The Spirit of the Age; Or, Contemporary Portraits
William Hazlitt
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
William Hazlitt was a keen observer of his time and the people populating the literary landscape. He presents short monographs on such illustrious persons as Jeremy Bentham, known for his philosophy of utility, William Godwin, who raised the standard of morality above the reach of humanity, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edward Irving, who keeps the public in awe by insulting all their favourite idols, Horne Tooke, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, who wrote Pleasures of Hope,James Mackintosh, appointed Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay in 1804, William Wordsworth, Thomas Malthus, who wrote in answer to Mr. Godwin, William Gifford , who edited The Quarterly Review, Francis Jeffrey, who edited the Edinburgh Review, Henry Brougham, who founded the Edinburgh Review in 1802, Francis Burdett, one of the most pleasing speakers in the House, and is a prodigious favourite of the English people, William Wilberforce, whose first object and principle of action is to do what he thinks right, Robert Southey, the best and most natural prose-writer of any poet of the day, Thomas Moore, who wrote Fables for the Holy Alliance, and Leigh Hunt, we will venture to oppose his Third Canto of the Story of Rimini for classic elegance and natural feeling to any equal number of lines from Mr. Southey's Epics or from Mr. Moore's Lalla Rookh. Charles Lamb wrote Essays of Elia under his pseudonym Elia and Washington Irvine wrote under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. Hazlitt compares the two in his final essay. - Summary by Craig Campbell (9 hr 4 min)
Chapters
Jeremy Bentham | 41:23 | Read by Craig Campbell |
William Godwin | 40:57 | Read by Daniel Davison |
Samuel Taylor Coleridge | 29:50 | Read by Kazbek |
Edward Irving | 28:09 | Read by Shreya Sethi |
Horne Tooke | 34:45 | Read by Garfield Dsouza |
Walter Scott | 36:12 | Read by Steven Watson |
Lord Byron | 31:38 | Read by Rolv Robole |
Thomas Campbell and George Crabb | 33:10 | Read by jenno |
James Mackintosh | 23:14 | Read by Kat Andrews |
William Wordsworth | 28:56 | Read by Garfield Dsouza |
Thomas Malthus | 35:54 | Read by Daniel Davison |
William Gifford | 37:37 | Read by jenno |
Francis Jeffrey | 29:19 | Read by Craig Campbell |
Henry Brougham and Francis Burdett | 21:51 | Read by weezer |
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon and William Wilberforce | 23:33 | Read by Jesse Zuba |
Robert Southey | 24:52 | Read by Rolv Robole |
Thomas Moore and Leigh Hunt | 21:42 | Read by Arden |
Elia (Charles Lamb)—Geoffrey Crayon (Washington Irving) | 18:35 | Read by weezer |
James Sheridan Knowles | 3:13 | Read by Garfield Dsouza |
Reviews
like a readers digest of writers and political leaders
Rocky D. Rogers
The summaries were very concise and detailed. As for accuracy one must take it at face value. Mr Hazlitt has given a worthy account of his subjects and is worth listening to and reading