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

Date: 1776

## The fact

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](/people/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. Do not twin this with WN 1776. 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. Unnamed clerks, soldiers, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. 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. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Contribution type is direct. Driver [social-cohesion](/drivers/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.

## Evidence and sources

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; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Hume, death and Smith’s letter (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/; 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; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Hume, death and Smith’s letter (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Official or archival record: Britannica — Adam Smith, letter on Hume’s death (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Smith; Encyclopaedia Britannica).

## Significance

Improving social-cohesion path: a public defence of a philosopher’s death against outrage. 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. Do not twin this with WN 1776. A November letter on Hume is not the March book. Mixed effects of Smith’s letter on Hume’s death is published as a public eulogy are separate paths.

## What is established and what is not

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. 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. The attached driver is social-cohesion. The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. 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.

## People

- Adam Smith: https://factrail.ai/people/adam-smith

## Drivers

- Social Cohesion: https://factrail.ai/drivers/social-cohesion

## Sources

- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Smith
- https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

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