugh, that his friend Hume had been invited to join the embassy of the Earl of Hertford at Paris. Smith remained in that city only a few days; but before he left it we should mention that he addressed the rector of the University of Glasgow in form, tendering his resignation of the chair he had filled, and expressing himself as might be expected on such an occasion.

"I was never more anxious" (he says, in the conclusion of his letter) "for the good of the college than at this moment; and I sincerely wish that, whoever is my successor, he may not only do credit to the office by his abilities, but be a comfort to the very excellent men with whom he is likely to spend his life, by the probity of his heart and the goodness of his temper." On the receipt of this letter, the chair was declared to be vacant; and at a meeting of the heads of the university the sense of the value of their late professor, and the loss sustained by his removal was recorded in the following terms:

"The University cannot help expressing their sincere regret at the removal of Dr. Smith, whose distinguished probity and amiable qualities procured him the esteem and affection of his colleagues, and whose uncommon genius, great abilities, and extensive learning, did so much honour to this society: his

elegant and ingenious 'Theory of Moral Sentiments' having recommended him to the esteem of men of taste and literature throughout Europe. His happy talent of illustrating abstracted subjects, and faithful assiduity in communicating useful knowledge, distinguished him as a professor, and at once afforded the greatest pleasure and the most important instruction to the youth under his care." On quitting Paris, Dr. Smith and the Duke of Buccleugh proceeded to Toulouse, where they fixed their abode for a year and a half; enjoying the best society of the place, and finding in new manners and new modes of existence fresh sources of interest and information equally advantageous to both partiesto Dr. Smith affording opportunities of extending and confirming his previous acquaintance with men and books; and perhaps having the effect of biassing his judgment in some matters of taste and literature, rather erroneously, in favour of French criticism and genius, and of certain pre-conceived theories to which he was naturally inclined.

On quitting Toulouse, they spent the autumn of that year in a tour through the southern provinces of France and to Switzerland. At Geneva they remained a couple of months; and returned to Paris about Christmas 1765, where they continued till the month of October following. It was at Paris, as we may well suppose, that Smith, after all, enjoyed by far the highest gratification which his journey afforded him. The capital, as Mr. Hume used to say, is the true scene for a man of letters; and if any, surely it was the capital of France at this period. Mr. Hume himself was there only for a short time after the arrival of his friend; but he was there long enough to introduce him to the most distinguished philosophers and men of learning then living in Paris:-D'Alembert, Helvetius, Marmontel, Turgot, Quesnai, and many others. The society of the two latter in particular we may be assured, from the congeniality of their sentiments upon subjects which Smith was at that time deeply meditating, must have been gratifying to him in a degree not very easy to conceive. It was that private and unreserved interchange of opinion in matters of moral and political science, with men like these, equally enlightened with himself, and animated by the same zeal for the happiness of mankind, that constituted his felicity; for, in other respects, the mere gaiety and brilliancy of Pari

sian society were not adapted to his taste and manners; nor were his powers in conversation such as fitted him to shine amid its glare.

With Turgot and Quesnai he contracted a very close intimacy. With the former it was long supposed that he maintained an epistolary correspondence for a long period after his return to Scotland, a circumstance which excited naturally considerable interest, but of which Mr. Stewart, who took some pains to inquire into it, found reason to doubt the truth. It is certain that no memorial of such correspondence existed amongst Smith's papers, nor has any been made public from those of Turgot. It is well known, indeed, that Smith had no fondness for letter-writing, nor are we aware of three letters of his which have ever appeared in print. As he wrote few letters, it is equally to be regretted that he kept no journal during his travels, or if he did, that it was amongst the other papers which he took such anxious pains to secure the destruction of previous to his death.

