OPIE, Amelia, the wife of the preceding, was the daughter of Dr Alderson, a physician in Norwich, and was born there in 1769. The circumstances of her early life gave the bent to her after-career. In her girlhood she beguiled the solitude of her father's summer-house by composing songs and tragedies; on her visits to London, the superior society into which the accomplishments of her mind and the graces of her person introduced her, served to stimulate her aspirations; and after her marriage in 1798, she was encouraged by her husband to become a candidate for literary fame. Accordingly, in 1801, she published a novel entitled Father and Daughter. Although this tale showed no artistic ability in dealing either with incidents or with characters, yet it was the work of a lively fancy and a feeling heart, and speedily brought its author into notice. She was encouraged to publish a volume of sweet and graceful poems in 1802, and to persist in the kind of novel-writing which she had so successfully commenced. Adeline Mowbray followed in 1804, and Simple Tales in 1806. The death of her husband in 1807, and her return to Norwich, did not slacken her industry. She published Temper in 1812, Tales of Real Life in 1813, Valentine's Eve in 1816, Tales of the Heart in 1818, and Madeline in 1822. At length, in 1825, her assumption of the tenets and garb of the Quakers checked her literary ardour, and changed her mode of life. Besides a volume entitled Detraction Displayed, and several contributions in prose and verse to various periodicals, nothing afterwards proceeded from her pen. The rest of her life was spent in travelling and in the exercise of Christian benevolence. She died at Norwich in 1853. A Life of Mrs Opie, by Miss C. L. Brightwell, was published in 1854.