III.

SE C T. in James's Court, (which commanded a prof pect of the Frith of Forth, and of the oppofite coaft of Fife,) "I am glad (fays he) to have

come within fight of you; but as I would "alfo be within fpeaking terms with you, I "wifh we could concert measures for that " purpose. I am mortally fick at fea, and "regard with horror and a kind of hydrophobia the great gulf that lies between us. "I am alfo tired of travelling, as much as

66

you ought naturally to be of staying at "home. I therefore propofe to you to come "hither, and pafs fome days with me in this "folitude. I want to know what you have "been doing, and propofe to exact a rigorous "account of the method in which you have

employed yourself during your retreat. I "am pofitive you are in the wrong in many "of your fpeculations, efpecially where you "have the misfortune to differ from me. All "these are reafons for our meeting, and I wish

you would make me some reasonable pro"pofal for that purpose. There is no habi"tation in the island of Inchkeith, otherwise "I should challenge you to meet me on that

66

fpot, and neither of us ever to leave the "place, till we were fully agreed on all points "of controverfy. I expect General Conway "here to-morrow, whom I fhall attend to "Rofeneath, and I fhall remain there a few "days. On my return, I hope to find a

"letter

"letter from you, containing a bold accept- s E c T. 66 ance of this defiance."

At length (in the beginning of the year 1776) Mr. Smith accounted to the world for his long retreat, by the publication of his

66

Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the "Wealth of Nations." A letter of congratulation on this event, from Mr. Hume, is now before me. It is dated 1ft April 1776 (about fix months before Mr. Hume's death), and difcovers an amiable folicitude about his friend's literary fame. "Euge! Belle! Dear "Mr. Smith: I am much pleased with

your

performance, and the perufal of it has taken "me from a ftate of great anxiety. It was a "work of fo much expectation, by yourself, 66 by your friends, and by the public, that I "trembled for its appearance; but am now "much relieved. Not but that the reading "of it neceffarily requires fo much attention, "and the public is difpofed to give fo little, "that I fhall ftill doubt for fome time of its "being at firft very popular. But it has

depth and folidity and acuteness, and is fo "much illuftrated by curious facts, that it "must at last take the public attention. It "is probably much improved by your last "abode in London. If you were here at my fire-fide, I fhould difpute fome of your principles.

66

But

thefe, and a hundred other points, are fit

III.

SECT.
III.

only to be difcuffed in converfation. I hope "it will be foon; for I am in a very bad ftate "of health, and cannot afford a long delay."

Of a book which is now fo univerfally known as "The Wealth of Nations," it might be confidered perhaps as fuperfluous to give a particular analysis; and, at any rate, the limits of this effay make it impoffible for me to attempt it at prefent. A few remarks, however, on the object and tendency of the work, may, I hope, be introduced without impropriety. The history of a philofopher's life can contain little more than the hiftory of his fpeculations; and in the cafe of fuch an author as Mr. Smith, whofe ftudies were fyftematically directed from his youth to fubjects of the last importance to human happiness, a review of his writings, while it ferves to illuftrate the peculiarities of his genius, affords the most faithful picture of his character as a man.

SECT. IV.

Of the Inquiry into the Nature and Caufes of the Wealth of Nations *.

A

IV.

N hiftorical view of the different forms sECT. under which human affairs have appeared in different ages and nations, naturally fuggefts the question, Whether the experience of former times may not now furnish some general principles to enlighten and direct the policy of future legiflators? The difcuffion, however, to which this queftion leads, is of fingular difficulty; as it requires an accurate analysis of by far the most complicated clafs of phenomena that can poffibly engage our attention, thofe which refult from the intricate and often the imperceptible mechanism of political fociety;-a fubject of observation which feems,. at first view, fo little commenfurate to our faculties, that it has been generally regarded with the fame paffive emotions of wonder and fubmiffion, with which, in the material world, we

* The length to which this Memoir has already extended, together with some other reasons which it is unnecessary to mention here, have induced me, in printing the following fection, to confine myself to a much more general view of the fubject than I once intended. See Note (D.)

IV.

SE C T. furvey the effects produced by the mysterious and uncontroulable operation of phyfical caufes. It is fortunate that upon this, as upon many other occafions, the difficulties which had long baffled the efforts of folitary genius begin to appear lefs formidable to the united exertions of the race; and that in proportion as the experience and the reafonings of different individuals are brought to bear upon the fame objects, and are combined in fuch a manner as to illuftrate and to limit each other, the fcience of politics affumes more and more that fyftematical form which encourages and aids the labours of future enquirers.

In profecuting the fcience of politics on this plan, little affiftance is to be derived from the fpeculations of ancient philofophers, the greater part of whom, in their political enquiries, confined their attention to a comparison of the different forms of government, and to an examination of the provifions they made for perpetuating their own existence, and for extending the glory of the ftate. It was referved for modern times to investigate those univerfal principles of juftice and of expediency, which ought, under every form of government, to regulate the focial order; and of which the object is, to make as equitable a diftribution as poffible, among all the different members of a community, of the advantages arifing from the political union.

The