JOHN NEAL, born in Portland, Me., August 25, 1793, died there June
21, 1876. He was entirely self-educated, and, after a few years of
business occupation in Baltimore, he was admitted to the Maryland Bar
in 1819. He had already begun to have some popularity as a writer of
stories, and in 1823 he was led to make a trip to England, in
consequence of the popularity which his novels had acquired there.
While in England he wrote several articles on America for the
_Quarterly Review_, and enjoyed an intimacy with British men of
letters, particularly Jeremy Bentham. On his return in 1828 he
established _The Yankee_, and was an active journalist for half a
century. To his energy is attributed the agitation of woman's
suffrage, and the establishment of gymnasiums. He was Poe's first
encourager. His _Recollections_ were published in 1869.
OTHO. A Tragedy in Five Acts. Boston, 1819. 16mo, pp. 120.
This play was written for Edmond Kean. It was entirely rewritten
in _The Yankee_ for 1828.