Events First performance of Voltaire's Mérope Publication of poet Robert Blair's major work, "The Grave" New Books The Life of Jonathan Wild the Great - Henry Fielding Births Julien Louis Geoffroy, French critic Hannah Cowley, English dramatist and poet Gabriel Derzhaven, Russian lyric poet March 4 - Johann David Wyss, Swiss novelist June 20 - Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet Deaths