Plume. Very well. Courage, my lads. Now, we'll life, and the dispositions of ordinary men, was [Sings.] Over the hills and far away; Courage, boys, it's one to ten Kite, take care of them. Both. I. Scoundrels! Kite. So you shall-in your guts. March, you [Beats them off. Among the other successful writers for the stage, may be instanced COLLEY CIBBER (1671-1757), an actor and manager, whose comedy, the Careless Husband, is still deservedly a favourite. Cibber was a lively amusing writer, and his Apology for his Life is one of the most entertaining autobiographies of the language. When Pope displaced Theobald, to install Cibber as hero of the Dunciad,' he suffered his judgment to be blinded by personal vindictiveness and prejudice. Colley Cibber was vain, foolish, and sometimes ridiculous, but never a dunce. SIR RICHARD STEELE was also a dramatic author, and obtained from George I. a patent, appointing him manager and governor of the royal company of comedians. Steele's play, the Conscious Lovers, combines moral instruction with amusement, but is rather insipid and languid both on and off the stage. The Distrest Mother, translated from Racine, was brought out by AMBROSE PHILIPS, the friend of Addison, and was highly successful. AARON HILL adapted the Zara of Voltaire to the English theatre, and wrote some original dramas, which entitled him, no less than his poems, to the niche he has obtained in Pope's 'Dunciad.' A more legitimate comic writer appeared in MRS SUSANNA CENTLIVRE (1667-1723), an Irish lady, whose life and writings were immoral, but who possessed considerable dramatic skill and talent. comedies, the Busy Body, The Wonder, a Woman keeps a Secret, and A Bold Stroke for a Wife, are still favourite acting plays. Her plots and incidents are admirably arranged for stage effect, and her characters well discriminated. Mrs Centlivre had been some time an actress, and her experience had been of service to her in writing for the stage. ESSAYISTS. T Her HE age now under notice does not derive greater lustre from its poets and comic dramatists, than from its originating a new and peculiar kind of literature, which consisted in short essays on men and manners, published periodically. Papers containing news had been established in London, and other large cities, since the time of the civil war; but the idea of issuing a periodical sheet, commenting on the events of private never before entertained either in England or elsewhere. In France, it must be allowed, the celebrated Montaigne had published in the sixteenth century a series of essays, of which manners formed the chief topic. Still more recently, La Bruyere, another French author, had published his Characters, in which the artificial life of the court of Louis XIV. was sketched with minute fidelity, and the most ingenious sarcasm. But it was now for the first time that any writer ventured to undertake a work, in which he should meet the public several times each week with a brief paper, either discussing some feature of society, or relating some lively tale, allegory, or anecdote. In the Lieutenant of that kingdom. Through the duke s influence, Steele was placed at the Charter-house school in London, where a warm and long-continued friendship between him and Addison took its rise. He thence removed, in 1692, to Merton college, Oxford; but after spending several years in desultory study, became so enamoured of the military profession, that, in spite of the dissuasion of his friends, and his failure to procure an appointment, he enlisted as a private soldier in the horse-guards. In this step, by which the succession to a relation's estate in Wexford was lost, he gave a striking manifestation of that recklessness which unfortunately distinguished him through life. army, his wit, vivacity, and good humour, speedily rendered him such a favourite, that the officers of his regiment, desirous to have him among themselves, procured for him the rank of an ensign. Thus situated, he plunged deeply into the fashionable follies and vices of the age, enlarging, however, by such conduct, that knowledge of life and character which proved so useful to him in the composition of his works. During this course of dissipation, being sometimes visited by qualms of conscience, he drew up, for the purpose of self-admonition, a small treatise entitled The Christian Hero, and afterwards published it as a still more powerful check upon his irregular passions. Yet it does not appear that even the attention thus drawn to his conduct, and the by Steele; while Addison contributed most of the ridicule excited by the contrast between his prin- articles in which there is any grave reflection or ciples and practice, led to any perceptible improve-elevated feeling. In the course of the work, several ment. In order to enliven his character, and so fictitious persons were introduced as friends of the diminish the occasion of mirth to his comrades, he supposed editor, partly for amusement, and partly produced, in 1701, a comedy entitled The Funeral, for the purpose of quoting them on occasions where or Grief à-la-mode, in which, with much humour, their opinions might be supposed appropriate. Thus, there is combined a moral tendency superior to that a country gentleman was described under the name of most of the dramatic pieces of the time. Steele, of Sir Roger de Coverley, to whom reference was though personally too much a rake, made it a prin- made when matters connected with rural affairs ciple to employ his literary talents only in the service were in question. A Captain Sentry stood up for of virtue. In 1703, he sent forth another successful the army; W Honeycomb