His concentrated thought and vivid passion have gained for him the title of the "Browning of novelists." Each of his books in turn has had its ardent partisans among cultivated and thoughtful readers. "The Shaving of Shagpat" appeared in 1856, and "Farina" in 1857. "The Ordeal of Richard Feverel," which appeared in 1859, is by many considered Meredith's best novel. It treats, with subtle humour and profound philosophical insight, of the problem of a youth's education, and is full of truth to life. "Feverel" was followed by "Evan Harrington" (1861), while "Rhoda Fleming" (1865), "The Adventures of Harry Richmond" (1871), "Beauchamp's Career" (1876), "The Egoist" (1879), "The Tragic Comedians" (1881), and "Diana of the Crossways" (1885), have each of them abundance of readers. Merely to enumerate George Meredith's novels is to call to the memory of all who have read them a widening of mental and moral vision. The rich vein of poetry running through the books, their humour and imagination, place their author in the very front rank of English novelists. "I should never forgive myself," said Robert Louis Stevenson, "if I forgot 'The Egoist,' which, of all the novels I have read (and I have read thousands), stands in a place by itself. I have read 'The Egoist' five or six times, and I mean to read it again." Others have spoken with equal enthusiasm of "Sandra Belloni," with its sweet singer Emilia; others of "Beauchamp's Career," with its aristocratic Radical, now generally understood to have been intended for Admiral Maxse. Mr Meredith dedicated his volume of "Poems" of 1851 to =Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866)=, who, perhaps, more than any other writer influenced his own style. Peacock was born at Weymouth, and he was mainly self-educated. In 1804 and 1806 he published two small volumes of poetry, "The Monks of St Mark" and "Palmyra." In 1812 he became acquainted with Shelley, and the two were intimate at Great Marlow where Peacock lived in 1815, and later. Peacock's novels "Headlong Hall" (1816-1817), "Melincourt" (1817) and "Nightmare Abbey" (1818), which have been two or three times reprinted within the last five or six years, gained no commensurate attention on their appearance, although one of them was translated into French. In 1819 Peacock became a clerk in the India House, and married a Welsh girl, Jane Gryffdh. "Maid Marion" appeared in 1822, "Crotchet Castle" in 1831, and in 1837 "Paper Money Lyrics and other Poems." All the novels I have named, and they are his most famous, belong to the pre-Victorian period, but "Gryll Grange," his last novel, was published in 1861. Peacock is interesting as a novelist and for his relations with other famous men. He was, as I have said, the friend of Shelley, and he was the father-in-law of Mr George Meredith. Added to this he succeeded to James Mill's post at the India House, and vacated it for James Mill's son, John Stuart Mill.