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 These letters led to an engagement on 'Vanity Fair,' to which periodical he contributed under the same nom de plume.

In May 1870, the London 'Figaro,' one of the most successful journalistic enterprises of the day, was started; and, two months later, Mr. James Mortimer selected Mr. Hopkins for his chief leader-writer. It cannot be denied that Mr. Hopkins is sometimes too unsparing and too vehement in the use of invective, and too bitter in his satire; but he says, and truly, that he has never written a line that assailed or reflected upon the private character of any man, be he prince or peasant.