commerce of the kingdom might be rendered as free as that of England.” Thirdly, by subjecting all taxes to the immediate inspection and direction of government, the exorbitant profits of the farmers-general might be added to the revenue of the State. But, he adds, with the same scepticism that colours his view of the prospects of Free Trade in England, the opposition arising from the private interests of individuals would probably be effectual in preventing all three parts of the scheme of reformation. Yet half a century after the appearance of the _Wealth of Nations_ one of its annotators was able to write: “Taxes in France are now placed almost on the footing suggested by Dr. Smith. The _taille_ and _capitation_ have been abolished, and replaced by the _contribution foncière_; the different taxes have been rendered equal in all the provinces of the kingdom, and they are chiefly collected by officers appointed by the Government.” Nor is the connection between the book and the reforms either fanciful or remote. “It was, I avow—to the shame of my first instructors,” wrote “le bon Mollien,” Napoleon’s favourite minister of finance, “this book of Adam Smith, then so little known, that taught me better to appreciate the multitude of points at which public finance touches every family, and raises judges of it in every household.” CHAPTER VIII POLITICS AND STUDY, 1766-76 Adam Smith, as we have seen, had begun to write his immortal book at Toulouse in the summer of 1764 “in order to pass away the time.” But even after his return to London, in November 1766, more than nine years were still to pass before the _Wealth of Nations_ could be placed in the publisher’s hands. All this time the book was his chief occupation, and but for the light which an occasional letter throws upon his studies, the story of Smith’s life during these nine years might almost be written in as many lines. For about six months he remained in London, where he mingled with men, collected books and material for his treatise, and saw the third edition of his _Theory of Moral Sentiments_ through the press.