AM 



LYTTOX, BAROX. 



1844; "The Xew Timon," 1846; "King Ar- 

 thur," 1848; rewritten and revised, 1870; 

 "The Lost Tales of Miletus," 1806; "The 

 Odes of Horace, translated, with an Essay on 

 the Genius of Horace," 1869. Commencing 

 with 1836, Lord Lytton also wrote the follow- 

 ing dramas: "The Dnchesse do la Valliere." 

 1836; "The Sea-Captain," 1887 ; "The Lady 

 of Lyons," 1838 ; " Richelieu," 1888 ; " Crom- 

 well," 1842; "Money," 1848; "Not so Bad 

 as we Seem,'' 1852; "Walpole, or Every Man 

 has his Price," 1869. "The PwUflM," his 

 latest novel, was published posthumously in 

 1873. Lord Lyttpn entered the House of 

 Commons, as Edward Lytton Buhver, in 1831, 

 as a Liberal, and remained in it ten years, 

 being made a baronet in 1838. He was out 

 of Parliament from 1841 to 1852, though 

 twice a candidate, but in 1852 was returned 

 for Herts as a Conservative and follower of 

 Lunl Derby; was in the cabinet as Secretary 

 of State for the Colonies in 1358-'59, and re- 

 in lined a member of the House till his eleva- 

 tion to the peerage in 1806. He was always 

 regarded in the House as one of its ablest 

 orator^ ami rarely addressed it without at- 

 tracting and retaining its attention. While 

 thus artive in political matters, he wrote the 

 following political and historical works, besides 

 pamphlets and addresses: "England and the 

 En-lish," 1833 ; " The Crisis," 1835 ; " Athens, 

 its Rise and Fall," 1837, a most elaborate and 

 interesting work, of which, however, only two 

 volumes were published; Letters to John 

 Bull, Esq.," 1951 ; " Caxtoniana," two volumes, 

 1863. Besides these forty-five works, most of 

 in several volumes. Lord Lytton was a 

 frequent and valued contributor to the leading 

 magazines and reviews. Havinir roneeived 

 the notion of a journal which should combine 

 scientific information with politics and general 

 literature, he, in conjunction with Sir David 

 Brewstor, and Dr. Lardnor, commenced a peri- 

 odical in tho early part of 1841, founded upon 

 this design, entitled the Monthly ('/irnnir/f ; 

 but it was too scientific to suit tho public taste 

 of the day, and, after a few months' exist. -nee. 

 its projector retired from it, dissatisfied with 

 the result. During his connection with this 

 "r_'in, he contributed to its political section a 

 remarkable " Historical Review of the State of 



i nd and Europe at the Accession of Queen 

 Victoria," on which M. Guizot bestowed tho 

 highest commendation. In addition to the 

 works already mentioned, we may name as 

 among the most noted of his letters, reviews, 



-. and addresses, his "Contest,, us of a 

 Water-Patient," addressed to W. Harrison 

 Ainsworth, in 18*5; his biographical sketch 

 of Luman Blanelmrd. prefixed to his "Essays," 

 in 1SK; "Inanjinral Address to the Aasoct- 

 ics ( ,f the University of Edinburgh," 

 delivered on the occasion of his being elected 

 first honorary president, and printed in 1 

 manv valuable critical articles and essays in 

 the Quarterly, Edinburgh, and Wettmintter 



Reeinei; and bis remarkable treatise, in the 

 Foreign Quarterly lirrieir. on "The Ucign of 

 Terror and the French Revolution." Lord 

 Lytton was tteice elected Lord Rector of Glas- 

 gow University, an honor never bestowed on 

 any other Englishman 1 , and only upon one 

 Scotchman, the poet, Thomas Campbell. The 

 general critical opinions of Lord Lytton'* lit- 

 erary work will be widely dillereiit ; but next, 

 perhaps, to Dickens, be has been the ni"-t 

 generally read writer of modern tiin<-s. The 

 Messrs. Routledge paid him 20,000=$1(XMWO 

 for the privilege of issuing a cheap c.iition of 

 his works of fiction. It must be admitted that 

 as a novelist ho outgrew many of his greatest 

 faults. There is no smell of Newgate in " The 

 Caxtons ; " and it is a great deal to say of any 

 writer who has written so much, that his lost 

 works were, beyond all comparison, his bc.-t. 

 Born of the British aristocracy, he was proud 

 of his literary work, sought from preference 

 the society of literary men, and had ever a 

 helping band for those who needed his assist- 

 ance. This, indeed, is one of the most credit- 

 able features of his character, lie was from 

 the first greatly interested in the establishment 

 of a Guild of Literature and Art; he ga\ c a 

 portion of his estate upon which a retreat for 

 decayed authors might be erected; and he 

 wrote a comedy which was acted for the bene- 

 fit of the society. He hungered, if we may 

 use the expression, for popular appreciation, 

 and lie says in the preface to the cheap 

 edition of his works: "With the people, in 

 the larger sense of the word, I have always 

 associated my objects as an author; and in the 

 hands of that people I now place these evi- 

 dences of the sympathy which exists between 

 all who recognize in labor the true dignity of 

 life." " To struggle, and to struggle upward, 

 is the law which connects the destinies of the 

 multitude with tho aspirations of the scholar. 

 All who think are cooperative with all who 

 toil." These are noble words, and many other 

 passages of a like tenor might be cited from 

 the works of "the author ot I'ellmm." 



The domestic life of Lord Lytton, it is well 

 known, was an unhappy one. lie married, in 

 1827, Miss Wheeler, an Irishwoman of good 

 family, and after several years he was separated 

 from her. Tho disunion attracted a good deal 

 of attention, especially as the lady saw fit to 

 make the public her confidant, and to write a 

 number of novels, now tjuite forgotten, for the 

 purpose of satirizing her husband and his fam- 

 ily. She tormented him upon all possible oc- 

 casions; published pamphlets about .him ; and, 

 when ho was to address his constituents at 

 Hertford, she appeared at the hustings, and 

 then undertook to address the voters upon the 

 subject of her wrongs, of this ill-assorted 

 iii.'irriacro two children were born the tirst. a 

 daughter, who died in youth: and Edward 

 Robert, who succeeds to the title and es' 

 and who, as "Owen Meredith," lias won a 

 good reputation as a writer of poetry. 