Amongst the other eminent persons with whom Smith became acquainted whilst in Paris, and from whom he received distinguished marks of respect, was the family of the Duke de là Rochefoucauld; a circumstance not unworthy of being recorded, inasmuch as his introduction to that accomplished and amiable man led to the suppression in the latter edition of his "Theory of Moral Sentiments" of a rather severe animadversion upon the author of the celebrated" Maxims," which had been expressed in the first, where Smith had associated the name of Rochefoucauld with that of Mandeville. There is a letter extant from the Duke de la Rochefoucauld dated in 1778, addressed to Smith, transmitting to him a new edition of the " Maxims," in which he adverts with some pain to Dr. Smith's censure, and offers a poor apology, though the best that can be made, for a very shallow and pernicious performance, which persons equally shallow have taken for philosophy, but which nobody would have thought it worth while to remember or refute, if it had not been written in epigrams. In France he studied the principles of the economists in their writings as well as in their conversations; and was perhaps first led by the errors of that ingenious and amiable sect, to the contemplation of the more wide and just views to which

his mind was opening. The fine arts also and belles lettres, the poetry, and especially the drama of that country, subjects well worthy the contemplation of the philosopher, engaged no small share of his attention. The imagination and the arts which are addressed to it; the refined pleasures of which it is susceptible, and the taste to appreciate those pleasures, were then deemed not unworthy the attention of a philosopher. The principles upon which the arts are found ed, the origin and nature of the emotions they excite, and the causes which, in different ages and nations, have diversified their character and operation, are subjects which were not only supposed to have some interest in themselves, but which have been investigated by such metaphysicians and economists as Hume and Smith, and Berkeley and Dugald Stewart, from the intimate and indissoluble connexion which they hold with the philosophy of the human mind; and as embracing an extensive and beautiful class of phenomena which form part of the great science of human nature. We are pleased to record such things in the character of Smith; because, however unimportant at other times, they are of consequence now, when one of the first of sciences is in danger of suffering in public estimation from the narrow and repulsive spirit which is occasionally mingled in its discussions: and because they shew that political economy, as a study, is not incompatible with a love of literature, and eloquence, and poetry; and assuredly not so with good taste and good writing*.

Dr. Smith's own taste in literature, as has been already hinted, was disposed to the admiration of what has been since denominated the classical, in contradistinction to the romantic, school of

art.

We do not remember, at this moment, a single reference to Shakspeare in the whole of his writings; while the lofty praise he has taken occasion to bestow upon the tragedies of Racine and Voltaire, his allusions to Pope, and encomium on Gray, exhibit more positive testimony in proof of this taste. But reserving what we have further to say respecting his general intellectual

*It is but justice to say here, that we are most happy to except from any censure implied in the above observations, two distinguished professsors of political economy-we mean, Mr. Senior of Oxford, and Mr. Macculloch of the University of Londonboth of whom have invariably written and spoken in the spirit of their great master,

character and literary taste, for the conclusion of our memoir, we proceed to detail the few remaining incidents of his life.

66 on

In October, 1766, Dr. Smith returned to London, where he and the Duke of Buccleugh separated; after having spent three years together, without the slightest coolness or disagreement; and, my part," says the Duke, in a letter which he addressed to Mr. Stewart, "with every advantage that could be expected from the society of such a man. We lived in friendship till the hour of his death; and I shall always retain the impression of having lost a friend whom I loved and respected, not only for his great talents, but for every private virtue."

Shortly after his return to England, he went down to his native place, where he continued to reside almost uninterruptedly for the next ten years of his life. An occasional visit to his friends at Edinburgh, with a journey to London once or twice in the interval, were his only diversions from a course of intense application. To his friends, to Mr. Hume in particular, this severe seclusion was a frequent matter of regret and complaint. Hume had returned to Edinburgh in 1669, after quitting his engagement with Lord Hertford; and in a letter written shortly after to Smith, he says, (dating from his house in St. James' Court, which commanded a prospect of the Forth and the opposite coast of Fife)" I am glad to have come within sight of you; but as I would also be within speaking terms of you, I wish we could concert measures for that purpose. I am mortally sick at sea, and regard with horror and a kind of hydrophobia the great gulph that lies between us. I am also tired of travelling, as much as you ought naturally to be of staying at home; I therefore propose to you to come hither, and pass some days with me in this solitude. I want to know what you have been doing, and propose to exact a rigorous account of the method in which you have employed yourself during your retreat. I am positive you are in the wrong in many of your speculations, especially where you have the misfortune to differ from me. All these are reasons for our meeting, and I wish you would make me some reasonable proposal for that purpose. There is no habitation in the island of Inchkeith, otherwise I should challenge you to meet me there, and neither of us ever to leave the place till we are fully

