643 



SMITH, ALBERT. 



SMITH, LIEUT.-COL. CHARLES HAMILTON. 



544 



the press. The closing years of his life were spent tranquilly in the 

 society of a small circle of friends, who generally supped with him 

 every Sunday. His mother resided with him until her death in 1784, 

 a loss which he severely felt; and a maiden cousin, who had always 

 superintended his domestic concerns, died four years afterwards. In 

 1787 he was elected rector of the University of Glasgow. ^ He did not 

 linger long after his domestic bereavements, but died in July 1790, 

 aged 67. He was never married. 



The private character of Adam Smith has been fully given by his 

 friend Dugald Stewart, in the account of his ' Life and Writings,' 

 which is prefixed to more than one edition of the ' Wealth of Nations.' 

 His disposition was amiable and benevolent ; his manners were artless 

 and simple, and in society he not unfrequently exhibited instances of 

 absence of mind. Dugald Stewart says : " He was certainly not fitted 

 for the general commerce of the world, or for the business of active 

 life." His acts of private charity were on a scale much beyond what 

 might have been expected from his fortune. The medallion by Tassie 

 gives an exact idea of his profile and the general expresssion of his 

 countenance. 



The ' Wealth of Nations,' or, to give the title correctly, the ' Inquiry 

 into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,' is the work on 

 which the fame of Adam Smith will permanently rest. It overthrew 

 the errors of the mercantile theory, that money was wealth ; those of 

 the agricultural theory, that land was the only source of wealth; 

 and established the principle that the true source of wealth was labour. 

 Hobbes, in 1651 (' Leviathan,' chap. 24), had briefly glanced at the 

 importance of labour in conferring value upon things ; Locke, in 

 1689 ('Essay on Civil Government'), went further, but was evidently 

 not fully aware of the importance of the principle which he elucidated. 

 Mr. McCulloch, in his ' History of the Rise and Progress of the Science 

 of Political Economy up to the publication of the Wealth of Nations,' 

 thus sums up what Adam Smith has done for this science : " In the 

 'Wealth of Nations' (he says) the science was, for the first time, 

 treated in its fullest extent ; and the fundamental principles on which 

 the production of wealth depends, were established beyond the reach 

 of cavil and dispute. In opposition to the French economists, Dr. 

 Smith has shown that labow is the only source of wealth, and that 

 the wish to augment our fortunes and to rise in the world is the cause 

 of wealth being saved and accumulated. He has shown that labour is 

 productive of wealth when employed in manufactures and commerce, 

 as well as when it is employed in the cultivation of the land. He has 

 traced the various means by which labour may be rendered more 

 effective ; and has given a most admirable analysis and exposition of 

 the prodigious addition made to its powers by its division among 

 different individuals, and by the employment of accumulated wealth, 

 or capital, in industrious undertakings. Dr. Smith has also shown, in 

 opposition to the commonly received opinions of the merchants, 

 politicians, and statesmen of his time, that wealth does not consist in 

 the abundance of gold and silver, but in the abundance of the various 

 necessaries, conveniences, and enjoyments of life. He has shown that 

 it is in every case sound policy to leave individuals to pursue their 

 own interest in their own way ; and that, in prosecuting branches of 

 industry advantageous to themselves, they necessarily prosecute such as 

 are at the same time advantageous to the public. He has shown at great 

 length, and with a force of reasoning and amplitude of illustration that 

 leaves nothing to be desired, that the principles of the mercantile or 

 exclusive system are at once inconsistent and absurd ; and that every 

 regulation intended to force industry into particular channels, or to de- 

 termine the species of commercial intercourse to be carried on between 

 different parts of the same country, or between distant and independent 

 countries, ia impolitic and pernicious injurious to the rights of indi- 

 viduals and adverse to the progress of real opulence and lasting 

 prosperity." 



Adam Smith's errors lean towards the theories of the French 

 economists. Some principles he overlooked ; others he did not duly 

 appreciate. Many of the theories which he controverted have now 

 become obsolete, yet the manner in which he has investigated them 

 will always please and instruct. Still it is not safe for the student to 

 read him without a guide. 



The ' Wealth of Nations ' is divided into five books; but the arrange- 

 ment of the subject is not on the whole considered judicious. In the 

 first and second books the circumstances which determine the price 

 of commodities, the rate of wages and profits, and the rent of land are 

 discussed. The third book treats of the probable progress of a country 

 in which individual and national industry were unimpeded by restric- 

 tions, and shows the " natural progress of opulence." The causes 

 which had produced the then existing policy of different European 

 countries are pointed out. In the fourth book the mercantile and 

 agricultural systems are examined. The fifth book relates to reve- 

 nues of the state, the principles of taxation, and the effect of national 

 debts. There are several long digressions on various branches of the 

 subject. 



* SMITH, ALBERT, was born on May 24, 1816, at Chertsey, where 

 his father practised as a surgeon, and was educated at Merchant 

 Taylors' School. As he was destined for the medical profession, he 

 pursued his studies at Middlesex Hospital, and became a member of 

 the College of Surgeons early in 1838. In the eame year he repaired 

 to Paris, in order to increase his knowledge by attending the hospital 



of the Hotel Dieu, and lectures, and in September he visited Chamouni. 

