to the evil habit of
opium-eating, which affected his personal life and authorship. His most
popular work is _The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_, which
interests the reader by its curious pictures of the abnormal conditions in
which he lived and wrote. He abandoned this noxious practice in the year
1820. He produced much which he did not publish; and his writings all
contain a suggestion of strength and scholarship, a surplus beyond what he
has given to the world. There are numerous essays and narratives, among
which his paper entitled _Murder considered as One of the Fine Arts_ is
especially notable. His prose is considered a model of good English.

The death of Dickens and Thackeray left England without a novelist of
equal fame and power, but with a host of scholarly and respectable pens,
whose productions delight the popular taste, and who are still in the tide
of busy authorship.

Our purpose is already accomplished, and we might rest without the
proceeding beyond the middle of the century; but it will be proper to make
brief mention of those, some of whom have already departed, but many of
whom still remain, and are producing new works, who best illustrate the
historical value and teachings of English literature, and whose writings
will be read in the future for their delineations of the habits and
conditions of the present period.

OTHER NOVELISTS.

_Captain Frederick Marryat_, of the Royal Navy, 1792-1848: in his sea
novels depicts naval life with rare fidelity, and with, a roystering
joviality which makes them extremely entertaining. The principal of these
are _Frank Mildmay_, _Newton Forster_, _Peter Simple_, and _Midshipman
Easy_. His works constitute a truthful portrait of the British Navy in the
beginning of the eighteenth century, and have influenced many
high-spirited youths to choose a maritime profession.

_George P. R. James_, 1806-1860: is the author of nearly two hundred
novels, chiefly historical, which have been, in their day, popular. It was
soon found, however, that he repeated himself, and the sameness of
handling began to tire his readers. His "two travellers," with whom he
opens his stories, have become proverbially ridiculous. But he has
depicted scenes in modern history with skill, and especially in French
history. His _Richelieu_ is a favorite; and in his _Life of Charlemagne_
he has brought together the principal events in the career of that
distinguished monarch with log