Barry Cornwall, born 1790:  this is a nom de plume of Bryan Proctor, a pleasing, but not great poet.  His principal works are Dramatic Scenes, Mirandola, a tragedy, and Marcian Colonna.  His minor poems are characterized by grace and fluency.  Among these are The Return of the Admiral; The Sea, the Sea, the Open Sea; and A Petition to Time.  He also wrote essays and tales in prose—­a Life of Edmund Keane, and a Memoir of Charles Lamb.  His daughter, Adelaide Anne Proctor, is a gifted poetess, and has written, among other poems, Legends and Lyrics, and A Chaplet of Verses.

James Sheridan Knowles, 1784-1862:  an actor and dramatist.  He left the stage and became a Baptist minister.  His plays were very successful upon the stage.  Among them, those of chief merit are The Hunchback, Virginius and Caius Gracchus, and The Wife, a Tale of Mantua.

Jean Ingelow, born 1830:  one of the most popular of the later English poets. The Song of Seven, and My Son’s Wife Elizabeth, are extremely pathetic, and of such general application that they touch all hearts.  The latter is the refrain of High Tide on the Coast of Lancashire.  She has published, besides, several volumes of stories for children, and one entitled Studies for Stories.

Algernon Charles Swinburne, born 1843:  he is principally and very favorably known by his charming poem Atalanta in Calydon.  He has also written a somewhat heterodox and licentious poem entitled Laus Veneris, Chastelard, and The Song of Italy; besides numerous minor poems and articles for magazines.  He is among the most notable and prolific poets of the age; and we may hope for many and better works from his pen.

Richard Harris Barham, 1788-1845:  a clergyman of the Church of England, and yet one of the most humorous of writers.  He is chiefly known by his Ingoldsby Legends, which were contributed to the magazines.  They are humorous tales in prose and verse; the latter in the vein of Peter Pindar, but better than those of Wolcot, or any writer of that school.  Combined with the humorous and often forcible, there are touches of pathos and terror which are extremely effective.  He also wrote a novel called My Cousin Nicholas.

Philip James Bailey, born 1816:  he published, in 1839, Festus, a poem in dramatic form, having, for its dramatis personae, God in his three persons, Lucifer, angels, and man.  Full of rare poetic fancy, it repels many by the boldness of its flight in the consideration of the incomprehensible, which many minds think the forbidden. The Angel World and The Mystic are of a similar kind; but his last work, The Age, a Colloquial Satire is on a mundane subject and in a simpler style.

Charles Mackay, born 1812:  principally known by his fugitive pieces, which contain simple thoughts on pleasant language.  His poetical collections are called Town Lyrics and Egeria.