In an addendum to his will, Hume requested that his nephew, Baron
David Hume, see to the publication of the Dialogues if Strahan
failed:
I desire, that my Dialogues concerning natural Religion may
be printed and published any time within two Years after my
Death; to which, he [William Strahan] may add, if he thinks
proper, the two Essays formerly printed but not published.
... I also ordain, that if my Dialogues from whatever Cause,
be not publishd within two Years and a half of my Death ...
the Property shall return to my Nephew, David, whose Duty,
in publishing them as the last Request of his Uncle, must be
approved of by all the World. [August 7, 1776]
A week later, though, Hume considered making additional plans to
secure the survival of the Dialogues. In a letter to Adam Smith
(August 15) he notes his intentions to have two additional copies
made of his manuscript, one entrusted to his Nephew, and the
other to Smith. Two days before his death, Hume dictated a final
letter to Smith:
I am obliged to make use of my Nephews hand in writing
to you as I do not rise to day.
There is No Man in whom I have a greater Confidence
than Mr Strahan, yet have I left the property of that
Manuscript to my Nephew David in case by any accident it
should not be published within three years after my decease.
The only accident I could forsee, was one to Mr Strahans
Life, and without this clause My Nephew would have had no
right to publish it.
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