Perthshire in bygone days

MATTHEW GKEG0BY LEWIS. 501
CHAPTEK II.
MATTHEW GEEGOEY LEWIS.
"Poor Anne."
" No I the mild influence of Spring,
Clothing the mountains all in green,
Creating round a joyful scene,
No change to you can bring."
Sir Humphrey Davy.
The tale of English literary life does not contain a more
singular or interesting passage than the short memorials of
Matthew Gregory Lewis. He was born in London on the
9th July, 1775, and died on his passage home from Jamaica,
on the 4th of May, 1818. His father was Deputy Secretary -
at-War — a wealthy, but apparently a tyrannical man. He
lived apart from his wife and son, allowing them each
£1,000 per annum. The talent of the younger Lewis pro-
cured for him the patronage and friendship of the highest
in the land, and before he was twenty years of age his
name was as familiar to the public ear as that of his great
contemporary, Lord Byron. His imagination was fertile,
and he gave it full bridle in "The Monk," "The Castle
Spectre," " Alonzo the Brave," and many other of his
wild, but fascinating productions ; and notwithstanding
the familiar adage, that a man is known by his works,
Lewis while treating lightly in his writings every recog-
nised principle of common morality, was in conduct
amiable, affectionate, and circumspect ; devoted to his
mother and sisters, generous to his friend, patient of a
capricious father, and the indulgent and kind owner of five
hundred slaves.
Lewis's cottage at Barnes was the resort of a literary
coterie which, in this remote age, has given way to the
Stock Exchange ! Byron, Sheridan, Shelley, Hobhouse,
Kemble, Scott, Moore, Macintosh, Macready; the Dukes
of Clarence, Argyll, and Buccleuch ; Lords Grey, Mel-
bourne, Erskine, Douglas, and Holland ; and Ladies Char-
lotte Campbell, Anne Hamilton, and Anne Cullen Smith