poetry, and oratory, where, under different forms, they are beheld in their operation; amid that exhaustless variety of circumstances and vicissitude of for tune, under which man has been seen at once an agent and a victim; he found the everlasting materials for his speculations, the real and only data of all moral science. He did not affect to despise, economist as he was, the imperishable productions of human wit and genius, the poetry of Homer or of Milton, the eloquence of Demosthenes, or of Fox; because he could find in their works no argument for the theory of rent, or the doctrine of population. Nor was he pleased to think it the part of a philosopher or a philanthropist, to sneer at the domestic affections, and the social virtues, in the most comprehensive investigations which he instituted, and which had for their object the common benefit of mankind.

In his last hours he found delight in the tragedies of Euripides and Racine; and the drama, and the principles of the dramatic art, and of poetry in general, formed a frequent and favourite topic of his conversation. He was a great advocate for rhyme, a more unqualified one even than Dr. Jolinson, for he was accustomed to contend for the propriety of it as well on the stage, as in all other departments of poetry*.

As he loved to read it, he was accustomed to quote poetry, and the number of beautiful passages which he had treasured in his memory, and was in the habit of introducing in conversation, was remarkable in a man distinguished by so many higher acquisitions.

His peculiar taste is best exemplified in the style of his writings, which possess, even in that respect alone, merit of a very high order. If he has not (and who has?) the grace, the "careless, inimitable beauties," of Mr. Hume, it was owing in some measure to his not having mixed in such varied society; a circumstance which, acting upon the refined taste of the latter, lent to his com

It is well known that the two Doctors got to

rather high words once at Mr. Dilly's table, where they met at dinner. Many years after this, when Johnson, on some occasion, was maintaining the superiority of rhyme over blank verse, Boswell observed that he had heard Adam Smith enforce the same criticism in his lectures at Glasgow. "Sir," said Johnson, "Smith and I once met, and we did not much take to each other; but if I had known that the dog loved rhyme as much as you say he does, Sir, I should have hugged him,"

† Gibbon's Memoirs.

positions that inexpressible charm, which Gibbon may be supposed to have felt, when he describes himself in his ambition to emulate him, as "closing the volume with a mixed sensation of delight and despair *."

The great aim of Dr. Smith as a writer, and his great merit, is a marvellous perspicuity in the exposition of his ideas. Often diffuse, but never prolix; sometimes condensed, but never entangled in his expression; he unfolds the process of his reasonings so amply, that he leaves nothing to be supplied by his reader but a careful attention to his matter. Mr. Fox however is reported to have said of him, perhaps hastily, that he was unnecessarily diffuse, and fond of deductions where there was nothing to deduce. Mr. Stewart, with greater reserve, has ventured to hint a criticism nearly similar, and has ascribed this quality in his compositions to his early fondness for the study of the Greek geometry.

His greatest defect in the "Wealth of Nations," along with some faults in the arrangement of his subject, arises from his frequent digressions; his long dissertations upon some incidental questions, which frequently encumber the text, and intercept that complete and unbroken view of the subject as a whole, which a didactic author, who desires to interest and inform his reader, should always endeavour to preserve, from the first simple proposition with which he sets out, to the final developement of his system in all its parts. This defect arose partly from a peculiarity in his judgment, which led him to reject the use of marginal annotations; so useful in treating of many subjects, and certainly, it would seem, not the least so, in many which Dr. Smith undertook to discuss in his great work. It is curious, however, that, in the "Wealth of Nations," there are, we believe, but three or four notes, of four or five lines each, in the whole work, and these containing little more than references to authorities; whilst, in the

Theory of Moral Sentiments," there occurs but one of considerable length, and of importance more than equal to its length, in which it is remarkable that he has embodied a piece of reasoning, having essential reference to his system, of which it may be said, indeed, to furnish one of the strongest supports,

* Gibbon's Memoirs.

and the clearest illustrations to be found, perhaps, in the whole work.*-*

There is no doubt that he bestowed great care upon the style and composition of his works. And after all his practice as a writer, he is said never to have acquired that facility which is often attained by it, but to have written as slowly, and with as much labour at last, as he had ever done. This however was the effect, in some measure, of the nature of his speculations, and the general character and conduct of his understanding. In all his works, though we find passages of exceeding eloquence, force, and beauty, he is most distinguished for being a deliberate reasoner, and a candid and cautious thinker. It was usual with him, when employed in composition, not to write with his own hand, but to walk about his room dictating to an amanuensis. He had collected, in the course of his life, a very valuable library, which he bequeathed to his cousin, Mr. David Douglas. As he was a lover of books, he was more attentive to their condition, and the outward fashion of them, than is usual with scholars in general. When Mr. Smellie once called upon him, and was admiring a splendid copy of some classic author, and the general elegance of his shelves,-"You see, Sir," said Smith, "if in nothing else, I am a beau at least in my books.'

Besides the two great works of which we have spoken, and on which the fame of Dr. Smith will for ever rest, we must not omit to mention the very original and ingenious dissertation on the formation of languages, which was appended to the early editions of the "Moral Sentiments," and still continues to be published along with that work; and the few masterly, but unfinished sketches which were published shortly after his death. The tract on languages is a piece of extensive learning and profound observation; but though Mr. Stewart

Dr. Smith was betrayed into this rejection of marginal writing, by his classic adherence to the plan of composition of the ancients, who were equally ignorant of the use and the abuse of our modern practice; but many of whose works would evidently have been much improved by a moderate adoption of it; and every reader of the "Wealth of Nations" must have felt how much he would have been relieved in the study of this great work, if many portions of it, which might be pointed out, had been removed from the text to the margin, to be consulted

in their proper places, and not allowed to interrupt,

as they often do, a chain of profound and subtle reasoning, or an interesting deduction of consequences of the highest importance to the establishment of the point in question.

