still more excusable. Mallet never sufferd any thing by

     being the Editor of Bolingbroke's Works. [June 8, 1776]

In the above, Hume acknowledges that the publication of the
Dialogues might cause some clamor because of the severity of
Philo's arguments. Again, though, he attempts to diffuse the
issue by commenting that his Dialogues are less extreme than his
Enquiry, presumably meaning his essay on miracles.

     Unfortunately, Hume's illness progressed to the point that
he would not live to see this modest printing of the Dialogues.
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     should not be published within three years after my decease.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. Be so good as to inform Mr Strahan of

     this Circumstance. [August 23, 1776]

A week after Hume's death, Strahan received the manuscript of
Hume's Dialogues. In a letter to Strahan, Smith continued voicing
his belief that the manuscript should remain unpublished:

     The latter, tho' finely written, I could have wished had

     remained in manuscript to be communicated only to a few

     people. When you read the work, you will see my reasons

     without my giving you the trouble of reading them in a

     letter. But he [Hume] has ordered it otherwise. . . . I once

     had perswaded him to leave it entirely to my discretion

     either to publish them at what time I thought proper, or not

     to publish them at all. Had he continued of this mind the

     manuscript should have been most carefully preserved and

     upon my decease restored to his family; but it never should

     have been published in my lifetime. [September 5, 1776]

Smith continues in the above letter attempting to persuade
Strahan to at least publish the Dialogues in an edition separate
from Hume's forthcoming short autobiography. Strahan apparently
agreed, and the autobiography was published separately in 1777.
Smith wrote him the following note of thanks to Strahan,
explaining how sales of Hume's other works might be enhanced by
properly timing the release of the Dialogues:

     I am much obliged to you for so readily agreeing to print

     the life together with my additions separate from the

     Dialogues. I even flatter myself that this arrangement will