Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 34.djvu/392

 face of generally hostile criticism, and even his success failed to obtain a reversal of the judgment. Some of his qualities, however, are incontestable. No English author has displayed more industry, energy, versatility, or less disposition to lapse into slovenliness. His last works are among his best; and though he often tried the experiment of publishing anonymously (as in ‘The Caxtons’ and ‘The Coming Race’), his success showed that his popularity did not depend upon his previous fame. Though his published works make him one of the most voluminous of English novelists, he left unpublished several dramas, a volume of the ‘History of Athens,’ historical fragments, and ‘an immense number of unfinished novels, plays, poems, and essays’ (preface to Life). The historical novels, whatever their value, are the product of much laborious study, and his essays prove that he had read widely and noted carefully. An author in whose career an ‘epic poem’ and a ‘History of Athens’ are mere episodes can hardly expect to be a Milton or a Gibbon, and it is surprising that his work preserves on the whole so high a level. His industry was associated with a very keen and versatile intellect, great powers of observation, and very wide appreciation of different schools of thought and taste. His most obvious weakness was the want of spontaneous sincerity. He is always self-conscious and aiming at something beyond his reach. The coxcombry of ‘Pelham,’ which was genuine in its way, did not deserve the ridicule it met. But this can hardly be said of the succeeding novels, in which ‘the Ideal and the Beautiful’ became conspicuous. The ideal is a very good thing, but a deliberate resolve to produce it is apt to end only in the unreal. Lytton showed courage but hardly discretion in attempting to be more of a poet or philosopher than nature had made him. He had enough talent to convince himself that he had the genius which is above talent. He wrote some excellent verses in the style of Pope, but fancied that he could also be a Spenser. His characters show more shrewdness of observation than imaginative insight, and the stories, while most carefully designed and constructed, show, not creative impulse, but dexterous management and a quick eye for dramatic effect. His curious attempts at the mysterious too often remind us of spirit-rapping rather than excite the thrill of supernatural awe. He scarcely fails, however, unequivocally, unless in his attempts at the humorous or the descriptions of the lower orders. He shows so much ability and such sustained activity of thought that the critic feels some hesitation in disputing too strongly the claims of his admirers, and only regrets that he had not written at least one novel expressing his views of life frankly and vigorously, without aiming at the ideal or at the propitiation of the respectable. It might have been less edifying, but would certainly have been more interesting than his actual achievements. Lytton's works are: 1. ‘Ismael, and other Poems,’ 1820. 2. ‘Delmour, or the Tale of a Sylphid, and other Poems,’ 1823. 3. ‘Sculpture’ (Cambr. prize poem), 1825. 4. ‘Weeds and Wild Flowers’ (chiefly poems, privately printed), 1825. 5. ‘O'Neil, or the Rebel’ (poem), 1827. 6. ‘Falkland,’ 1827. 7. ‘Pelham,’ 1828. 8. ‘The Disowned,’ 1829. 9. ‘Devereux,’ 1829. 10. ‘Paul Clifford,’ 1830. 11. ‘The Siamese Twins’ (a satirical poem, not reprinted), with a poem on Milton (reprinted with alterations in ‘Collected Poems’), 1831. 12. ‘Eugene Aram,’ 1832. 13. ‘Godolphin,’ 1833. 14. ‘England and the English,’ 1833. 15. ‘Pilgrims of the Rhine,’ 1834. 16. ‘The Last Days of Pompeii,’ 1834. 17. ‘Letter to a Cabinet Minister on the present Crisis,’ 1834. 18. ‘The Student,’ 1835 (essays from the ‘New Monthly’). 19. ‘Rienzi,’ 1835. 20. ‘The Duchesse de la Vallière’ (play), 1836. 21. ‘The Sea-Captain, or the Birthright,’ 1837. 22. ‘Athens, its Rise and Fall, with Views of the Literature, Philosophy, and Life of the Athenian People,’ 2 vols. 8vo, 1837. 23. ‘Ernest Maltravers,’ 1837. 24. ‘Alice, or the Mysteries,’ 1838 (afterwards with ‘Ernest Maltravers’ as pt. 1 and pt. 2 of ‘The Eleusinia’). 25. ‘Leila, or the Siege of Granada,’ 1838. 26. ‘Calderon the Courtier,’ 1838. 27. ‘The Lady of Lyons’ (play), 1838. 28. ‘Richelieu’ (play), 1838. 29. ‘Money’ (comedy), 1840. 30. ‘Night and Morning,’ 1841. 31. ‘Zanoni,’ 1842 (a short sketch of this, called ‘Zicci,’ was in the ‘Monthly Chronicle’ of 1841). 32. ‘Eva, the Ill-omened Marriage, and other Tales and Poems,’ 1842. 33. ‘The Last of the Barons,’ 1843. 34. ‘Poems and Ballads translated from Schiller,’ 1844. 35. ‘Confessions of a Water Patient,’ 1845. 36. ‘The New Timon’ (poem), 1845; completed 1847. 37. ‘Lucretia, or the Children of Night,’ 1846. 38. ‘A Word to the Public,’ 1847. 39. ‘Harold, or the Last of the Saxon Kings,’ 1848. 40. ‘King Arthur’ (epic poem), 1848–9. 41. ‘The Caxtons,’ 1850 (originally in ‘Blackwood's Magazine’). 42. ‘Letter to John Bull, Esq.,’ 1851. 43. ‘Not so bad as we seem’ (comedy), 1851. 44. ‘Outlines of the Early History of the East,’ &c. (lecture), 1852. 45. ‘My Novel,’ 1853 (originally in ‘Blackwood’). 46. ‘Inaugural Address at