5 CHARACTERS. 
_ whole, have done both theauthorand 
his country credit. : 
The doctor hints at three Disser- 
_ tations, and. one on Worm Fevers, 
intended to ‘be published (but they 
never were.) 
His next work was.a short Essay, 
 intitled—‘* A Catalogue of ihe 
Birds of Ireland, whether Natives, 
Casual Visitors, or Birds of Passage, 
- taken from Observation; ciassed 
_ and disposed according to Linnzus.” 
- This was published in* Exsbaw’s 
| Magazine, June, 1774. 
> “A Catalogue of Fishes, ob- 
' served on our Coasts, and in our 
Lakes and Rivers, classed and dis- 
ec according to Linnzus.”—In 
Exshaw’s Magazine for August, 
‘1774. 
His MSS. are, 
“ A Catalogue of the Plants 
the Linnzan System 5” sent to sir 
» Joseph Banks, 4to. about 80 pages 
_  ‘*Pasciculus Plantarum Hibernie: 
or, a Catalogue of such Irish Plants 
| as have been observed by the Au- 
| thor, chiefly those of the Counties of 
Mayo and Galway ; to which he 
| has added such as have been men- 
_ parts of the kingdom. 
By Patrick Browne, M. D. Author 
_ _ of the History of Jamaica.” 
This contains 110 pages 8vo. 
written in Latin, with the English 
and Irish names. 
‘ 
J 
Particulars of the Life and Character 
Of Adam Smith, LL. D. ; from the 
Third Volume of the Transactions 
of the Royal Society yf Edin- 
burgh. 
wae 
DAM Smith, author of the 
A Inquiry ivto the Nature and 
Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 
was the son of Adam Smith, comp- 
troller of the customs at Kirkaldy, 
and of Margaret Douglas, daugh- 
ter of Mr. Douglas, of Strathenry. 
He was the only child of the mar- 
riage, and was born at Kirkaldy on 
the 5th of June, 1723, a few months 
after the death of his father. 
His constitution during infancy 
was infirm and sickly, and required 
all the tender solicitude of his sur~ 
viving parent. She was blamed for 
treating him with an unlimited in- 
dulgence: but it produced no un- 
favourable effects on his temper or 
his dispositions; and he enjoyed 
the rare satisfaction of being able to 
repay her affection, by every atten- 
tion that filial gratitude could dic- 
tate, during the iong period of sixty 
years. 
An accident, which happened 
to him when he was about three 
years old, is of too interesting a na- 
ture to be omitted in the account of 
so valuable a life. He had been 
carried by his mother to Strathenry 
ona visit to his uncle, Mr. Douglas, 
and was one day amusing himself 
alone at the door of the house, when 
he was stolen by a party of that set 
of vagrants who are known in Scot- 
Jand by the name of tinkers. Luck- 
ily he wassoon missed by his uncle, 
who hearing that some vagrants had 
passed, pursued them, with what’ 
assistance he could find, till he over- 
took them in Leslie wood ; and was 
the happy instrument of preserving 
to the world a genius, which , was 
destined, not only to extend the 
boundaries of science, but to en= 
lighten and reform the commercial 
policy of Europe. 
The schocl of Kirkaldy, where 
Mr. Smith received the first rudi- 
[*C 3) maents 
