his young wife. One other important
feature is included in the scene; upon the table there rests also a
decanter, in which sparkles the ruby-colored laudanum.

De Quincey's experience with opium had begun while he was a student at
the university, in 1804. It was first taken to obtain relief from
neuralgia, and his use of the drug did not at once become habitual.
During the period of residence at Grasmere, however, De Quincey
became confirmed in the habit, and so thoroughly was he its victim
that for a season his intellectual powers were well-nigh paralyzed;
his mind sank under such a cloud of depression and gloom that his
condition was pitiful in the extreme. Just before his marriage, in
1816, De Quincey, by a vigorous effort, partially regained his
self-control and succeeded in materially reducing his daily allowance
of the drug; but in the following year he fell more deeply than ever
under its baneful power, until in 1818-19 his consumption of opium was
something almost incredible. Thus he became truly enough the great
English Opium-Eater, whose Confessions were later to fill a unique
place in English literature. It was finally the absolute need of
bettering his financial condition that compelled De Quincey to shake
off the shackles of his vice; this he practically accomplished,
although perhaps he was never entirely free from the habit. The event
is coincident with the beginning of his career as a public writer. In
1820 he became a man of letters.

As a professional writer it is to be noted that De Quincey was
throughout a contributor to the periodicals. With one or two
exceptions all his works found their way to the public through the
pages of the magazines, and he was associated as contributor with most
of those that were prominent in his time. From 1821 to 1825 we find
him residing for the most part in London, and here his public career
began. It was De Quincey's most distinctive work which first appeared.
The _London Magazine_, in its issue for September, 1821, contained the
first paper of the _Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_. The
novelty of the subject was sufficient to obtain for the new writer an
interested hearing, and there was much discussion as to whether his
apparent frankness was genuine or assumed. All united in applause of
the masterly style which distinguished the essay, also of the
profundity and value of the interesting material it contained. A
second part was included in the magazine for O