c

ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND

“ natural courfe, which force things into another“ channel, or which endeavour to arreft the pro-“ grefs of fociety at a particular point, areunna-" tural, and to fupportthemfelves are obliged to

“ be oppreflive and tyrannical.-A great part

“ of the opinions (heobferves) enumerated in" this paper, is treated of at length in fome lec-“ tures which I have flill by me, and which were“ written in the hand of a clerk who left my fer-“ vice fix years ago. They have all of them been" the confiant fubjeds of my lectures fince I firfl“ taught Mr. Craigie’s clafs ^ the firft winter I,+j, “ fpent in Glafgow , down to this day, without

“ any confiderable variation. They had all of“ them been the fubje£is oflefiures which I read" at Edinburgh the winter before I left it, and I“ can adduce innumerable witnelles both from" that place and from this, who will afcertain" them fufficiently to be mine. ”

After all, perhaps the merit of fuch a work asMr. Smith’s is to be eflimated lefs from the novel-ty of the principles it contains, than from the rea-fonings employed tofupport thefe principles, andfrom the fcientific manner in which they are un-folded in their proper order and connexion.General affections with refpedl to the advantagesof a free commerce , may be collefled fromvarious writers of an early date. But in queflionsof fo complicated a nature as occur in political