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| [Sir Richard Steele]—(Born in 1672, died in 1729.) |
| I | | [Of Companions and Flatterers] | [3] |
| II | | [The Story-Teller and His Art.] | [7] |
| | (From The Guardian) |
| III | | [Sir Roger and the Widow.] | [10] |
| | (From The Spectator) |
| IV | | [The Coverley Family Portraits.] | [16] |
| | (From The Spectator) |
| V | | [On Certain Symptoms of Greatness.] | [21] |
| | (From The Tatler) |
| VI | | [How to Be Happy tho Married.] | [26] |
| | (From The Tatler) |
| [Lord Bolingbroke]—(Born in 1678, died in 1751.) |
| I | | [Of the Shortness of Human Life] | [32] |
| II | | [Rules for the Study of History.] | [36] |
| | (One of the "Letters on the Study of History") |
| [Alexander Pope]—(Born in 1688, died in 1744.) |
| I | | [An Ancient English Country Seat.] | [41] |
| | (A Letter to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu) |
| II | | [His Compliments to Lady Mary.] | [47] |
| | (A Letter to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu) |
| III | | [How to Make an Epic Poem.] | [52] |
| | (From The Guardian) |
| [Lady Mary Wortley Montagu]—(Born in 1689, died in 1762.) |
| I | | [On Happiness in the Matrimonial State.] | [58] |
| | (A Letter to Edward Wortley Montagu before she married him) |
| II | | [Inoculation for the Smallpox.] | [63] |
| | (A Letter to Sarah Criswell, written from Adrianople, Turkey) |
| [Lord Chesterfield]—(Born in 1694, died in 1773.) |
| I | | [Of Good Manners, Dress and the World.] | [66] |
| | (From the "Letters to His Son") |
| II | | [Of Attentions to Ladies.] | [71] |
| | (From the "Letters to His Son") |
| [Henry Fielding]—(Born in 1707, died in 1754.) |
| I | | [Tom the Hero Enters the Stage.] | [75] |
| | (From "Tom Jones") |
| II | | [Partridge Sees Garrick at the Play.] | [83] |
| | (From "Tom Jones") |
| III | | [Mr. Adams in a Political Light.] | [89] |
| | (From "Joseph Andrews") |
| [Samuel Johnson]—(Born in 1709, died in 1784.) |
| I | | [On Publishing His "Dictionary."] | [94] |
| | (From the Preface to the "Dictionary") |
| II | | [Pope and Dryden Compared.] | [97] |
| | (From the "Lives of the Poets") |
| III | | [Letter to Chesterfield on the Completion of the "Dictionary."] | [101] |
| | (From Boswell's "Life") |
| IV | | [On the Advantages of Living in a Garret.] | [104] |
| | (From The Rambler) |
| [David Hume]—(Born in 1711, died in 1776.) |
| I | | [The Character of Queen Elizabeth.] | [110] |
| | (From the "History of England") |
| II | | [The Defeat of the Armada.] | [113] |
| | (From the "History of England") |
| III | | [The First Principles of Government] | [118] |
| [Laurence Sterne]—(Born in 1713, died in 1768.) |
| I | | [The Starling in Captivity.] | [123] |
| | (From "The Sentimental Journey") |
| II | | [To Moulines with Maria.] | [127] |
| | (From "The Sentimental Journey") |
| III | | [The Death of LeFevre.] | [129] |
| | (From "Tristram Shandy") |
| IV | | [Passages from the Romance of My Uncle Toby and the Widow.] | [131] |
| | (From "Tristram Shandy") |
| [Thomas Gray]—(Born in 1716, died in 1771.) |
| I | | [Warwick Castle.] | [141] |
| | (A Letter to Thomas Wharton) |
| II | | [To His Friend Mason on the Death of Mason's Mother] | [143] |
| III | | [On His Own Writings.] | [144] |
| | (A Letter to Horace Walpole) |
| IV | | [His Friendship for Bonstetten.] | [146] |
| | (From a Letter to Bonstetten) |
| [Horace Walpole]—(Born in 1717, died in 1797.) |
| I | | [Hogarth.] | [149] |
| | (From the "Anecdotes of Painting in England") |
| II | | [The War in America.] | [154] |
| | (From a Letter written at Strawberry Hill) |
| III | | [The Death of George II.] | [155] |
| | (A Letter to Sir Horace Mann) |
| [Gilbert White]—(Born in 1720, died in 1793.) |
| | [The Chimney Swallow.] | [158] |
| | (From "The Natural History of Selborne") |
| [Adam Smith]—(Born in 1723, died in 1790.) |
| I | | [Of Ambition Misdirected.] | [163] |
| | (From the "Theory of Moral Sentiments") |
| II | | [The Advantages of a Division of Labor.] | [166] |
| | (From "The Wealth of Nations") |
| [Sir William Blackstone]—(Born in 1723, died in 1780.) |
| | [Professional Soldiers in Free Countries.] | [169] |
| | (From the "Commentaries") |
| [Oliver Goldsmith]—(Born in 1728, died in 1774.) |
| I | | [The Ambitions of the Vicar's Family.] | [177] |
| | (From "The Vicar of Wakefield") |
| II | | [Sagacity in Insects.] | [182] |
| | (From "The Bee") |
| III | | [A Chinaman's View of London.] | [188] |
| | (From the "Citizen of the World") |
| [Edmund Burke]—(Born in 1729, died in 1797.) |
| I | | [The Principles of Good Taste.] | [194] |
| | (From "The Sublime and Beautiful") |
| II | | [A Letter to a Noble Lord] | [207] |
| III | | [On the Death of His Son] | [212] |
| IV | | [Marie Antoinette.] | [214] |
| | (From the "Reflections on the Revolution in France") |
| [William Cowper]—(Born in 1731, died in 1800.) |
| I | | [Of Keeping One's Self Employed.] | [217] |
| | (A Letter to John Newton) |
| II | | [Of Johnson's Treatment of Milton.] | [219] |
| | (Letter to the Rev. William Unwin) |
| III | | [On the Publication of His Books.] | [221] |
| | (Letter to the Rev. William Unwin) |
| [Edward Gibbon]—(Born in 1737, died in 1794.) |
| I | | [The Romance of His Youth.] | [226] |
| | (From the "Memoirs") |
| II | | [The Inception and Completion of the "Decline and Fall."] | [229] |
| | (From the "Memoirs") |
| III | | [The Fall of Zenobia.] | [230] |
| | (From "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") |
| IV | | [Alaric's Entry into Rome.] | [237] |
| | (From "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") |
| V | | [The Death of Hosein.] | [242] |
| | (From "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") |
| VI | | [The Causes of the Destruction of the City of Rome.] | [246] |
| | (From "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") |