HKB
ART. I. Taxes upon rent; Taxes upon the Rent of Land 348
Taxes which are proportioned, not to the Rent, but to the Produce of Land 352
Taxes upon the Rent of Houses 354
ART. II. Taxes upon Profit, or upon the Revenue arising from Stock 357
Taxes upon the Profit of particular Employments 359
APPENDIX to Articles I. and II.--Taxes upon the Capital Value of Lands, Houses, and Stock 362
ART. III. Taxes upon the Wages of Labour 365
ART. IV. Taxes which, it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different Species of Revenue 366
Capitation Taxes 367
Taxes upon consumable Commodities 368
CHAP. III.
Of Public Debts 385
SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DR. ADAM SMITH
Adam Smith, the celebrated author of 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,' was born in the town of Kirkaldy, on the 5th of June 1723. His father, at an early period of life, practised as a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, and officiated as private secretary to the Earl of Loudon, during the time his Lordship was principal secretary of state in Scotland, and keeper of the great seal; but afterwards settled at Kirkaldy, where, for some time before his death, he held the office of comptroller of the customs. He died a few months before the birth of his son.
The constitution of young Smith, during infancy, was so sickly as to require all the care and solicitude of his surviving parent, whose only child he was. The duty which thus devolved on his mother, it is allowed, she discharged in the most ample manner; and, indeed, carried her indulgence so far as to have drawn on herself, it has been said, some degree of blame. But it certainly does not appear that any bad consequences resulted, on this occasion, from unbounded parental fondness; nor can it be said, that any permanent disadvantage was felt by the retirement, and even seclusion, which long-continued weakness rendered necessary. To the inability of young Smith to engage in the active sports of his early companions, we ought, perhaps, to trace the foundation of those habits, and love of retirement, which distinguished him, in a peculiar manner, during a long life[1].
We are informed that Smith received the rudiments of education at the grammar-school of Kirkaldy; and, at that time, attracted some notice by his passion for books, and by the extraordinary powers of his memory. He was also observed, even at this early period of life, to have contracted those habits of absence in company, and of talking to himself, for which he was afterwards so remarkable.