gave law on all things comedy, called The Tender Husband, or The Accom- concerning the gay world; and Sir Andrew Freeplished Fools; and in the year following was repre- port represented the commercial interest. Of these sented his third, entitled The Lying Lover, the characters, Sir Roger was by far the most happily strain of which proved too serious for the public taste. delineated: it is understood that he was entirely a The ill success which it experienced deterred him being of Addison's imagination; and certainly, in from again appearing as a dramatist till 1722, when the whole round of English fiction, there is no chahis admirable comedy, The Conscious Lovers, was racter delineated with more masterly strokes of brought out with unbounded applause. The great, humour and tenderness. The Spectator,' which the appropriate praise of Steele,' says Dr Drake, extended to six hundred and thirty-five numbers, or is to have been the first who, after the licentious eight volumes, is not only much superior to the age of Charles II., endeavoured to introduce the Tatler,' but stands at the head of all the works of the Virtues on the stage. He clothed them with the same kind that have since been produced; and, as a brilliancy of genius; he placed them in situations miscellany of polite literature, is not surpassed by the most interesting to the human heart; and any book whatever. All that regards the smaller he taught his audience not to laugh at, but to exe- morals and decencies of life, elegance or justness of crate vice, to despise the lewd fool and the witty taste, and the improvement of domestic society, is rake, to applaud the efforts of the good, and to re- touched upon in this paper with the happiest comjoice in the punishment of the wicked.** bination of seriousness and ridicule: it is also entitled to the praise of having corrected the existing style of writing and speaking on common topics, which was much vitiated by slang phraseology and profane swearing. The Spectator' appeared every morning in the shape of a single leaf, and was received at the breakfast tables of most persons of taste then living in the metropolis, and had a large sale. After the failure of The Lying Lover,' which, he says, was damned for its piety,' Steele conceived the idea of attacking the vices and foibles of the age through the medium of a lively periodical paper. Accordingly, on the 12th of April 1709, he commenced the publication of the Tatler, a small sheet designed to appear three times a-week, to expose,' as the author stated, the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity, and affectation, and During the year 1713, while the publication of the to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our Spectator' was temporarily suspended, Steele, with discourse, and our behaviour.' Steele, who had then the same assistance, published the Guardian, which reached his thirty-eighth year, was qualified for his was also issued daily, and extended to a hundred task by a knowledge of the world, acquired in free and seventy-five numbers, or two volumes. It ranks converse with it, and by a large fund of natural in merit between the Spectator' and Tatler,' and is humour; his sketches, anecdotes, and remarks, are enriched by contributions of Pope, Berkeley, and accordingly very entertaining. To conciliate the Budgell. Addison's papers occur almost exclusively ordinary readers of news, a part of each paper was in the second volume, where they are more nume devoted to public and political intelligence; and the rous than those of Steele himself. Of two hundred price of each number was one penny. At first, the and seventy-one papers of which the Tatler' is author endeavoured to conceal himself under the composed, Steele wrote one hundred and eightyfictitious name of Isaac Bickerstaff, which he bor-eight, Addison forty-two, and both conjointly thirtyrowed from a pamphlet by Swift; but his real name six. Of six hundred and thirty-five Spectators,' soon became known, and his friend Addison then | Addison wrote two hundred and seventy-four, and began to assist him with a few papers upon more Steele two hundred and forty. And of one hundred serious subjects than he himself was able or inclined and seventy-six Guardians,' Steele wrote eightyto discuss, and also with various articles of a humo- two, and Addison fifty-three. rous character. When the work had extended to the 271st number, which was published on the 2d of January 1711, the editor was induced, by a consideration of the inconvenience of writing such a work without personal concealment, to give it up, and to commence a publication nearly similar in plan, and in which he might assume a new disguise. This was the more celebrated Spectator, of which the first number appeared on the 1st of March 1711. The 'Spectator' was published daily, and each number was invariably a complete essay, without any admixture of politics. Steele and Addison were conjunct in this work from its commencement, and they obtained considerable assistance from a few other writers, of whom the chief were Thomas Tickell, and a gentleman named Budgell. The greater part of the light and humorous sketches are * Essays Illustrative of the Tatler, &c. i. 57. The beneficial influence of these publications on the morality, piety, manners, and intelligence of the British people, has been extensive and permanent. When the Tatler' first appeared, the ignorance and immorality of the great mass of society in England were gross and disgusting. By the generality of fashionable persons of both sexes, literary and scientific attainments were despised as pedantic and vulgar. That general knowledge which now circulates in common talk, was then rarely to be found. Men not professing learning were not ashamed of ignorance; and in the female world, any acquaintance with books was distinguished only to be censured.