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William Hazlitt was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social critic, and philosopher. He was born on April 10, 1778, and died on September 18, 1830. He is now thought to be up there with Samuel Johnson and George Orwell as one of the best critics and essayists in the history of the English language. People agree that he was also the best art critic of his time. Hazlitt went to school and learned things at home. At the age of 13, he was happy to see his writing in print for the first time. In July 1791, the Shrewsbury Chronicle printed a letter he wrote about the riots in Birmingham over Joseph Priestley's support for the French Revolution. During his life, he became friends with Charles and Mary Lamb, Stendhal, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and John Keats, all of whom are now considered important 19th-century writers.