e admiration for Mr. Caleb D'Anvers and all his works, relates how
the dumb oracle, after writing down her name, had prophesied that the
Craftsman would certainly gain his point in 1729. She concludes with
praise of Mr. Campbell, and an offer to conduct Caleb to visit him on
the ensuing Saturday. That the communication was not to be regarded as a
companion-piece to the letter from Dulcibela Thankley in the "Spectator"
(No. 474), was the purport of the editorial statement which introduced
it: "I shall make no other Apology for the Vanity, which I may seem
guilty of in publishing the following Letter, than assuring the Reader
it is _genuine_, and that I do it in Complyance with the repeated
Importunity of a _fair Correspondent_." The style of the letter does not
strongly suggest that of "A Spy upon the Conjurer," though the
concluding sentence, "_Love_ shall be there too, who waits forever upon
_Wit_," is a sentiment after Eliza's heart. And moreover, though
"Fidelia" and "Justicia" may be one and the same persons, Mr. D'Anvers'
assurances that the letter is genuine are not to be relied upon with too
much confidence, for had he wished to praise himself, he would naturally
have resorted to some such device.

The last volume relating to the Scotch wizard did not appear until 1732,
two years after Campbell's death. "Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan
Campbel, The famous Deaf and Dumb Gentleman. Written by Himself, who
ordered they should be publish'd after his Decease," consisted of 164
pages devoted to miscellaneous anecdotes of the prophet, a reprint of
Defoe's "Friendly Daemon" (p. 166), "Original Letters sent to Mr.
Campbel by his Consulters" (p. 196), and "An Appendix, By Way of
Vindication of Mr. Duncan Campbel, Against That groundless Aspersion
cast upon him, That he but pretended to be Deaf and Dumb. By a Friend of
the Deceased" (p. 225). The authorship of this book has received but
slight attention from students of Defoe, and still remains something of
a puzzle. No external evidence on the point has yet come to light, but
some probable conclusions may be reached through an examination of the
substance and style.

In the first place, there is no probability--the statement on the
title-page notwithstanding--that Mr. Campbell himself had anything to do
with the composition of the "Memoirs." Since the magician had taken no
part in the literary exploitation of his fame during his lifetime, it is
fair to infer that he