ure proper by De Quincey than by any other writer whatever.

Of other contributors to these periodicals much might be said in larger
space, as for instance of the poisoner-critic Thomas Griffiths
Wainewright, the "Janus Weathercock" of the _London_, the original of
certain well-known heroes of Bulwer and Dickens, and the object of a
more than once recurrent and distinctly morbid attention from young men
of letters since. Lamb, who was not given to think evil of his friends,
was certainly unlucky in calling Wainewright "warm- as light-hearted";
for the man (who died a convict in Australia, though he cheated the
gallows which was his due) was both an affected coxcomb and a callous
scoundrel. But he was a very clever fellow, though indignant morality
has sometimes endeavoured to deny this. That he anticipated by sixty
years and more certain depravations in style and taste notorious in our
own day is something: it is more that his achievement in gaudy writing
and in the literary treatment of art was really considerable.

Wainewright, however, is only "curious" in more than one sense of that
term: Leigh Hunt, who, though quite incapable of poisoning anybody, had
certain points in common with Wainewright on the latter's more excusable
sides, and whose prose must now be treated, is distinguished. He
reappears with even better right here than some others of the more
important constituents of this chapter. For all his best work in prose
appeared in periodicals, though it is impossible to say that all his
work that appeared in periodicals was his best work. He was for fourteen
years editor of, and a large contributor to, the _Examiner_, which he
and his brother started in 1808. After his liberation from prison he not
merely edited, but in the older fashion practically wrote the
_Reflector_ (1810), the _Indicator_ (1819-21), and the _Companion_
(1828). His rather unlucky journey to Italy was undertaken to edit the
_Liberal_. He was one of the rare and rash men of letters who have tried
to keep up a daily journal unassisted--a new _Tatler_, which lasted for
some eighteen months (1830-32); and a little later (1834-35) he
supported for full two years a similar but weekly venture, in part
original, in part compiled or borrowed, called _Leigh Hunt's London
Journal_. These were not his only ventures of the kind: he was an
indefatigable contributor to periodicals conducted by others; and most
of his books now known by independent titles