Samuel Richardson, a renowned English novelist was born in Derbyshire, in 1689, and died July 4, 1761. All of his books are in the form of letters. His best known works are: “Clarissa Harlowe,” “Pamela,” a continuation of it in 1741, followed by “Sir Charles Grandison.” His “Correspondence” was published in 1804 by Anna Lætitia Barbauld.
If the heart of a man is depress’d with cares,
The mist is dispell’d when a woman appears.
“The Beggar’s Opera,” Act II, Sc. I,—John Gay.
John Gay, a famous English poet, was born near Barnstable, Devonshire, in 1685, and died at London, December 4, 1732. He wrote: “The Fables,” “The Shepherd’s Week,” “Rural Sports,” “Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London,” “The Wife of Bath,” etc. Also “The Beggar’s Opera.”
Heed the still, small voice that so seldom leads us wrong, and never into folly.
—Mme. du Deffand.
Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand (Madame du Deffand), a celebrated French wit and letter-writer, was born in Burgundy, in 1697, and died at Paris, September 24, 1780. Her correspondence with Horace Walpole was published in 1780; with d’Alembert, and other renowned Frenchmen, in 1809; with Voltaire, in 1810, and with the Duchess de Choiseul and others in 1859.
One kind kiss before we part,
Drop a tear and bid adieu;
Though we sever, my fond heart
Till we meet shall pant for you.
“The Parting Kiss,”—Robert Dodsley.
Robert Dodsley, a noted English poet, was born at Mansfield, Notts, in 1703, and died in 1764. He published “The Muse in Livery,” (a volume of verse), and some notable plays, among them: “The Toy Shop,” “The King and the Miller of Mansfield,” and “Sir John Cockle at Court.”