A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2 — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2
John Stuart Mill · en
James II. ascends the throne in 1685.
Revolution of 1688.
William III. and Mary II. ascend the throne, 1689.
+1690+
Battle of the Boyne, 1690.
JAMES THOMSON. +1700-1748+. Poet.
+The Seasons+; a poem in blank verse (1730); +The Castle of
Indolence+; a mock-heroic poem in the Spenserian stanza (1748).
Censorship of the Press abolished, 1695.
Queen Anne ascends the throne in 1702.
+1700+
HENRY FIELDING. +1707-1754+. Police-magistrate, journalist; novelist.
+Joseph Andrews+ (1742); +Amelia+ (1751). He was “the first great
English novelist.”
Battle of Blenheim, 1704.
Gibraltar taken, 1704.
DR SAMUEL JOHNSON. +1709-1784+. Schoolmaster; literary man; essayist;
poet; dictionary-maker.
+London+ (1738); +The Vanity of Human Wishes+ (1749); +Dictionary
of the English Language+ (1755); +Rasselas+ (1759); +Lives of the
Poets+ (1781). He also wrote +The Idler+, +The Rambler+, and a play
called +Irene+.
Union of England and Scotland, 1707.
+1710+
DAVID HUME. +1711-1776+. Librarian; Secretary to the French Embassy;
philosopher; literary man.
+History of England+ (1754-1762); and a number of philosophical
_Essays_. His prose is singularly clear, easy, and pleasant.
George I. ascends the throne in 1714.
THOMAS GRAY. +1716-1771+. Student; poet; letter-writer; Professor of
Modern History in the University of Cambridge.
+Odes+; +Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard+ (1750)-- one of the
most perfect poems in our language. He was a great stylist, and an
extremely careful workman.
Rebellion in Scotland in 1715.
+1720+
TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT. +1721-1771+. Doctor; pamphleteer; literary
hack; novelist.
+Roderick Random+ (1748); +Humphrey Clinker+ (1771). He also
continued +Hume’s History of England+. He published also some
_Plays_ and _Poems_.
South-Sea Bubble bursts, 1720.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH. +1728-1774+. Literary man; play-writer; poet.
+The Traveller+ (1764); +The Vicar of Wakefield+ (1766); +The
Deserted Village+ (1770); +She Stoops to Conquer+--a Play (1773);
and a large number of books, pamphlets, and compilations.
George II. ascends the throne, 1727.
ADAM SMITH. +1723-1790+. Professor in the University of Glasgow.
+Theory of Moral Sentiments+ (1759); +Inquiry into the Nature and
Causes of the Wealth of Nations+ (1776). He was the founder of the
science of political economy.
+1730+
EDMUND BURKE. +1730-1797+. M.P.; statesman; “the first man in the
House of Commons;” orator; writer on political philosophy.
+Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful+ (1757); +Reflections on the
Revolution of France+ (1790); +Letters on a Regicide Peace+ (1797);
and many other works. “The greatest philosopher in practice the
world ever saw.”