April 18, 1776.




LETTER

FROM

ADAM SMITH. LL. D.

To

WILLIAM STRAHAN, ESQ.


Kirkaldy, Fifeshire, Nov. 9, 1776

DEAR SIR,

It is with a real, though a very melancholy pleasure, that I sit down
to give you some account of the behaviour of our late excellent
friend, Mr. Hume, during his last illness.

Though in his own judgment his disease was mortal and incurable, yet
he allowed himself to be prevailed upon, by the entreaty of his
friends, to try what might be the effects of a long journey. A few
days before he set out, he wrote that account of his own life, which,