“In the last of his lectures he examined those political regulations which are founded, not upon the principle of justice but that of expediency, and which are calculated to increase the riches, the power, and the prosperity of a state.  Under this view he considered the political institutions relating to commerce, to finances, to ecclesiastical and military establishments.  What he delivered on those subjects contained the substance of the work he afterwards published under the title of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations."[41]

Under the third part were no doubt included those lectures on the history of civil society to which Millar expresses such deep obligation, and of which another pupil of Smith’s, Professor Richardson of the Humanity chair in Glasgow—­a minor poet of considerable acceptance in his day—­also speaks with lively gratitude, particularly of those “on the nature of those political institutions that succeeded the downfall of the Roman Empire, and which included an historical account of the rise and progress of the most conspicuous among the modern European governments."[42]

Richardson tells us, too, that Smith gave courses of lectures on taste, on the history of philosophy, and on belles-lettres, apparently continuing to utilise his old lectures on this last subject occasionally even after his translation from the chair to which they properly appertained, and that he was very fond of digressing into literary criticism from his lectures on any subject.  “Those who received instruction from Dr. Smith,” says Richardson, “will recollect with much satisfaction many of those incidental and digressive illustrations and discussions, not only in morality but in criticism, which were delivered by him with animated and extemporaneous eloquence as they were suggested in the course of question and answer.  They occurred likewise, with much display of learning and knowledge, in his occasional explanations of those philosophical works, which were also a very useful and important subject of examination in the class of moral philosophy."[43]

His characteristics as a lecturer are thus described by Millar:—­

“There was no situation in which the abilities of Mr. Smith appeared to greater advantage than as a professor.  In delivering his lectures he trusted almost entirely to extemporary elocution.  His manner, though not graceful, was plain and unaffected, and as he seemed to be always interested in the subject, he never failed to interest his hearers.  Each discourse consisted commonly of several distinct propositions, which he successively endeavoured to prove and illustrate.  These propositions when announced in general terms had, from their extent, not unfrequently something of the air of a paradox.  In his attempts to explain them, he often appeared at first not to be sufficiently possessed of the subject, and spoke with some hesitation.