ctober. Other articles
by the Opium-Eater followed, in which the wide scholarship of the
author was abundantly shown, although the topics were of less general
interest.

In 1826 De Quincey became an occasional contributor to _Blackwood's
Magazine_, and this connection drew him to Edinburgh, where he
remained, either in the city itself or in its vicinity, for the rest
of his life. The grotesquely humorous _Essay on Murder Considered as
One of the Fine Arts_ appeared in _Blackwood's_ in 1827. In 1832 he
published a series of articles on Roman History, entitled _The
Caesars_. It was in July, 1837, that the _Revolt of the Tartars_
appeared; in 1840 his critical paper upon _The Essenes_. Meanwhile De
Quincey had begun contributions to _Tait's Magazine_, another
Edinburgh publication, and it was in that periodical that the
_Sketches of Life and Manners from the Autobiography of an English
Opium-Eater_ began to appear in 1834, running on through several
years. These sketches include the chapters on Wordsworth, Coleridge,
Lamb, and Southey as well as those _Autobiographic Sketches_ which
form such a charming and illuminating portion of his complete works.

The family life was sadly broken in 1837 by the death of De Quincey's
wife. He who was now left as guardian of the little household of six
children, was himself so helpless in all practical matters that it
seemed as though he were in their childish care rather than protector
of them. Scores of anecdotes are related of his odd and unpractical
behavior. One of his curious habits had been the multiplication of
lodgings; as books and manuscripts accumulated about him so that there
remained room for no more, he would turn the key upon his possessions
and migrate elsewhere to repeat the performance later on. It is known
that as many as four separate rents were at one and the same time
being paid by this odd, shy little man, rather than allow the
disturbance or contraction of his domain. Sometimes an anxious journey
in search of a manuscript had to be made by author and publisher in
conjunction before the missing paper could be located. The home life
of this eccentric yet lovable man of genius seems to have been always
affectionate and tender in spite even of his bondage to opium; it was
especially beautiful and childlike in his latest years. His eldest
daughter, Margaret, assumed quietly the place of headship, and with a
discretion equal to her devotion she watched over her fathe