** Politics formed almost the sole topic of conversation among the gentlemen, and scandal among the ladies; swearing and indecency were fashionable vices; gaming and drunkenness abounded; and the practice *Johnson's Life of Addison. of duelling was carried to a most irrational excess. In the theatre, as well as in society, the corruption of Charles II.'s reign continued to prevail; and men of the highest rank were the habitual encouragers of the coarse amusements of bull-baiting, bear-baiting, and prize-fighting. To the amelioration of this wretched state of public taste and manners did Steele and Addison apply themselves with equal zeal and success, operating by the means thus stated in the Spectator:-I shall endeavour to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality, that my readers may, if possible, both ways find their account in the speculation of the day. And to the end that their virtue and discretion may not be short, transient, intermittent starts of thought, I have resolved to refresh their memories from day to day, till I have recovered them out of that desperate state of vice and folly into which the age is fallen. The mind that lies fallow but a single day, sprouts up in follies that are only to be killed by a constant and assiduous culture. It was said of Socrates, that he brought philosophy down from heaven to inhabit among men; I shall be ambitious to have it said of me, that I have brought philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and in coffee-houses.' Of the excellent effects produced by the essays of Steele and Addison, we possess the evidence not only of the improved state of society and literature which has since prevailed, but likewise of writers contemporary with the authors themselves. All speak of a decided and marked improvement in society and manners. ascribed the commencement of a just taste in the If in taste and literature such numerous benefits were conferred upon the people through the medium of these papers, of still greater importance were the services which they derived from them in the department of manners and morals. Both public and private virtue and decorum, indeed, received a firmer tone and finer polish from their precepts and examples; the acrimony and malevolence that had hitherto attended the discussion of political opinion were in a short time greatly mitigated; and the talents which had been almost exclusively occupied by controversy, were diverted into channels where elegance and learning mutually assisted in refining and purifying the passions.' The acquisition,' says Dr Drake, of a popular relish for elegant literature, may be dated, indeed, from the period of the publication of the "Tatler;" to the progress of this new-formed desire, the "Spectator" and "Guardian" gave fresh acceleration; nor has The success and utility of the 'Tatler,' 'Spectator,' the impulse which was thus received for a moment and Guardian,' led to the appearance, throughout ceased to spread and propagate its influence through the eighteenth century, of many works similar in every rank of British society. To these papers, in form and purpose; but of these, with the excepthe department of polite letters, we may ascribe the tion of the Rambler, Adventurer, Idler, World, Confollowing great and never-to-be-forgotten obligations. noisseur, Mirror, and Lounger, none can be said to They, it may be affirmed, first pointed out, in a have obtained a place in the standard literature of popular way, and with insinuating address, the best our country. Of the productions just named, an acauthors of classical antiquity and of modern times, count will be given when we come to speak of the and infused into the public mind an enthusiasm for authors principally concerned in them; and with their beauties; they, calling to their aid the colour-respect to the others, it is sufficient to remark, that ing of humour and imagination, effectually detected the sources of bad writing, and exposed to neverdying ridicule the puerilities and meretricious decorations of false wit and bloated composition; they first rendered criticism familiar and pleasing to the general taste, and excited that curiosity, that acuteness and precision, which have since enabled so many classes of readers to enjoy, and to appreciate with judgment, the various productions of genius and learning. so slender is their general merit, that from fortyone of the best among them, Dr Drake has been able to compile only four volumes of papers above mediocrity.* Notwithstanding the high excellence which must be attributed to the British Essayists,' as this class of writings is usually called, it cannot be concealed, that since the beginning of the present century, their popularity has undergone a considerable decline. This, we think, may easily be accounted for. All To the essays of Addison, in particular, are we that relates in them to temporary fashions and ablikewise indebted for the formation of a style beyond surdities, is now, for the most part, out of date; all former precedent pure, fascinating, and correct, while many of the vices and rudenesses which they that may be said to have effected a revolution in attack, have either been expelled from good society our language and literature, and which, notwith-by their own influence, or are now fallen into such standing all the refinements of modern criticism, is still entitled to the praise of a just and legitimate