At the time the reviews appeared, the whole of the twenty-one _Tales_ to be published in August 1812 were already written.

Crabbe had perceived that if he was to retain the admiring public he had won, he must break fresh ground.

Aldeburgh was played out.

It had provided abundant material and been an excellent training-ground for Crabbe's powers.

But he had discovered that there were other fields worth cultivating besides that of the hard lots of the very poor.