Charles Johnstone

For other people named Charles Johnstone, see Charles Johnstone (disambiguation).

For other people named Charles Johnston, see Charles Johnston (disambiguation).

Charles Johnstone (c. 1719–1800) was an Irish novelist. Prevented by deafness from practising at the Irish Bar, he went to India, where he was proprietor of a newspaper. He wrote one successful book, Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, a somewhat sombre satire.

Life

Born at Carrigogunnell, County Limerick about 1719, he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, but is not known to have taken a degree. He was called to the bar, but extreme deafness prevented his practice except as a chamber lawyer, where he did not succeed. He began to write as a living.

In May 1782, Johnstone sailed for India, with a dangerous shipwreck on the voyage. He found employment in writing for the Bengal newspaper press, under the signature of "Oneiropolos". He became in time joint proprietor of a journal, and prospered. He died at Calcutta about 1800.

Works

Johnstone's major work, entitled Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, and frequently reprinted, appeared in 4 vols., London, 1760–65. The first and second volumes had been written during a visit to George Edgcumbe, 3rd Baron Edgcumbe in Devon. The book, a succès de scandale, claimed to reveal political secrets, and to expose the profligacy of well-known public characters.

Johnstone was also the author of:

• The Reverie, or a Flight to the Paradise of Fools, 2 vols. London, 1762.
• The History of Arsaces, Prince of Betlis, 2 vols. 1774.
• The Pilgrim, or a Picture of Life, 2 vols. 1775.
• History of John Juniper, Esq., alias Juniper Jack, 3 vols. 1781.

See also

• Hellfire Club

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.

Notes

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Johnstone, Charles". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co.