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 meetingsof the Royal Society of Edinburgh his “Accountof the Life and Writings of Adam Smith.” Writtenwith the sympathetic pen of a friend and disciple in theCorinthian style that Stewart loved, the memoir wastoo good to be superseded. A century passed, andin 1895 appeared Mr. John Rae’s exhaustive Life ofAdam Smith. Mr. Rae’s comprehensive researchescropped the ground so close that little seemed tohave been left for his successors to glean. But thediscovery of Smith’s Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue,and Arms, edited by Mr. Edwin Cannan and publishedin 1896, has furnished new and important materials.
Of Smith’s innumerable critics and commentators,Bagehot, Oncken, Ingram, and Hasbach seem to me tohave understood him best. The misdirected eruditionof some others has only proved the importance ofallowing him to be his own interpreter.
Dr. David Murray of Glasgow has very kindly readportions of my proofs, and has contributed mostgenerously 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
ADAM SMITH
CHAPTER I
EARLY YEARS
Adam Smith was born on June 5, 1723, in the “langtoun” of Kirkcaldy. It was one of the “mony royalboroug