LILLO, GEORGE (1693-1739)

—Dramatist, of Dutch descent, was b. in London, succeeded his f. in busine as a jeweller, in which he had good speed, and devoted his leisure to the composition of plays in the line of what was known as the "domestic drama." He wrote in all seven of these, among which are The London Merchant, or the History of George Bar newell , acted 1731, The Christian Hero (1735), and Fatal Curiosity (1736). He was a friend of Fielding, who said of him that "he had the spirit of an old Roman joined to the innocence of a primitive Christian."