ADAM SMITH. 283 



In one of his letters to Mr. Hume, from Toulouse, he 

 complains much of the dull life he led from not having 

 brought introductions to society. " The life (he says) which 

 I led at Glasgow was a pleasurable dissipated life in com- 

 parison of that which I lead here. I have begun to write a 

 book in order to pass away the time : you may believe I 

 have very little to do." This letter is dated 5th July, 

 1764, and the work was plainly the ' Wealth of Nations.' 

 The mention of it is interesting, as being the first we have 

 of his great undertaking. I need hardly add, that from his 

 habitual aversion to write letters, very few remain of his 

 compared with the correspondence of most distinguished 

 men. Afterwards he lived in all the society of Toulouse. 

 Here is another letter of a later date on Mr. Hume's quarrel 

 with Rousseau: 



" MY DEAR FRIEND, PARIS, July 6th, 1766. 



" I am thoroughly convinced that Kousseau is as 

 great a rascal as you and as every man here believes him to 

 be ; yet let me beg of you not to think of publishing any 

 thing to the world upon the very great impertinence which 

 he has been guilty of to you. By refusing the pension 

 which you had the goodness to solicit for him with his own 

 consent, he may have thrown, by the baseness of his pro- 

 ceedings, some little ridicule upon you in the eyes of the 

 Court and the Ministry. Stand this ridicule ; expose his 

 brutal letter, but without giving it out of your own hand, 

 so that it may never be printed, and if you can, laugh at 

 yourself, and I shall pawn my life that before three weeks 

 are at an end, this little affair, which at present gives you 

 so much uneasiness, shall be understood to do you as much 

 honour as any thing that has ever happened to you. By 

 endeavouring to unmask before the public this hypocritical 

 pedant, you run the risk of disturbing the tranquillity of 

 your whole life. By letting him alone he cannot give you 

 a fortnight's uneasiness. To write against him is, you may 

 depend upon it, the very thing he wishes you to do. He is 

 in danger of falling into obscurity in England, and he hopes 

 to make himself considerable by provoking an illustrious 

 adversary. He will have a great party, the Church, the 

 Whigs, the Jacobites, the whole wise English nation, who 