C

agreed on all points of controversy. I expect General Conway here to-morrow, whom I shall attend to Roseneath, and I shall remain there a few days. On my return, I hope to find a letter from you, containing a bold acceptance of this defiance."

There are extant several letters from this celebrated person, in which he exhorts his friend to leave his retirement, in terms expressive at once of the fondest friendship, and the most longing desire for his society: "I shall not take any excuse from your state of health," he writes on another occasion, "which I suppose only a subterfuge invented by indolence and love of solitude. Indeed, my dear Smith, if you continue to hearken to complaints of this nature, you will cut yourself out entirely from human society, to the great loss of both parties."

During the whole of this period, Smith may be considered as engaged in the composition of his great work. The room is still shewn at Kirkaldy, in which was written the greater part of the "Wealth of Nations ;" and to that, and to scenes ennobled in like manner, by the exertions of genius and learning, will mankind some day make their pilgrimage in devotion to science and to virtue, when the shrines of kings and conquerors shall attract the homage which is often paid to them as little as they deserve it.

In the spring of the year 1773, he went up to London for rather a longer period than he was in the habit of leaving home; partly for the purpose of collecting some information, and making references relative to the work which now engrossed his whole thoughts.

There are so few letters of Smith's extant, as we have before observed, that we shall not hesitate to present to our readers the following, which he addressed to Mr. Hume on the point of his departure, as it serves to shew the extreme anxiety which he always felt about the destruction of his manuscripts:

"Edinburgh, April 16th, 1773. "MY DEAR FRIEND,

"As I have left the care of all my literary papers to you, I must tell you, that, except those which I carry along with me, there are none worth the publication but a fragment of a great work, which contains a history of the astronomical systems that were successively in fashion down to the time of Des Cartes.

Whether that might not be published as a fragment of an intended juvenile work, I leave to your judgment; though I begin to suspect that there is more refinement than solidity in some parts of it. This little work you will find in a thin folio paper in my back room. All the other loose papers, which you will find in that desk, or within the glass folding doors of a bureau in my bedroom, together with about eighteen thin folio books, which you will likewise find within the same glass folding-doors, I desire may be destroyed without any examination. Unless I die very suddenly, I shall take care that the papers I carry with me shall be sent to you. "I am ever, my dear Friend, "Most faithfully yours,

"ADAM SMITH." The memorable year 1776 was now approaching, memorable in the life of Smith, as it was in the spring of that year that he gave to the world his immortal work, the "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," and in the autumn that death deprived him of his immortal friend, Mr. Hume.

Smith was in London at the time of the publication of his book; and the highest gratification, perhaps, afforded him on that occasion-higher, perhaps, than any which the praises of the world could give-was conveyed to him in the following letter, addressed to him by his dying friend. It was written from Edinburgh, only a few days before he set out on his journey to the South, as the only remaining hope of preserving his life; and testifies, almost in his last moments, the same amiable solicitude for his friends and their fame which characterised him throughout the whole of his existence. The letter is dated April 1, 1776-" Euge Belle! Dear Mr. Smith

I am much pleased with your performance, and the perusal of it has taken me from a state of great anxiety. It was a work of so much expectation by yourself, by your friends and by the public, that I trembled for its appearance, but am now much relieved. Not but that the reading of it necessarily requires so much attention, and the public is disposed to give so little, that I shall still doubt for some time of its being at first very popular. But it has depth, and solidity, and acuteness, and is so much illustrated by curious facts, that it must at last take the public attention. It is probably much improved by your_last