The English novelist and playwright Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818), known as Monk Lewis, a popular writer during the early 19th century, is remembered today only as the author of a Gothic novel, "The Monk."

Matthew G. Lewis was born in London on July 9, 1775. His wealthy and influential father, who became England's deputy secretary at war, intended him for a diplomatic career. Lewis was sent to Westminster School at the age of 8 and to Christ Church, Oxford, at the age of 15. He spent the summer of 1791 in Paris and the fall and winter of 1792-1793 in Germany, where he learned to speak German fluently and met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. After Lewis received his bachelor of arts degree in 1794, he became an attaché to the British embassy at The Hague for 7 months. His mother, who had permanently separated from his father in 1791, had encouraged her son's desire to...