Senior to both the brothers, alike in years and as a writer, was Anthony Trollope. Coming of a literary family (both his mother and his elder brother wrote novels), he proved himself, from 1847, when he published _The Macdermotts of Ballycloran_, to his death, one of the most prolific of novelists. No recent writer illustrates better than he the function of the novel when it is something less than a work of genius. The demand for amusement is the explanation of the enormous growth of modern fiction. But pure amusement is inconsistent with either profound thought or tragic emotion, while, on the other hand, it requires competent literary workmanship. Anthony Trollope exactly satisfied this demand. He wrote fluently and fairly well. He drew characters which, if they were never very profound or subtle, were at any rate tolerably good representations of human nature. He had a pleasant humour, could tell a story well, and could, without becoming dull, continue it through any number of volumes that might be desired. Perhaps no one has ever equalled him at continuations. What are commonly known as the Barsetshire novels are his best group. There are some half-dozen stories in the group, yet four of them, _Barchester Towers_, _Doctor Thorne_, _Framley Parsonage_, and _The Last Chronicle of Barset_, extending over a period of ten years (1857-1867), must all be classed with his best work. Perhaps it was the touch of the commonplace that made it possible for him thus frequently to repeat his successes. Trollope's description of his own methods of work in his _Autobiography_ shows that he worked himself as a manufacturer works his steam-engine, and with the same result, so much of a given pattern produced _per diem_. His monograph on Thackeray proves him capable of comparing his methods with the methods of a man of genius, by no means to the advantage of the latter. [Sidenote: James Grant (1822-1887).] [Sidenote: George John Whyte-Melville (1821-1878).] [Sidenote: Wilkie Collins (1824-1889).] [Sidenote: George Alfred Lawrence (1827-1876).]