The Death of Hume

Seventeen seventy-six was a momentous year in Great Britain: Edward Gibbon published volume one of _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, Adam Smith's _Wealth of Nations_ appeared, the American colonies declared their independence, and David Hume-called the Great Infidel because of his skeptical view of Christianity-died at the age of 65.

The death of Hume may seem a minor event in comparison with the others, but it was far from inconsequential. The circumstances surrounding Hume's tranquil and very pagan death (probably from colon cancer) on August 25, as reported by his close friend Adam Smith, occasioned a controversy that continued for at least a decade and involved many of the leading writers of the age, including Smith and Gibbon, as well as Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, and James Boswell.

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