Maria Edgeworth, 1767-1849:  she was English born, but resided most of her life in Ireland.  Without remarkable genius, she may be said to have exercised a greater influence over her period than any other woman who lived in it.  There is an aptitude and a practical utility in her stories which are felt in all circles.  Her works for children are delightful and formative.  Every one has read and re-read with pleasure the interesting and instructive stories contained in The Parents’ Assistant.  And what these are to the children, her novels are to those of larger growth.  They are eighteen in number, and are illustrative of the society, fashion, and morals of the day; and always inculcate a good moral.  Among them we may particularize Forester, The Absentee, and The Modern Griselda.  All critics, even those who deny her great genius, agree in their estimate of the moral value of her stories, every one of which is at once a portraiture of her age and an instructive lesson to it.  The feminine delicacy with which she offers counsel and administers reproof gives a great charm to, and will insure the permanent popularity of, her productions.

Jane Austen, 1775-1817:  as a novelist she occupied a high place in her day, but her stories are gradually sinking into an historic repose, from which the coming generations will not care to disturb them. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are perhaps the best of her productions, and are valuable as displaying the society and the nature around her with delicacy and tact.

Mary Ferrier, 1782-1855:  like Miss Austen, she wrote novels of existing society, of which The Marriage and The Inheritance are the best known.  They were great favorites with Sir Walter Scott, who esteemed Miss Ferrier’s genius highly:  they are little read at the present time.

Robert Pollok, 1799-1827:  a Scottish minister, who is chiefly known by his long poem, cast in a Miltonic mould, entitled The Course of Time.  It is singularly significant of religious fervor, delicate health, youthful immaturity, and poetic yearnings.  It abounds in startling effects, which please at first from their novelty, but will not bear a calm, critical analysis.  On its first appearance, The Course of Time was immensely popular; but it has steadily lost favor, and its highest flights are “unearthly flutterings” when compared with the powerful soarings of Milton’s imagination and the gentle harmonies of Cowper’s religious muse.  Pollok died early of consumption:  his youth and his disease account for the faults and defects of his poem.