104 HISTORY of th SOCIETY. 
Accor “ or coolnefs ;—on my part, with every advantage that could 
be expected from the fociety of fuch a man. We continued 
to live in friendfhip till the hour of his death; and I fhall 
always remain with the impreffion of having loft a friend 
whom I loved and refpected, not only for his great talents, 
but for every private virtue.’’ 
THE retirement in which Mr Snir paffed his next ten 
years, formed a ftriking contraft to the unfettled mode of life 
he had been for fome time accuftomed to, but was fo conge- 
nial to his natural difpofition, and to his firft habits, that it was 
with the utmoft difficulty he was ever perfuaded to leave it. 
During the whole of this period, (with the exception of a few 
vifits to Edinburgh and London), he remained with his mother 
at Kirkaldy ; occupied habitually in intenfe ftudy, but unbend- 
ing his mind at times in the company of fome of his old fchool- 
fellows, whofe “ fober wifhes”’ had attached them to the place 
of their birth. - In the fociety of fuch men, Mr SmiruH de- 
lighted ; and tothem he was endeared, not only by his fimple 
and unaffuming manners, but by the perfect knowledge they all 
poffeifed of thofe domeftic virtues which had diftinguifhed him 
from his infancy. 
Mr Hume, who (as he tells us « himfelf ) confidered ‘f a town 
“ as the true fcene for a man of letters,” made many attempts 
to feduce him from his retirement. In a letter, dated in 1772, 
he urges him to pafs fome time with him in Edinburgh. “ I 
“ fhall not take any excufe from your ftate of health, which 
I fuppofe only a fubterfuge invented by indolence and love 
“ of folitude. Indeed, my dear Smitu, if you continue to 
‘« hearken to complaints of this nature, you will cut yourfelf 
out entirely from human fociety, to the great lofs of both 
parties.” In another letter, dated in 1769, from his houfe 
in James’s Court, (which commanded a profpect 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-with- 
« in 
“ce 
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