book of poems, containing "The Last Leaf," had been _pub._ But in that
year the _Atlantic Monthly_ was started with Lowell for ed., and H. was
engaged as a principal contributor. In it appeared the trilogy by which
he is best known, _The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table_ (1857), _The
Professor_, _The Poet_ (1872), all graceful, allusive, and pleasantly
egotistical. He also wrote _Elsie Venner_ (1861), which has been called
"the snake story of literature," and _The Guardian Angel_. By many
readers he is valued most for the poems which lie imbedded in his books,
such as "The Chambered Nautilus," "The Last Leaf," "Homesick in Heaven,"
"The Voiceless," and "The Boys."

HOME, JOHN (1722-1808).--Dramatist, _s._ of the Town-Clerk of Leith,
where he was _b._, _ed._ there and at Edin., and entered the Church.
Before doing so, however, he had fought on the Royalist side in the '45,
and had, after the Battle of Falkirk, been a prisoner in Doune Castle,
whence he escaped. His ministerial life, which was passed at
Athelstaneford, East Lothian, was brought to an end by the action of the
Church Courts on his producing the play of _Douglas_. This drama, which
had been rejected by Garrick, but brought out in Edin. in 1756, created
an immense sensation, and made its appearance in London the following
year. H. then became private sec. to the Earl of Bute, who gave him the
sinecure of Conservator of Scots Privileges at Campvere in Holland.
Thereafter he was tutor to the Prince of Wales (George III.), who on his
accession conferred upon him a pension of L300. Other plays were _The
Siege of Aquileia_, _The Fatal Discovery_ (1769), _Alonzo_, and _Alfred_
(1778), which was a total failure. He also wrote a _History of the
Rebellion_. In 1778 he settled in Edin., where he was one of the
brilliant circle of literary men of which Robertson was the centre. He
supported the claims of Macpherson to be the translator of Ossian.

HONE, WILLIAM (1780-1842).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Bath, in his
youth became a convinced and active democrat. His zeal in the propagation
of his views, political and philanthropic, was so absorbing as to lead to
a uniform want of success in his business undertakings. He _pub._ many
satirical writings, which had immense popularity, among which were _The
Political House that Jack Built_ (1819), _The Man in the Moon_ (1820),
_The Political Showman_ (1821), and _The Apocryphal New Testament_. For
one of his earliest sati