† Vide "Theory of Moral Sent.," Part ii. Sect. 1.

has bestowed high praise upon it, it seems hardly to have attracted the notice it deserves. The longest and most important of the posthumous essays, is entitled a "History of Astronomy," in which the author proposes to illustrate the principles which suggest and direct philosophical inquirers, by an account of the origin and progress of that interesting science. The same train of thought was pursued in two shorter and more imperfect essays, on the "History of the Ancient Physics," and that of the "Ancient Logic and Metaphysics." Along with these is a disquisition of very great beauty, entitled, with his accustomed amplitude of language, On the Nature of that Imitation which takes place, in what are called the Imitative Arts;" and another, on the "External Senses "-all abounding in great originality of thought, exquisite illustration, and expression the most expanded and luminous.

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In the "Sketches of the History of Philosophy," we find the same turn and tendency of mind which he has displayed in his greater works; a disposition which delighted to ascribe the first exercise of the imagination and the intellect, not to any view of profit or advantage in its results, but to a natural desire to fill up the void which was felt by the mind, from its inability to comprehend and connect together the various, and, as it would seem, the disjointed appearances which present themselves to its contemplation in the scenes and operations of nature. "Philosophy," says Dr. Smith, "is nothing but the science of the connecting principle of nature." It is an art addressed to the imagination, which seeks to adapt and reconcile to that faculty some theory, more or less satisfactory, of the phenomena, which, at first view, are void of order and connexion, and of meaning. The superiority of the Newtonian philosophy, he maintains, consists only in this,-that it is the most pleasing solution of the great problem of nature which has yet been given -that it connects more easily and more simply the appearances of the heavens in the fancy-not that it is by any means to be regarded as unfolding the actual chains which nature makes use of to bind together her several operations.

been made upon the writings of this illustrious man, as in the short extracts introduced from them, it has been less our object, as will be seen, to dwell upon

In the few observations which have

their merits with reference to any system, either of morals or economy, or to the soundness or fallacy of any particular doctrine, than to point out the admirable spirit which animates every part of that system; and those principles to which he always appeals, as the legitimate sources whence alone we can draw the materials of all moral and political institutes. To have done more than this, to have given even a very brief abstract of his system, in either of his two great works, would have far exceeded the limits of the present memoir; would require, and might well deserve, a separate treatise.

What has been attempted, however imperfectly, may not be altogether without its use, at least until propositions in the moral, as in the mathematical sciences, shall admit of demonstration. When that shall be the case, and the results of our reasonings can be submitted to so decisive a test, the sources whence we derive them, and the mode in which they are conducted, may be alike indifferent, and cannot assuredly affect in the slightest degree the truths demonstrated. Till then, however, it must be considered as no unimportant part of that species of philosophy which, in the expressive language of Lord Bacon, comes home to men's business and bosoms, to temper its doctrines by moderation and modesty; to engage the sympathies on our side of those we undertake to teach, and not to repel them; to endeavour to shew, if we can, that the doctrines we inculcate may be traced to a higher wisdom than that of man, by being in conformity with the rules by which nature seems to work, and in furtherance of principles which she has evidently implanted for the accomplishment of her own great ends.

No philosopher has so constantly borne in mind as Dr. Smith, that in the moral, as in the physical constitution and frame of man, nature has made cer

tain provisions for his attainment to virtue and to happiness, which the ignorant may overlook, and the arrogant may disregard, but with which the wise will only study to co-operate. And all the precepts we can put forth will derive their best sanction, and afford the strongest presumption in their favour by their being shewn to be in unison with those simple instincts of our nature, by which alone, as individuals, we are first taught to apprehend a distinction betwixt good and evil,* and which, in the obvious arrangements they suggest for the social union, were equally intended by our great Creator as lights to the economist and the legislator for the framing of those laws and institutions which take place in the wider and more complicated associations of men. It was in this excellent and truly enlightened spirit, that Smith, by applying the ex perimental method of reasoning to moral subjects, attained the vantage ground of that higher philosophy of which it is the glory of Bacon to have pointed out the road;-by which Newton ascended to the discovery of the sublimest truths in physics ;-and by the careful cultivation of which alone, if ever, it may be hoped, that the moral and political sciences will be placed on a foundation equally enduring, and when knowledge in them will more surely become power to man, as their reference to his happiness and advancement is more obvious and immediate.

*It has become usual of late, even in moral and

political discourses, to regard all reference to authority as marks of a poor and illogical understanding. rest upon mathematics, (as we have said in the text) In the physical sciences, those more especially which the argument from authority is of course out of the question. It is different we conceive in other subjects;-and though we have little respect for an hypothesis, however supported, which appeals from the universal sense and feelings of mankind, an auis entitled to a good deal, and for our parts we thority that appeals to that sense and those feelings should be satisfied to take our chance of error, in a question concerning the principle of moral approbation-for instance, with Hume and Smith, and Stewart and Mackintosh.