orld, noted them down, and gave them to the public after Smith's
death in the pages of the _Bee_ for 1791. In introducing these
recollections the editor of the _Bee_, Dr. James Anderson--author of
Ricardo's rent theory--says that even if they had not been sent to him
with the strongest assurances of authenticity, he could entertain no
doubt on that point after their perusal from the coincidence of the
opinions reported in them with those he himself had heard Smith
express. The writer, who takes the name Amicus, describes himself as
"young, inquisitive, and full of respect" for Smith, and says their
conversation, after they finished their business, always took a
literary turn, and Smith was "extremely communicative, and delivered
himself with a freedom and even boldness quite opposite to the
apparent reserve of his appearance."

The first author Amicus mentions is Dr. Johnson, of whom he thought
Smith had a "very contemptuous opinion." "I have seen that creature,"
said Smith, "bolt up in the midst of a mixed company, and without any
previous notice fall upon his knees behind a chair, repeat the Lord's
Prayer, and then resume his seat at table. He has played this trick
over and over, perhaps five or six times in the course of an evening.
It is not hypocrisy but madness. Though an honest sort of man himself,
he is always patronising scoundrels. Savage, for example, whom he so
loudly praises, was but a worthless fellow; his pension of L50 never
lasted him longer than a few days. As a sample of his economy you may
take a circumstance that Johnson himself once told me. It was at that
period fashionable to wear scarlet cloaks trimmed with gold lace, and
the Doctor met him one day just after he had got his pension with one
of those cloaks on his back, while at the same time his naked toes
were sticking through his shoes." He spoke highly, however, of
Johnson's political pamphlets on the American question, in spite of
his disapproval of their opinions, and he was especially charmed with
the pamphlet about the Falkland Islands, because it presented in such
forcible language the madness of modern wars.

"Contemptuous opinion" is too strong an expression for Smith's view of
Johnson, but it is certain he never rated him so high as the world did
then or does now. He told Samuel Rogers that he was astonished at
Johnson's immense reputation, but, on the other hand, he frequently
praised some of the Doctor's individual writings very hi