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484 well visits John Milton " (1883). Mr. Neal has ex- hibited in London, Munich, and New York, but his art-career has been passed principally in Mu- nich, where, with the exception of occasional visits to the United States, he has resided.

NEAL, John, author, b. in Falmouth, Mass. (now Portland, Me.), 25 Aug., 1793 : d. there, 21 June, 1876. He was of English descent, and for two generations of Quaker stock on both sides. He left school at twelve years of age, but ed- ucated himself by continuous reading, which he systemati- cally pursued through life. Neal was vari- ously employed as shop-boy, accountant, and salesman, and then taught penman- ship, drawing, and painting, though he was without experi- ence. Later he estab- lished himself in the dry - goods trade in Boston, and then he formed a partnership in Baltimore with John Pierpont, the poet. This firm failed in trade hi 1816, and dis- solved, taking out of the business only a warm and life-long friendship. Neal then studied law in Bal- timore, was a member of the Delphian club of that city, famous for its wits, and supported himself by his pen, copying, indexing, and writing poems, novels, essays, and criticisms for the press. His first productions appeared in the " Portico " magazine. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1819, and practised his profession. In 1823 he sailed for Eng- land, as he said, " to answer on the spot the question ' Who reads an American book ? ' " As a pioneer in American literature his success at home and abroad was a surprise to all. Preceding James Fenimore Cooper by several years, while Nathaniel Haw- thorne was yet a boy and his compatriot, Charles Brockden Brown, less widely known or less quickly accepted, Neal attracted and compelled attention to American topics and American writings at a time when English literature was regarded as a monopoly of Great Britain. He was the first Ameri- can contributor to the English and Scotch quarter- lies. His sketches of the five American presidents and the five candidates for the presidency in "Blackwood's," and a series of like articles on American politics and customs, won for the young author i-eputation and money. At this time, though in need of money and, as he said, " hojaelessly in debt, but hopeful," he spent the whole of his first " Blackwood " cheek for two gold pencils that caught his eye in a shop-window, and sent one to his twin sister, Rachel, who was then teaching school in Portland. His writings attracted the notice of Jeremy Bentham, who invited and easily persuaded " Yankee Neal " to come and live with him as one of his students and secretaries, where various literary celebrities were to be met. In 1827 Neal returned to the L^nited States, intending to resume the practice of law in Baltimore, but, in consequence of opposition and threatened perse- cution from his fellow-townsmen when he visited his sister, he characteristically sent for his law- library and opened his offices in his native place. On 1 Jan., 1828, he began his editorship of "The Yankee," and for half a century was a frequent but irregular contributor to most of the maga- zines and newspapers. He wrote much of what is known as Paul Allen's " History of the Ameri- can Revolution " in a wonderfully short time, and his pen remained active through life.

He was an earnest opponent of capital punish- ment, more especially of public executions, and he was the first to advocate in 1888, in a Fourth-of- July oration, the right of woman suif rage. He was abstemiously temperate, yet he wrote in oppo- sition to the Maine liquor law. He was a firm be- liever in physical training, and established the first gymnasium in this country, copied from the foreign models, and, being an expert gymnast, horseman, swordsman, and boxer, he established and taught classes of young men, and even in his last years kept up his own physical exercise as his only medicine. Phrenology, mesmerism, and spirit- ualism, one after another, attracted his attention and examination, and counted him as among their fairest and least prejudiced investigators. With a quick eye and ready sympathy he sought out, welcomed, and encouraged young men, or gently and successfully discouraged those that afterward were grateful for his advice. Edgar A. Poe received his first encouragement from Mr. Neal. With the instincts of a born journalist, he dashed off novels with great rapidity, while, in the stern spirit of a reformer, he edited forgotten newspapers. He fulminated against fleeting and frivolous opinions, and whipped into a light and airy froth some of the graver issues of life. He was read out of the Society of Friends in his youth, as he says, " for knocking a man head over heels, for writing a tragedy, for paying a militia fine, and for desiring to be turned out whether or no," but he became late in life an earnest Christian, uniting with the church in 1850. His works in- clude "Keep Cool" (2 vols., Baltimore, 1817); "Niagara" (1819); "Goldan" (1819); "Errata" (2 vols., New York, 1823) : " Randolph " (1823) ; " Seventy-Six " (2 vols., Baltimore, 1823) ; " Logan " (4 vols., London, 1823) ; " Brother Jonathan " (3 vols., 1825); "Rachel Dyer" (Portland, 1828); "Principles of Legislation." translated from the manuscript of Jeremy Bentham, with biographies of Bentham and Pierre. Dumont (Boston, 1830) : "The Down Easters" (2 vols.. New York, 1838); " One Word More " (Portland, 1854) ; " True Wom- anhood " (Boston, 1859) ; " Wandering Recollec- tions of a Somewhat Busy Life" (1869); and " Great Mysteries and Little Plagues " (1870).

NEAL, Joseph Clay, humorist, b. in Green- land, N. H., 8 Feb., 1807; d. in Philadelphia. Pa., 18 July, 1847. His father, who was a clergyman, died when the son was two years old. Jo- seph passed much of his early life in Pottsville, Pa., and settled in 1880 in Philadelphia, where in 1831-44 he edit- ed the " Pennsylva- nian." After a tour abroad in 1842 for the benefit of his health he established the " Saturday Gazette," which proved remarkably successful and abounded in humorous satire. In 1846 he married Alice Bradley. (See Haven,