HENRY FIELDING was born near Glastonbury in 1707 and brought up in Dorset. where after leaving school he attempted to abduct a young heiress from Lyme Regis and was hound over to keep the peace. After a brief flirtation with classical literature at the Universitv of Leyden Henry returned to London: where between 1729 and 1737 he wrote some 25 plays -- comedies. farces. ballad operas and the famous Tom Thumb and became manager of the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. But his satirical play The Historical Register, lampooning Walpole and his government was rather too strong and successful. and led to Walpole's stage Licencing Act of 1737 and the consequent end of Fielding's theatrical career.

He now tumed to law. and was called to the Bar in 1740 and travelled the western circuit. And after 1749. when he became a justice of the peace for Middlesex. he devoted the last five years of his life. in spite of serious ill-health. to fighting London' s widespread crime and corruption. drawing up a plan that involved the organisation of London's first effective police force.

But throughout this time his pen had still been busy. In addition to energetic and powerful political journalism. Fielding published four novels - Shamela. Joseph Andrews. Amelia and the remarkable TOM JONES. which first appeared in 1749. Immensely successful though this was. it was by no means greeted with unanimous delight. Not only was it variously described as "vicious". "corrupt" and "filthy", it was also held by some to be responsible for two earthquake shocks that struck London shortly after its publication. Such reactions must have baffled Fielding: he himself had declared in the book's dedication that "to recommend goodness and innocence hath been my sincere endeavour in this history. . . I have endeavoured to laugh mankind out of their favourite follies and vices." Perhaps his depiction of the world grotesque. absurd and ferociously ironic - was rather too accurate for comfort.