History of Scotland (1759); History of Charles V. (1769); History of America (1777). Most readable and fluent prose. TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT, 1721-1771. Medical practitioner; poet; pamphleteer; critic and novelist. Roderick Random; Peregrine Pickle; and Humphrey Clinker. His novels are notable for their broad humour, and an easy picturesque style of narration. ADAM SMITH, 1723-1790. Professor of Logic in the University of Glasgow; then of Moral Philosophy. Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759); Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The founder of the science of economics (or wealth of nations). OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774. Poet; literary man; play-writer. The Vicar of Wakefield (1766); the _Deserted Village_; She Stoops to Conquer, a comedy. The _Traveller_; Citizen of the World; Histories and minor _Poems_. The writer of the most pleasant prose of the eighteenth century. EDMUND BURKE 1730-1797. Statesman; ‘the first man in the Commons;’ writer on political philosophy. Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful (1756); Reflections on the French Revolution (1790). Many speeches, pamphlets, and articles on political matters. One of the deepest political thinkers, most eloquent speakers, and ornate writers of prose that ever lived. WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800. Poet. _Truth_, the _Progress of Error_ (1781), and other poems; the _Task_ (1785); _John Gilpin_; _Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey_ (1791) in blank verse; _Hymns_. His prose--which consists of letters--is clear, humorous, and pleasant. EDWARD GIBBON, 1737-1794. Historian; sat eight years in the House of Commons, but never spoke. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-87); Essays on the Study of Literature (in French). His style is a splendid example ‘of smiting phrases and weighty antithesis.’ ROBERT BURNS, 1759-1796. Ploughman; farmer; Excise officer; poet. _Poems_ and _Songs_ (1786-96) (_Cottar’s Saturday Night_, _Jolly Beggars_, _Tam o’ Shanter_, _Mountain Daisy_, etc.) His prose consists chiefly of letters. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770-1850. Distributor of stamps for the county of Westmoreland; poet; poet-laureate. _Descriptive Sketches_ (1793); _Lyrical Ballads_ (1798); _Sonnets_; _The Excursion_ (1814); _The Prelude_. He marks the dawn of a new school of poetry in the nineteenth century. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, 1772-1834. Journalist; secretary; literary man; poet. _The Ancient Mariner_ and _Christabel_ (1797-1806); several plays, including a translation of Schiller’s _Wallenstein_; many minor poems; The Friend--a set of essays; Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit; Biographia Literaria; Aids to Reflection. His prose is very elaborate and also very musical. ROBERT SOUTHEY, 1774-1843.