_ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS_ ADAM SMITH BY FRANCIS W. HIRST LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FOUR _Copyright in the United States of America, 1904_ PREFATORY NOTE Early in 1793 Dugald Stewart read at two meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his “Account of the Life and Writings of Adam Smith.” Written with the sympathetic pen of a friend and disciple in the Corinthian style that Stewart loved, the memoir was too good to be superseded. A century passed, and in 1895 appeared Mr. John Rae’s exhaustive _Life of Adam Smith_. Mr. Rae’s comprehensive researches cropped the ground so close that little seemed to have been left for his successors to glean. But the discovery of Smith’s _Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms_, edited by Mr. Edwin Cannan and published in 1896, has furnished new and important materials. Of Smith’s innumerable critics and commentators, Bagehot, Oncken, Ingram, and Hasbach seem to me to have understood him best. The misdirected erudition of some others has only proved the importance of allowing him to be his own interpreter. Dr. David Murray of Glasgow has very kindly read portions of my proofs, and has contributed most generously from his wonderful store of learning. F. W. H. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I Early Years 1 CHAPTER II The Beginning of a Career 23 CHAPTER III Theology and Religious Establishments 36 CHAPTER IV “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” 46 CHAPTER V In the Glasgow Chair—The Lectures on Justice And Police 68 CHAPTER VI Glasgow and its University 94 CHAPTER VII The Tour in France, 1764-66 118 CHAPTER VIII Politics and Study, 1766-76 144 CHAPTER IX The “Wealth of Nations” and its Critics 164 CHAPTER X Free Trade 188 CHAPTER XI Last Years 205 Index 237