though the paternity of his _famille
deplorable_ of novels was no secret, preserved a strict nominal
incognito. Women, as having no regular professions and plenty of time at
their disposal, were allowed more latitude: and this really perhaps had
something to do with their early prominence in the novel; but it is
certain that Scott's rigid, and for a long time successful, maintenance
of the mask was by no means mere prudery, and still less merely prudent
commercial speculation. Yet he, who altered so much in the novel,
altered this also. Of the novelists noticed in the early part of this
chapter, one became Prime Minister of England, another rose to cabinet
rank, a baronetcy, and a peerage; a third was H.M. consul in important
posts abroad; a fourth held a great position, if not in the service
directly of the crown, in what was of hardly less importance, that of
the East India Company; a fifth was a post-captain in the navy and
Companion of the Bath.

And all this had been rendered possible partly by the genius of
novel-writers, partly by the appetite of the novel-reader. This latter
was to continue unabated: whether the former was to increase, to
maintain itself, or slacken must be, to some extent of course, matter of
opinion. But we have still two quarter-centuries to survey, in the first
of which there may perhaps be some reason for thinking that the novel
rose to its actual zenith. Nearly all the writers mentioned in this
chapter continued to write--the greater part, in genius, of Thackeray's
accomplished work, and the greater part, in bulk, of Dickens's, had
still to appear. But these elders were reinforced by fresh recruits,
some of them of a prowess only inferior to the very greatest: and a
distinct development of the novel itself, in the direction of
self-reliance and craftsmanlike working on its own lines, was to be
seen. In particular, the deferred influence of Miss Austen was at last
to be brought to bear with astonishing results: while, partly owing to
the example of Thackeray, the historical variety (which had for the most
part been a pale and rather vulgarised imitation of Scott), was to be
revived and varied in a manner equally astonishing. More than ever we
shall have to let styles and kinds "speak by their foremen"--in fact to
some extent to let them speak for themselves with very little detailed
notice even of these foremen. But we shall still endeavour to keep the
general threads in hand and to exhibit