102 ADAM SMITH. 



of the most exalted to which any man can aspire, was 

 certainly of all others the most perfectly adapted to his 

 genius, as it was the best suited to his habits and his 

 tastes ; for the love of speculation was in him combined 

 with the desire of communicating information to others 

 and of promoting their improvement. Even in society 

 all his life, there was something didactic in the style of 

 his conversation. He was fond of laying down princi- 

 ples, illustrating them, and tracing their consequences. 

 He was not, indeed, in such careless discussions, always 

 either very practical or very reflecting and circumspect 

 as to conclusions ; and his hasty opinions, whether of 

 men or of things, were often the result of momentary 

 impressions, which he was quite ready to correct upon 

 reconsideration. But the interest which he took in his 

 subject always animated his discourse; and no one 

 could more appropriately, or with greater claims to his 

 hearer's attention, illustrate the bearing of the truths 

 which he meant to convey. His language, too, was 

 choice, both elegant, various, and plain; his manner 

 having been formed upon the best models which he had, 

 as we have seen, diligently studied, as indeed he had the 

 principles of rhetoric, the subject of his earliest lectures. 

 Nor had he any difficulty of extempore composition, 

 though like many greater speakers, he at first was apt to 

 hesitate until he became warmed with his subject, and 

 then he could prelect with as great fluency of language 

 as copiousness of illustration. It may thus be well 

 supposed that on the subjects of his lectures, when he 

 had given them the full consideration which was required 

 for preparing himself, he could convey instruction in a 

 manner at once sound, luminous, and attractive. Accord- 



