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Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy

In November 1776 Smith’s letter to Strahan describing David Hume’s last days was published and became a public eulogy. In the causal graph this event strengthens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Read the full account

In November 1776 Smith’s letter to Strahan describing David Hume’s last days was published and became a public eulogy. The dated letter is not An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and not a later collected-works filler. Adam Smith’s documented role is: He wrote a letter to William Strahan on Hume’s last days that was printed and attacked as an infidel eulogy. Strahan published; the letter is Smith’s. A November letter on Hume is not the March book. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. Adam Smith's documented role is: He wrote a letter to William Strahan on Hume’s last days that was printed and attacked as an infidel eulogy. Strahan published; the letter is Smith’s.

Context

Hume had died on 25 August 1776. Clerical critics treated the calm death as scandal. Smith later said the letter brought more abuse than an attack on the whole British nation. A friendship-letter in print is not a unique church-attendance series. Named others on the file: David Hume as subject, William Strahan as addressee-printer, and clerical critics share the controversy. The public setting is the file around 1776-11-09. Contribution type is direct. The instrument stays Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy. The setting of Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy is the public file around 1776-11-09. Contribution type is direct. Driver social-cohesion is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Why it matters

Direct on the letter. Welfare reading improving. The attached mechanism is A dated public letter defended a philosopher’s deathbed as calm, against clerical outrage. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is improving.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy are separate paths.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Adam Smith

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.32 · verified

    He wrote a letter to William Strahan on Hume’s last days that was printed and attacked as an infidel eulogy. Strahan published; the letter is Smith’s.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSmith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy
    2. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 9 November 1776 · verified

    A dated public letter defended a philosopher’s deathbed as calm, against clerical outrage.

    • Having a say in government

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Adam SmithEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — David HumeStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Britannica and SEP’s Hume entry independently identify Smith’s 1776 printed letter on Hume’s death. Official: Britannica — Adam Smith, letter on Hume’s death (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Smith (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Hume, death and Smith’s letter (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/ (opens in a new tab); Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: Britannica — Adam Smith, letter on Hume’s death (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Smith (opens in a new tab); Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Hume, death and Smith’s letter (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/ (opens in a new tab); Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Established: 1776 publication of the Strahan letter. Not established: unique conversion or church-statistic effects. Established: a sourced public record of Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy under 1776-11-09.

Shared responsibility is part of Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy. Naming Adam Smith does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1776-11-09 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorAdam Smith
  2. contributed toFactSmith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy
  3. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/asm-hume-eulogy-1776

https://factrail.ai/facts/asm-hume-eulogy-1776

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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