en a mendicant in the
streets of London--shunned where he once was adored. Gray, his agent,
became equally involved; but, marrying a widow with some money, he was
enabled to make a better fight. Eventually, however, he became a prey
to the money-lender, and his life ended under circumstances distressing
to those who had known him in early days.

"MONK" LEWIS

One of the most agreeable men of the day was "Monk" Lewis. As the
author of the Monk and the Tales of Wonder, he not only found his way
into the best circles, but had gained a high reputation in the literary
world. His poetic talent was undoubted, and he was intimately connected
with Walter Scott in his ballad researches. His Alonzo the Brave and
the Fair Imogene was recited at the theatres, and wherever he went he
found a welcome reception. His West Indian fortune and connections,
and his seat in Parliament, gave him access to all the aristocratic
circles; from which, however, he was banished upon the appearance of
the fourth and last dialogue of the Pursuits of Literature. Had a
thunderbolt fallen upon him, he could not have been more astonished
than he was by the onslaught of Mr. Matthias, which led to his
ostracism from fashionable society.

It is not for me to appreciate the value of this satirical poem, which
created such an extraordinary sensation, not only in the fashionable,
but in the political world; I, however, remember that whilst at
Canning's, at the Bishop of London's, and at Gifford's, it was
pronounced the most classical and spirited production that had ever
issued from the press, it was held up at Lord Holland's, at the Marquis
of Lansdowne's, and at Brookes's, as one of the most spiteful and
ill-natured satires that had ever disgraced the literary world; and one
which no talent or classic lore could ever redeem. Certain it is, that
Matthias fell foul of poor "Monk" Lewis for his romance: obscenity and
blasphemy were the charges laid at his door; he was acknowledged to be
a man of genius and fancy, but this added only to his crime, to which
was superadded that of being a very young man. The charges brought
against him cooled his friends and heated his enemies; the young ladies
were forbidden to speak to him, matrons even feared him, and from being
one of the idols of the world, he became one of the objects of its
disdain. Even his father was led to believe that his son had abandoned
the paths of virtue, and was on the high road