[396] The story has evidently got mixed up in the telling, for Tom Sheridan (1721-1788), the great actor, was old enough to have been Dr. Parr's father. It was his son, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), the dramatist and politician, who was the pupil of Parr. He wrote _The Rivals_ (1775) and _The School for Scandal_ (1777) soon after Parr left Harrow. [397] Horner (1785-1864) was a geologist and social reformer. He was very influential in improving the conditions of child labor. [398] William Cobbett (1762-1835), the journalist, was a character not without interest to Americans. Born in Surrey, he went to America at the age of thirty and remained there eight years. Most of this time he was occupied as a bookseller in Philadelphia, and while thus engaged he was fined for libel against the celebrated Dr. Rush. On his return to England he edited the _Weekly Political Register_ (1802-1835), a popular journal among the working classes. He was fined and imprisoned for two years because of his attack (1810) on military flogging, and was also (1831) prosecuted for sedition. He further showed his paradox nature by his _History of the Protestant Reformation_ (1824-1827), an attack on the prevailing Protestant opinion. He also wrote a _Life of Andrew Jackson_ (1834). After repeated attempts he succeeded in entering parliament, a result of the Reform Bill. [399] Robinson (1735-1790) was a Baptist minister who wrote several theological works and a number of hymns. His work at Cambridge so offended the students that they at one time broke up the services. [400] This work had passed through twelve editions by 1823. [401] Dyer (1755-1841), the poet and reformer, edited Robinson's _Ecclesiastical Researches_ (1790). He was a life-long friend of Charles Lamb, and in their boyhood they were schoolmates at Christ's Hospital. His _Complaints of the Poor People of England_ (1793) made him a worthy companion of the paradoxers above mentioned.