t
is a surprising amalgam of ambition, affection, wit and freakishness.
John Byrom (1692-1763), the Manchester poet, kept a journal, which was
published in 1854. The diary of the celebrated dissenting divine, Philip
Doddridge (1702-1751), was printed in 1829. Of far greater interest are
the admirably composed and vigorously written journals of John Wesley
(1703-1791). But the most celebrated work of this kind produced in the
latter half of the 18th century was the diary of Fanny Burney (Madame
D'Arblay), published in 1842-1846. It will be perceived that, without
exception, these works were posthumously published, and the whole
conception of the diary has been that it should be written for the
writer alone, or, if for the public, for the public when all prejudice
shall have passed away and all passion cooled down. Thus, and thus only,
can the diary be written so as to impress upon its eventual readers a
sense of its author's perfect sincerity and courage.

Many of the diaries described above were first published in the opening
years of the 19th century, and it is unquestionable that the interest
which they awakened in the public led to their imitation. Diaries ceased
to be rare, but as a rule the specimens which have hitherto appeared
have not presented much literary interest. Exception must be made in
favour of the journals of two minor politicians, Charles Greville
(1794-1865) and Thomas Creevey (1768-1838), whose indiscretions have
added much to the gaiety of nations; the papers of the former appeared
in 1874-1887, those of the latter in 1903. The diary of Henry Crabb
Robinson (1775-1867), printed in 1869, contains excellent biographical
material. Tom Moore's journal, published in 1856 by Lord John Russell,
disappointed its readers. But it is probable, if we reason by the
analogy of the past, that the most curious and original diaries of the
19th century are still unknown to us, and lie jealously guarded under
lock and key by the descendants of those who compiled them.

It was natural that the form of the diary should appeal to a people so
sensitive to social peculiarities and so keen in the observation of them
as the French. A medieval document of immense value is the diary kept by
an anonymous _cure_ during the reigns of Charles VI. and Charles VII.
This _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_ was kept from 1409 to 1431, and
was continued by another hand down to 1449. The marquis de Dangeau
(1638-1720) kept a diary from