John Morley,
who conducted the _Fortnightly_ with great success for sixteen years.
Most of the earlier contributors were retained; others like Mr.
Swinburne, J.A. Symonds, Professor Edward Dowden and (Sir) Leslie
Stephen established a standard of literary criticism that was
practically unrivalled. The authority of its scientific and political
writers was equally high; as for serial fiction, Mr. Morley published
Mr. Meredith's _Beauchamp's Career_ and _The Tragic Comedians_, besides
less important novels by Trollope and others. More recently the
publication of fiction has been exceptional. The (1890) _Review of
Reviews_ Index said of the _Fortnightly_:
"While disclaiming 'party' or 'editorial consistency,' and
proclaiming that its pages were open to all views, the
_Fortnightly_ seldom included the orthodox among its contributors.
The articles which startled people and made small earthquakes
beneath the crust of conventional orthodoxy, political and
religious, usually appeared in the _Fortnightly_. It was here that
Professor Huxley seemed to foreshadow the expulsion of the
spiritual from the world, by his paper on 'The Physical Basis of
Life,' and that Professor Tyndall propounded his famous suggestion
for the establishment of a prayerless union or hospital as a
scientific method for testing the therapeutic value of prayer.
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