SOURCE: "Charles Lever," The Fortnighty Review, Vol. CCCCLXXV, July 2, 1906, pp. 235-46.

In the following essay, Melville asserts that while Charles Lever has been charged with sacrificing his characters in his attempts to amuse his readers, and while many Irish critics in particular fault Charles Lever for perpetuating cultural stereotypes in his novels, Lever's writing is characterized by his "easy humour and natural tenderness." Melville concludes that Lever's "rollicking, madcap stories" have earned "an honoured place in English literature."

With just so much right as Scotsmen claim Sir Walter Scott as their national novelist, many admirers of Charles James Lever demand that the latter be regarded as the national Irish romancer. But while the works of Scott are beloved by his compatriots, those of Lever are by no means popular with his countrymen. The reasons are not far to seek: Scott glorified his characters, making his heroes and heroines...