WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY was born near Dublin, Ireland, March 26th, 1838, and educated at Cheltenham College and at Trinity College, Dublin. His first work “The Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland,” which appeared in 1861, did not attract general attention; but “The History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe,” which followed four years later, made him one of the most influential historical writers of his generation. In 1869 he followed it with his “History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne,” which is by many considered his masterpiece. He has published numerous other works, including a volume of poems, whose extraordinary lack of merit is wholly unaccountable, in view of the extraordinary goodness of his prose style. In 1896 he was elected to Parliament as a representative of Dublin University.