hero of
romance. The outcry was not entirely without justification, nor was it
without effect on the novelist, who thenceforward avoided this perilous
ground. "Jack Sheppard" appeared in _Bentley's Miscellany_, of which
Ainsworth became editor in March, 1840, at a monthly salary of L51. The
story is powerfully written. In 1841 he received L1000 from the _Sunday
Times_ for "Old St. Paul's," and he, in 1848, had from the same source
another L1000 for the "Lancashire Witches." In 1841 he began the
publication of _Ainsworth's Magazine_, which came to an end in 1853,
when he acquired the _New Monthly Magazine_, which he edited for many
years. This was the heyday of Ainsworth's reputation alike in
literature and in society. His home at Kensal Manor House became famous
for its hospitality, and Dickens, Thackeray, Landseer, Clarkson
Stanfield, Talfourd, Jerrold, and Cruikshank were among his guests. The
list of his principal historical novels, with their dates of issue, may
now be given: "Rookwood," 1834; "Crichton," 1837; "Jack Sheppard," 1839;
"Tower of London," 1840; "Guy Fawkes," 1841; "Old St. Paul's, a Tale of
the Plague and the Fire of London," 1841; "Windsor Castle," 1843; "St.
James, or the Court of Queene Anne," 1844; "Star Chamber," 1854;
"Constable of the Tower," 1861; "The Lord Mayor of London," 1862;
"Cardinal Pole," 1863; "John Law, the Projector," 1864; "The Constable
de Bourbon," 1866; "Talbot Harland," 1870; "Boscobel," 1872; "The
Manchester Rebels, or the Fatal '45," 1873; and "The Goldsmith's Wife,"
1874. These novels all met with a certain amount of success, but those
of later years did not attain the striking popularity of his earlier
efforts. Many have been translated into various modern languages, and
the editions of his various works are so numerous that some twenty-three
pages of the British Museum catalogue are devoted to his works. The
scenery and history of his native country had a perennial interest for
him, and a certain group of his novels--that is, the "Lancashire
Witches," "Guy Fawkes," "The Manchester Rebels," etc.--may almost be
said to form a novelist's history of Lancashire from the pilgrimage of
grace until the early part of the present century.

Probably no more vivid account has been written of the great fire and
plague of London than that given in "Old St. Paul's." The charm of
Ainsworth's novels is not at all dependent upon the analysis of motives
or subtle description of character. Of