[P. 282.] Adam Smith (1723-1790), founder of the science of political economy, author of “The Wealth of Nations” (1776).
huge folios. In the essay “On Pedantry” (“Round Table”) Hazlitt writes: “In the library of the family where we were brought up, stood the Fratres Poloni; and we can never forget or describe the feeling with which not only their appearance, but the names of the authors on the outside inspired us. Pripscovius, we remember, was one of the easiest to pronounce. The gravity of the contents seemed in proportion to the weight of the volumes; the importance of the subjects increased with our ignorance of them.”
[P. 283], n. Hazlitt’s father was the author of “Discourses for the Use of Families on the Advantages of a Free Enquiry and on the Study of the Scriptures” (1790) and of “Sermons for the Use of Families” in two volumes (1808).
[P. 284.] Mary Wolstonecraft (1759-1797), author of the “Vindication of the Rights of Woman” (1792).
Mackintosh, Sir James (1765-1832), wrote “Vindiciæ Gallicæ, a Defence of the French Revolution and its English Admirers against the Accusations of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke.” Hazlitt writes of Mackintosh in the “Spirit of the Age” as “one of the ablest and most accomplished men of the age, both as a writer, a speaker, and a converser,” and comparing him with Coleridge, he remarks, “They have nearly an equal range of reading and of topics of conversation; but in the mind of the one we see nothing but fixtures, in the other every thing is fluid.”
Tom Wedgwood (1771-1805) was an associate of some of the literary men of his day.
[P. 285.] Holcroft, Thomas (1745-1809), actor, dramatist, novelist, a member of Godwin’s group of radicals. His chief writings are “The Road to Ruin” (1792), “Anna St. Ives” (1792), and “Hugh Trevor” (1794-97). Holcroft’s “Memoirs,” written by himself, were edited and completed by Hazlitt and published in 1816 (Works, II).
[P. 286.] Hume, David (1711-1776), historian and sceptic philosopher, described by Hazlitt as “one of the subtlest and most metaphysical of all metaphysicians.” His chief writings are “A Treatise on Human Nature, being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects” (1739-40), “Philosophical Essays” (1748), “Four Dissertations” (1757).
[P. 287.] Essay on Vision. Hazlitt calls this “the greatest by far of all his works and the most complete example of elaborate analytical reasoning and particular induction joined together that perhaps ever existed.” (Works, XI, 108).
Tom Paine (1737-1809), an influential revolutionary writer, author of “Common Sense” (1776), a pamphlet advocating American independence, “Rights of Man” (1791), a reply to Burke’s “Reflections on the French Revolution,” and “The Age of Reason” (1795). He also took an active part in both the American and French revolutions.