Thomas James Mathias, an English author, born about 1750, died in Naples in 1885. He graduated at Trinity college, Cambridge, in 1774, and several years later received an appointment in the royal household, which he held till 1818, when he retired on a pension. He commenced his literary career by publishing a volume of "Runic Odes " imitated from the Norse (4to, 1781), and in 1783 produced an "Essay on the Evidence relating to the Poems attributed to Thomas Rowley." In 179-4 he published the first part of an anonymous poem, of which three other parts subsequently appeared, entitled "The Pursuits of Literature," remarkable for severe criticisms on literary men and opinions. It was followed by a variety of minor satirical pieces, after which he published an edition of the works of Thomas Gray, with his life and additions (2 vols. 4to, Cambridge. 1814). The latter part of his life was passed at Naples, where he published much in the Italian language and on Italian literature.