222 ADAM SMITH. 



" MY DEAR FRIEND, Dalkeith House, September 18, 1767- 



" Be so good as to convey the enclosed letter to the 

 Count de Sarsfield ; I have been much in the wrong for 

 having delayed so long to write both to him and you. 



" There is a very amiable, modest, brave, worthy young 

 gentleman, who lives in the same house with you ; his name 

 is David Skeene. He and I are sisters' sons, but my regard 

 for him is much more founded upon his personal qualities 

 than upon the relation in which he stands to me. He acted 

 lately in a very gallant manner in America, of which he never 

 acquainted me himself, and of which I came to the know- 

 ledge only within these few days. If you can be of any 

 service to him, you could not possibly do a more obliging 

 thing to me. The Duke and Duchess of Buccleugh have 

 been here now for almost a fortnight; they begin to open their 

 house on Monday next, and I flatter myself will both be very 

 agreeable to the people of this country. I am not sure that 

 I have ever seen a more agreeable woman than the Duchess. 

 I am sorry that you are not here, because I am sure you 

 would be perfectly in love with her. I shall probably be 

 here some weeks ; I would wish, however, that both you and 

 the Count de Sarsfield would direct for me as usual at 

 Kirkaldy. I should be glad to know the true history of 

 Rousseau before and since he left England. You may per- 

 fectly depend upon my never quoting you to any living soul 

 upon that subject. 



" I ever am, dear Sir, 



" Most faithfully yours, 



"ADAM SMITH." 



The following letter relates to his unhappy determination 

 of having all his papers destroyed. 



" MY DEAR FRIEND, Edinburgh, April 16th, 1773. 



" As I have left the care of all my literary papers to 

 you, I must tell you that, except those which I carry along 

 with me, there are none worth the publishing but a fragment 

 of a great work, which contains a history of the Astronomical 

 Systems that were successively in fashion down to the time 

 of Des Cartes. Whether that might not be published as a 



