Note 25 — Chapter VIII · POLITICS AND STUDY, 1766-76

At Kirkcaldy George Drysdale, for some time Provost of the town and afterwards Collector of Customs, was a “steady and much esteemed friend.” His more distinguished brother, Dr. John Drysdale the minister, had been at school with Smith, and “among all his numerous friends and acquaintances,” says Dalzel, there was none “whom he loved with greater affection or spoke of with greater tenderness.” They often met in Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh. The death of James Oswald, who represented Kirkcaldy, early in 1769, was a serious loss to the little society, and particularly to Smith.