genius. Poet, critic, satirist, fun-maker, incomparable writer of fables
and masterly prose sketches, a seer of startling insight, a reasoner
mercilessly logical, with the delicate wit and keenness of an Irving or
an Addison, the dramatic quality of a Hugo, - all of these, and still in
the prime of his powers; yet so restricted has been his output and so
little exploited that only the judicious few have been impressed.

Although an American, he formed his bent years ago in London, where he
was associated with the younger Hood on Fun. There he laid the
foundation for that reputation which he today enjoys: the distinction of
being the last of the scholarly satirists. With that training he came to
San Francisco, where, in an environment equally as genial, his talent
grew and mellowed through the years. Then he was summoned to New York to
assist a newspaper fight against a great railroad, since the conclusion
of which brilliant campaign eastern journalism and magazine work have
claimed his attention.

Two volumes, "The Fiend's Delight" and "Cobwebs from an Empty Skull"
titles that would damn modern books - were collections published years
ago from his work on London Fun. Their appearance made him at once the
chief wit and humorist of England, and, combined with his satirical work
on Fun, led to his engagement by friends of the exiled Eugénie to
conduct a periodical against her enemies, who purposed to make her
refuge in England untenable by means of newspaper attacks. It is easy to
imagine the zest with which the chivalrous Bierce plunged into
preparations for the fight. But the struggle never came; it was
sufficient to learn that Bierce would be the Richmond; the attack upon
the stricken ex-empress was abandoned.

When he was urged in San Francisco, years afterward, to write more of