 He then returned to England, and commenced practice with his father 

 at Chertsey. But he had always felt an inclination for literary pursuits, 

 and an equal and early developed fondness for the subject of his subse- 

 quent triumph the scenery of Mont Blanc. The first he gratified by 

 some contributions to the ' Medical Times,' in which appeared ' Jasper 

 Buddie, or Confessions of a Dissecting Room Porter,' and the second 

 by successive visits to that renowned spot. Not being entirely satisfied 

 with his position as a surgeon, he prepared views of the scenery of the 

 Alps, together with a descriptive lecture, with which he visited most 

 of the small towns in the vicinity of the metropolis during 1839 and 

 1840. In 1841 he settled in London, and commenced wri'iug for the 

 magazines, in which appeared, amongst a variety of miscellaneous 

 articles, several of his novels. ' The Adventures of Mr. Ledbury,' 

 ' The Scattergood Family,' ' The Marchioness of Brinvilliers,' ' Christo- 

 pher Tadpole,' and ' The Pottleton Legacy,' all of which were published 

 subsequently as separate works, were decidedly successful, and have 

 gone through more than one edition, though more distinguished by a 

 rattling good humour, and a talent for relating practical jokes, than 

 by the higher attributes of correct taste and delineation of character. 

 During 1847-49 he wrote a series of sketches, comprising the Natural 

 Histories of ' Stuck-up People,' ' The Ballet Girl,' ' The Gent,' ' The Flirt,' 

 ' The Idler upou Town,' and ' Evening Parties.' In 1849 he visited the 

 East, and on his return published 'A Month at Constantinople,' in 

 which the exaggerated notions respecting its romance and its beauty 

 were cleverly ridiculed ; and in 1850 he produced an entertainment 

 called ' The Overland Mail,' wherein he was the only performer, and 

 in which, with the aid of scenery, he described that route. He also 

 in this year wrote two or three operatic burlesques, but we have not 

 attempted to enumerate all his multifarious productions. In the autumn 

 of 1851 he revisited the scene of his early predilection, and succeeded, 

 with much difficulty, which he has himself described, in gaining the 

 summit of Mont Blanc ; a feat since become one of every day occur- 

 rence. On March 15, 1852, he produced, at the Egyptian Hall, his enter- 

 tainment of The Ascent of Mont Blanc,' wherein his rapid but distinct 

 utterance, his humour, the well-selected and well-painted scenery, and 

 his careful attention to the comfort of his auditors, enabled him to 

 achieve an unprecedented success. It has continued, by successive 

 variations, to remain a favourite to the present time (June 1857) ; 

 his readiness in adapting and incorporating allusions to the passing 

 events of the day, giving to it a variety that forms a considerable 

 portion of its attraction. Since the commencement of this entertain- 

 ment Mr. Smith has ceased, in a considerable degree, to pursue his 

 literary avocations, his slight ' Story of Mont Blanc," which has some 

 personal interest, being the only work he has since published ; with 

 an occasional letter to the newspapers, to which however his name has 

 not been appended, containing smart and pleasant, though somewhat 

 exaggerated, descriptions of the social state of London. 



SJilTH, ANKER, who received his unusual name by way of 

 fanciful allusion to his being an only sou, the " hope " of his parents 

 (" anker " being an old way of spelling anchor), was born in London 

 in 1759. He was educated in the Merchant Taylors' School, and was 

 articled, in 1777, to his uncle, Mr. John Hoole, a solicitor. The 

 unusual neatness of his writing led Mr. Hoole to try his skill at 

 drawing with a pen. He therefore copied two line engravings in pen 

 and ink ; and so admirably was the second executed, that James 

 Heath is said to have mistaken it for a print. In consequence of this 

 indication of talent, young Smith was articled to an engraver named 

 Taylor, in the year 1779, but he quitted him in 1782, by which time 

 he had surpassed his instructor. He then became an assistant of 

 James Heath, in whose came he executed many works, among others, 

 the Apotheosis of Handel, which is said to be entirely his own. 

 About the year 1787 Smith received his first independent employ- 

 ment as an engraver, being then engaged upon the plates to illustrate 

 Bell's edition of the ' British Poets.' About the same time he was 

 introduced by Hoole, the translator of Tasso (who was brother to the 

 gentleman of that name before alluded to), to Alderman Boydell, by 

 whom he was commissioned to engrave Northcote's picture of the 

 Death of Wat Tyler. For this engraving he was, in 1797, elected an 

 associate of the Royal Academy. 



The engravings of Anker Smith are much esteemed for their 

 beautiful execution and correct drawing ; although, from the circum- 

 stance of his working much for book publishers, his name is less known 

 than it deserves to be. His private character was unimpeachable; and 

 hia modesty, piety, and correct judgment secured him many friends. 

 In 1791 he married. He died of apoplexy, in June 1S19, leaving his 

 widow, four sons, and a daughter. Of bis sons, the second, named 

 Frederick William, who became a pupil of Chantrey, gave great promise 

 of eminence in the art of sculpture, but died in 1835, at the age of 

 thirty-eight years ; and the two younger embraced that of painting. 

 Mr. Smith had several sisters, one of whom was mother to Sir W. C. 

 Ross, R.A., miniature-painter to her Majesty. 



* SMITH, LIEUT.-COLONEL CHARLES HAMILTON, a well- 

 known writer on subjects connected with the natural history of 

 animals. One of his earliest papers is in the 13th volume of the 

 Linnioan Transactions, entitled ' Observations on some Animals of 

 America allied to the genus Antilope' The volume on ' Dogs ' in 

 Jardine's ' Naturalist's Library,' was written by Colonel Smith, and 