model. general discredit, that any formal exposure of them appears tedious and unnecessary. Add to this, that innumerable popular works of distinguished excelIn the "Spectator," moreover, was the public first lence, on the same class of subjects, have appeared presented with a specimen of acute analysis in the in later times, so that the essayists are no longer in papers on the sources and pleasures of the imagina- undisputed possession of the field which they origition; they form a disquisition which, while it in-nally and shoirably occupied. Since the age of structed and delighted the unlearned reader, led the way, though the arrogance of the literati of the present day may disclaim the debt, to what has been termed by modern ostentation philosophical criticism. To the circulation of these volumes also may be * The selection was published in 1811, under the title of 'The Gleaner; a Series of Perical Essays, selected and arranged from scarce or neglected lumes. By Nathan Drake, M.D.' 8vo. Queen Anne, moreover, there has come into request a more vigorous, straightforward, and exciting style of writing than that of Steele, or even of Addison, so that the public taste now demands to be stimulated by something more lively and piquant than what seemed to our grandmothers the ne plus ultra of agreeable writing. Yet, after making every abatement, it is certain that there are in these collections so many admirably written essays on subjects of abiding interest and importance -on characters, virtues, vices, and manners, which will chequer society while the human race endures that a judicious selection can never fail to present indescribable charms to the man of taste, piety, philanthropy, and refinement. In particular, the humorous productions of Addison, which to this day have never been surpassed, will probably maintain a popularity coexistent with our language itself. But to return to the biography of Sir Richard Steele. While conducting the Tatler,' and for some years previously to its commencement, he occupied the post of Gazette writer under the Whig ministry; and for the support which he gave them in the political department of that work, he was rewarded in 1710 with an appointment as one of the commissioners of the Stamp-office. When the Tories the same year came into power, an attempt was made to win over his services, by allowing him to retain office, and holding out hopes of farther preferment; but Steele, true to his principles, preserved silence on politics for several years, till at length, in the Guardian' of 28th April 1713, he entered into a controversy with a famous Tory paper called the Examiner,' in which Dr Swift at that time wrote with great force and virulence. In this step, the patriotism of Steele prevailed over his interest, for he shortly afterwards, in a manly letter to Lord Oxford, resigned the emoluments which he derived from government. Thus freed from trammels, he entered with the utmost alacrity into political warfare, to which he was excited by the danger that seemed, towards the close of Queen Anne's reign, to threaten the Protestant succession. Not content with wielding the pen, he procured a seat in parliament; from which, however, he was speedily expelled, in consequence of the freedom with which he commented on public affairs in one of his pamphlets. For these efforts against the Tory party, he was, on the accession of George I., rewarded with the post of surveyor to the royal stables at Hampton court. He obtained once more a seat in parliament, was knighted by the king, and in 1717 visited Edinburgh as one of the commissioners of forfeited estates. While in the northern metropolis, he made a hopeless attempt to bring about a union of the English and Scotch churches; and also furnished a proof of his humorous disposition, by giving a splendid entertainment to a multitude of beggars and decayed tradesmen, collected from the streets. Two years afterwards, he offended the ministry by strenuously opposing a bill which aimed at fixing permanently the number of peers, and prohibiting the king from creating any, except for the purpose of replacing extinct families. By this proceeding he not only lost a profitable theatrical patent which he had enjoyed for some years, but became embroiled in a quarrel with his old friend Addison, which arose during a war of pamphlets, in which Addison took the side of the ministry. That eminent person forgot his dignity so far as to speak of Steele as 'Little Dicky, whose trade it was to write pamphlets;' and it is highly creditable to Steele, that, notwithstanding so gross an insult, he retained both the feeling and the language of respect for his antagonist, and was content with administering a mild reproof through the medium of a quotation from the tragedy of Cato. Every reader,' says Dr Johnson, surely must regret that these two illustrious friends, after so many years passed in confidence and endearment, in unity of interest, conformity of opinion, and fellowship of study, should finally part in acrimonious opposition. Such a controversy was bellum plusquam civile, as Lucan expresses it. Why could not faction find other advocates? But among the uncertainties of the human state, we are doomed to number the instabilities of friendship."