in it. Defoe had
invested fictitious adventure with reality. Richardson transferred the
real human life around him to the pages of fiction. The ascendancy of
French influence was noteworthy for a considerable period after the
Restoration. England could now repay some of her debt. Richardson
exerted powerful influence on the literature of France as well as on
that of other continental nations.

[Illustration: HENRY FIELDING. _From the original sketch by
Hogarth_.]

Henry Fielding, 1707-1754.--The greatest novelist of the eighteenth
century, and one of the greatest that England ever produced, was Henry
Fielding, who was born in Sharpham Park, Somersetshire. After
graduating at the University of Leyden, he became a playwright, a
lawyer, a judge of a police court, and, most important of all, a
novelist, or a historian of society, as he preferred to style himself.

When Richardson's _Pamela_ appeared, Fielding determined to write a
story caricaturing its morality and sentiment, which he considered
hypocritical. Before he had gone very far he discovered where his
abilities lay, and, abandoning his narrow, satiric aims, he wrote
_Joseph Andrews_ (1742), a novel far more interesting than _Pamela_.
_Jonathan Wild the Great_ (1743) tells the story of a rogue who was
finally hanged. In 1749 appeared Fielding's masterpiece, _Tom Jones_,
and in 1751 his last novel, _Amelia_.

Richardson lacks humor, but Fielding is one of the greatest humorists
of the eighteenth century. Fielding is also a master of plot. From all
literature, Coleridge selected, for perfection of plot, _The
Alchemist, Oedipus Tyrannus_, and _Tom Jones_.

Fielding's novels often lack refinement, but they palpitate with life.
His pages present a wonderful variety of characters, chosen from
almost all walks of life. He could draw admirable portraits of women.
Thackeray says of Amelia, the heroine of the novel that bears her
name:--

"To have invented that character, is not only a triumph of art, but
it is a good action. They say it was in his own home that Fielding
knew her and loved her, and from his own wife that he drew the most
charming character in English fiction... I admire the author of
_Amelia_, and thank the kind master who introduced me to that sweet
and delightful companion and friend. _Amelia_, perhaps, is not a
better story than _Tom Jones_, but it has the better ethics; the
prodigal repents at least before forgiveness,--whereas t