ABSTRACT
these papers have arisen more from circumstance than from intention. The first in time was written as an address to be given after the unveiling of a plaque on the site of Adam Smith’s house in Kirkcaldy: a request not to be refused by one who had grown up under the influence of W. R. Scott and so felt under some obligation to continue his work, on succeeding him. Before 1950, I had had no more than the interest felt in Adam Smith by all teachers of the subject. My specialization had lain elsewhere. But events tended to underline my special obligation. In 1955 I was asked to give the address at one of the earliest Annual General Meetings of the revived Scottish Economic Society. Into its constitution had been written the resolve to publish a series of Scottish Economic Texts taken from the works of the classical Scottish writers. It therefore appeared suitable to offer a review of the whole Scottish tradition in economic thought.
