Having spent two years on the Continent, Dr. Smith returned to England with his pupil, and soon after joined his mother at Kirkaldy, where he resided for about ten years almost entirely in seclusion, occupied in the prosecution of his great work. It was published in 1776; and few books have ever been given to the world tending more directly to destroy the prejudices, develop the powers, and promote the happiness of mankind. But the world at that time was not clear-sighted enough to appreciate its merits. Dr. Smith however had the gratification to see that, during fifteen years which elapsed between its publication and his death, it had produced a considerable effect upon public opinion, and that the eyes of men were beginning to be opened upon an object of such importance to human happiness. In this country at least Dr. Smith was the creator of the science of political economy, for he had only a chaos of materials from which to form it. Some defects may be discovered in his arrangement, and some errors detected in the principles as laid down by him; for it is hardly given to human intellect, that the originator of a science should also carry it to perfection. But Smith established the foundation upon which all future superstructures must rest; and the labours of Ricardo, Malthus, and some now living, eminent as they are, instead of superseding their predecessor do but enhance his merit. With all the progress which liberty of every kind has made since his time, no one has maintained the freedom of industry in all its bearings more forcibly than himself. The theories of rent, and of population, seem to be the only important branches of the science, as it now stands, which had escaped his observation. In 1778 Dr. Smith was appointed Commissioner of the Customs for Scotland. The duties of his office obliged him to quit London, where he had resided for two years subsequent to the publication of the ‘Wealth of Nations,’ and where his society had been courted by the most distinguished characters; and he took up his abode in Edinburgh, accompanied by his aged mother. In 1787 he was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow; a compliment which gave him great pleasure, as he was much attached to that body, and grateful for the services it had rendered him in his youth, and the honours it had conferred on him at a more advanced age. His mother died in 1784, and his grief on this occasion is supposed to have injured his health, and his constitution, which had never been robust, began to give way. He suffered another severe privation in the death of his cousin, Miss Douglas, who had managed his household for many years, since the infirmities of his parent had disqualified her for that employment. He survived Miss Douglas only two years, and died in 1790 of a tedious and painful illness, which he bore with patience and resignation.