"JAMES, GEORGE PAY NE RAINSFORD, a novelist, a poet, and a historian, was born in 1801 in George Street, Hanover Square, London, of an ancient family originally of Staffordshire. lie was educated at a school in Greenwich, whence ho was early sent to France, where he remnined several years. Even iu his youth he distinguished himself by a love for literary pursuits, and as ho himself says, "before seven teen summers had pawed over his head," produced a series of seven eastern tales entitled the 'String of Pearls,' which was published in 2 vols. in 1832. The copyright was given to the Royal Literary Fund, and produced 75/. for the benefit of that institution. Mr. James also contributed anonymously to the magazines and reviews, till in 1825, encouraged by the praises of Washington Irving and Sir Walter Scott, he produced under his own name the novel of 'Richelieu.' The his torical novels of Scott had made the species popular, and, though it was too palpably an imitation, it met with considerable success. From this time he continued to pour forth works in rapid succession. Of his novels the best are Richelieu,' Darnley," Philip Augustus,' and ' Henry Masterruan.' He also wrote histories of 'Charlemagne,' the 'Black Prince," Lives of Foreign Statesmen,' and others. His poems are of varied character, as the 'Ruined City,' Camaralzaman,' a humorous and fanciful fairy tale. King William IV. nominated him
Historiographer of England, an office which he almost immediately resigned. In 1852 he was made British consul at Norfolk in Virginia, in which capacity he still resides there. His fame as a novelist had spread across the Atlantic, and he was warmly welcomed in America, where, in conjunction with Mr. M. B. Field, an American, 'Adrian, or the Clouds of the Mind,' a romance, was produced, in imitation they say of Beaumont and Fletcher. The work was published in London in 1852, but is more remarkable for the peculiarity of the design than for its excelleuce.
In all his works Mr. James shows facility in writing; he is seldom dull, and as seldom original In his historical novels he laboriously ioterweaves all the external characteristics of the period of which he is treating, but he fails in grasping the animating spirit, and his descriptions are frequently too minute. He has a good eye for nature, and his descriptions of scenery are often vividly brought before the mind. A similar talent is shown in his poetry : the versification is fluent, but the imagination is not of a high order. In hie histories he has usually chosen interesting subjects, and has produced inter esting books, without much research and with not very scrupulous