almost say magnanimously, refused; and at
the end of the tenth year, in 1776, he explained the mystery, by the
publication of the two quarto volumes of his _Enquiry into the Nature
and Causes of the Wealth of Nations_. The work was received with general
congratulation; it was regarded as a new science, although it is
well-known, as stated in the introduction to the biography, that many
others had previously discussed the same subjects. Smith's views,
however, were so much more comprehensive, his division so much more
distinct, and his remarks so much more practical, that he deserved all
the credit of the architect who combines in beauty and utility the beams
and pillars which he finds scattered on the ground. And here we advert
to the obvious benefit of that patronage which had been extended to this
very able man by Townsend. The annuity which had been settled on him as
tutor, had enabled Smith to give up the whole of his time, and the whole
powers of his mind, during those ten years, to this great work. During
nearly twenty years of lecturing, on the other hand, in which his pen
was necessarily employed without ceasing, he seems to have published but
one work, _The Theory of Moral Sentiment_. That he constantly formed
ingenious conceptions, may be easily admitted; but that he wanted either
time or inclination to complete them, is evident from the fact, that he
never suffered them to appear in print, and that one of his dying
directions was, that they should be destroyed by his executors.

He was now a man of fame, and to enjoy it came up to London, where he
resided for two years in the midst of the best society, political and
literary, to be found in England. He was now to be a man of fortune as
well as of fame; he was appointed a commissioner of the customs in
Scotland. He returned to Edinburgh, and commenced the agreeable life of
a man at once distinguished, and opulent to the full extent of his
simple desires, in a society whose names are still regarded as the
lights of Scotland. He lived hospitably, and entertained good society,
but he wrote no more; he was growing old, and Lord Brougham evidently
thinks that the duties of his office exhausted his spirits and occupied
his time. But those duties always partook largely of the nature of a
sinecure; and there is every reason to doubt whether they could have
worn down a man of regular habits, and who had been trained to the
routine of daily business by an apprenticeship