202 REVIEWS THE BOOKSELLER. 



Theoligico-Scientific heresy. All courtesy and gentlemanly feeling 

 is set aside ; and not only anonymous* writers, but one at least who 

 gives his name, persist in the accusation, — in his case grounded on 

 knowledge acquired when in the confidential service of the reputed 

 author ! Certainly the " Morals of Trade " can reveal nothing 

 worse than this. Suddenly, however, the venue is changed. Greorge 

 Combe, who, in a quiet, steady, unostentatious way had stuck 

 through life to his phrenological hobby, dies at Eninburgh in a good 

 old age ; and the Cataloguers of the Museum Library — finding anony- 

 mous authors a blot on Panizzi's well-matured scheme, — father the 

 "Vestiges" on the deceased phrenologist. Once more Mr. E.obert 

 Chambers has to decline the questionable literary honors anew 

 thrust upon him. Then the London Critic comes to the defence of 

 the British Museum Cataloguers, and re-affirms the Combe author- 

 ship, in a way that promises a finale to the controversy ; if dogged 

 affirmation, backed by mysterious hints of esoteric sources of in- 

 formation, could do it. But the controversy about the authorship of 

 the "Vestiges" still goes on. Professor Mchol, who had been 

 named long ago as one having some share in the responsibilities of 

 the " Vestiges," and who revived the idea that he had a hand in the 

 preparation of the book, by the emphatic way in which he denied 

 Mr. Greorge Cqmbe's connection with it, has since met that supposi- 

 tion with a negative. The Critic reiterates its belief in Combe's 

 authorship. It says, ""We have already stated that when we at- 

 tributed the authorship of the * Vestiges ' to Mr. George Combe, 

 we did so upon the authority of one whose name is second to that 

 of none in the world of science — perhaps we should have indicated 

 the source of our information more clearly had we said, whose name 

 has no equal. "We are now in a position to state the grounds upon 

 which this conclusion was arrived at by the person indicated. When 

 the ' Vestiges ' first appeared he felt satisfied, as well from the style 

 as from internal evidence, that Combe was the author of it. To test 

 this, he made certain corrections of a few misstatements of recondite 

 facts, and caused those corrections to be shown to George Combe, 

 and to him only; but whea the second edition appeared, those mis- 

 takes, and those only, were found to have been corrected. This was 

 pretty strong inferential evidence ; but it so happened that after- 

 wards a long private correspondence took place between this per- 

 sonage and Mr. Combe, arising out of some points mooted in the 

 * Vestiges,' especially phrenological ones—the former combatting 



