ductions are _Speech on American Taxation_ (1774) and
_Speech on Conciliation with America_ (1775). His _Reflections on the
Revolution in France_ is also noteworthy. His prose is distinguished
for the following qualities: (1) He is one of the greatest masters of
metaphor and imagery in English prose. Only Carlyle surpasses him in
the use of metaphorical language. (2) Burke's breadth of thought and
wealth of expression enable him to present an idea from many different
points of view, so that if his readers do not comprehend his
exposition from one side, they may from another. He endeavors to
attach what he says to something in the experience of his hearers or
readers; and he remembers that the experience of all is not the same.
(3) It follows that his imagery and figures lay all kinds of knowledge
under contribution. At one time he draws an illustration from
manufacturing; at another, from history; at another, from the butcher
shop. (4) His work displays intense earnestness, love of truth,
strength of logical reasoning, vividness of imagination, and breadth
of view, all of which are necessary qualities in prose that is to mold
the opinions of men.

It is well to note that Burke's careful study of English literature
contributed largely to his success as a writer. His use of Bible
phraseology and his familiarity with poetry led a critic to say that
any one "neglects the most valuable repository of rhetoric in the
English language, who has not well studied the English Bible... The
cadence of Burke's sentences always reminds us that prose writing is
only to be perfected by a thorough study of the poetry of the
language."

OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774

[Illustration: OLIVER GOLDSMITH. _From the painting by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, National Portrait Gallery_.]

Life and Minor Works.--Oliver Goldsmith was born of English parents
in the little village of Pallas in the center of Ireland. His father,
a poor clergyman, soon moved a short distance to Lissoy, which
furnished some of the suggestions for _The Deserted Village_.

Goldsmith went as a charity student to Dublin University, where, like
Swift, he graduated at the bottom of his class. Goldsmith tried in
turn to become a clergyman, a teacher, a lawyer, and a doctor, but
failed in all these fields. Then he wandered over the continent of
Europe for a year and accumulated some experiences that he used in
writing _The Traveler_. He returned to London in 1757, and, after an
ineff