LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY, author of The Monk, was the son of the Deputy Secretary-at-War, and of a daughter of Sir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls, and was born at London in 1773. While attending Westminster school, he early evinced that taste for theatrical displays, and for books of romance and mystery, which his after years so inveterately confirmed. After studying for a short time at Christ Church, Oxford, he repaired to Germany, with the design of acquiring the language of that country; and there the perusal of the drama, and the wild fictions of the Germans, quickened his own invention, and he produced, in 1795, his most celebrated work, The Monk. Full of supernatural horrors, and scenes of blood and demoniacal cruelty, this novel presented a feature of fresh interest to the English public, and became speedily popular; but his coarse and minute handling of the lower passions verged on licentiousness, and nearly brought him under the punishment of the law. The fame thus acquired enabled him to obtain a seat in parliament for Hindon; but his talents were not those of a statesman, and he never ventured to address the House. His play of the Castle Spectre, produced on the stage in 1797, rivalled the reputation even of his Monk. An interview which he had with Sir Walter Scott at Edinburgh, in 1798, led to the contribution of several noble ballads by the latter to the Tales of Wonder, published by Lewis in 1801. On the death of his father, Lewis inherited a large sum of money, and plantations in the West Indies, which he visited in 1815. After securing the affection of his slaves by his kindness, and evoking many public demonstrations of their regard, he returned to England in 1816. But the mismanagement of his affairs recalled him to his estates in the following year; and on his homeward journey he died of fever in the Gulf of Florida, in July 1818.
His novels and numerous plays all exhibit the same extravagant taste for deeds of horror and mystery as his Monk; and their popularity, great on their first appearance, speedily declined on the advent of a purer public taste. His poetry, which consists chiefly of songs and ballads, inserted in his prose works, is deficient in passion and imagery; but along with elegance and lucidity of diction, possesses a finished and a musical flow of versification, which drew forth the warm commendation of Sir Walter Scott. The best, however, of all his productions is his West India Journal, written during his first voyage, and published in 1833, a work which evinces a talent in describing manners, that might have earned for its author a more than fame than that of his early days. His discretion, good feeling, and unselfish generosity, are shown to great advantage in his Life and Correspondence, published in London in 1839.
Next to the Monk, his most popular novel is the Bravo of Venice, 1804, which has since been reprinted. Of his numerous plays, The Castle Spectre alone is still acted. His ballads of Alonzo the Brave and Durandarte are the most popular of his poems.