At the end of 1805 differences arose between the Constable and Longman
firms as to the periodical works in which they were interested. The
editor and proprietors of the _Edinburgh Review_ were of opinion that
the interest of the Longmans in two other works of a similar
character--the _Annual Review_ and the _Eclectic_--tended to lessen
their exertions on behalf of the _Edinburgh_. It was a matter that might
easily have been arranged; but the correspondents were men of hot
tempers, and with pens in their hands, they sent stinging letters from
London to Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh to London. Rees, Longman's
partner, was as bitter in words on the one side as Hunter, Constable's
partner, was on the other. At length a deadly breach took place, and it
was resolved in Edinburgh that the publication of the _Edinburgh Review_
should be transferred to John Murray, Fleet Street. Alexander Gibson
Hunter, Constable's partner, wrote to Mr. Murray to tell of the rupture
and to propose a closer alliance with him.

Mr. Murray replied:

_John Murray to Mr. A.G. Hunter.

December 7, 1805_.

"With regard to the important communication of your last letter, I
confess the surprise with which I read it was not without some mixture
of regret. The extensive connections betwixt your house and Longman's
cannot be severed at once without mutual inconvenience, and perhaps
mutual disadvantages, your share of which a more protracted
dismemberment might have prevented. From what I had occasion to observe,
I did not conceive that your concerns together would ever again move