* During his long intercourse with Addison, Steele, though completely eclipsed by his friend, never evinced towards him the slightest symptom of envy or jealousy, but, on the contrary, scems to have looked up to him with uniform admiration and respect. Though Steele realised considerable sums by his writings, as well as by his places under government, and the theatrical patent, and farther increased his resources by marrying a lady of fortune in South Wales, he was always at a loss for money, which, it may be said, he could neither want nor keep. With many amiable features of character-such as goodnature, vivacity, candour, urbanity, and affectionand with a high admiration of virtue in the abstract, his conduct, as we have seen, was frequently inconsistent with the rules of propriety-a circumstance which is attributed in part to his pecuniary embarrassments. Being once reproached by Whiston, a strange but disinterested enthusiast in religion, for giving a vote in parliament contrary to his former professed opinions, he replied, Mr Whiston, you can walk on foot, but I cannot;' a sentiment which, if serious, certainly lays him open to the severest censure. But on various trying occasions, his political virtue stood firm; and it is only justice to mention, that when his affairs became involved shortly before his death, he retired into Wales solely for the purpose of doing justice to his creditors, at a time when he had the fairest prospect of satisfying their claims to the uttermost farthing. He died at Llangunnor, near Caermarthen, in 1729. By the In manner as well as matter, the writings of Steele are inferior to those of Addison. He aimed only at giving his papers an air of common speech;' and though improved by the example of Addison, his style never attained to accuracy or grace. Vivacity and ease are the highest qualities of his composition. He had, however, great fertility of invention, both as respects incident and character. His personages are drawn with dramatic spirit, and with a liveliness and airy facility, that blinds the reader to his defects. The Spectator Club, with its fine portraits of Sir Roger de Coverley, Sir Andrew Freeport, Will Honeycomb, &c., will ever remain a monument of the felicity of his fancy, and his power of seizing upon the shades and peculiarities of character. If Addison heightened the humour and interest of the different scenes, to Steele belongs the merit of the original design, and the first conception of the actors. literature died at the age of forty-seven, and that We select the following papers by Steele from the [Agreeable Companions and Flatterers.] An old acquaintance who met me this morning seemed overjoyed to see me, and told me I looked as well as he had known me do these forty years; but, continued he, not quite the man you were when we visited together at Lady Brightly's. Oh! Isaac, those days are over. Do you think there are any such fine creatures now living as we then conversed with? He went on with a thousand incoherent circumstances, which, in his imagination, must needs please me; but they had the quite contrary effect. The flattery with which he began, in telling me how well I wore, was not disagreeable; but his indiscreet mention of a set of acquaintance we had outlived, recalled ten thousand things to my memory, which made me reflect upon my present condition with regret. Had he indeed been so kind as, after a long absence, to felicitate me upon an indolent and easy old age, and mentioned how much he and I had to thank for, who at our time of day could walk firmly, eat heartily, and converse cheerfully, he had kept up my pleasure in myself. But of all mankind, there are none so shocking as these injudicious civil people. They ordinarily begin upon something that they know inust be a satisfaction; but then, for fear of the imputation of flattery, they follow it with the last thing in the world of which you would be reminded. It is this that perplexes civil persons. The reason that there is such a general outcry among us against flatterers, is, that in this life, and is a part of eloquence which does not there are so very few good ones. It is the nicest art want the preparation that is necessary to all other parts of it, that your audience should be your wellwishers; for praise from an enemy is the most pleasing of all commendations. We have already spoken of the prose style of Addison, and Dr Johnson's eulogium on it has almost passed into a proverb in the history of our literature. "Whoever wishes,' says the critic and moralist, to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.' There he will find a rich but chaste vein of humour and satire-lessons of morality and religion divested of all austerity and gloom-criticism at once pleasing and profound-and pictures of national character and manners that must ever charm from their vivacity and truth. The mind of Addison was so happily constituted, that all its faculties appear to have been in healthy vigour and due proportion, and to have been under the control of correct taste and principles. Greater energy of character, or a more determined hatred of vice and tyranny, would have curtailed his usefulness as a public censor. He led the nation gently and insensibly to a love of virtue and constitutional freedom, to a purer taste in morals and literature, and to the importance of those everlasting truths which so warmly engaged his heart and imagination. Besides his inimitable essays, Addison wrote Remarks on Several Parts of Italy in the years 1701, 1702, 1703, in which he has considered the agreeable to a man for a constancy, is he that has r It is generally to be observed, that the person most passages of the ancient poets that have any rela-shining qualities, but is a certain degree above great tion to the places and curiosities he saw. The style of this early work is remarkable for its order and simplicity, but seldom rises into eloquence. He published also Dialogues on the Usefulness of Ancient Medals, especially in relation to the Latin and Greek Poets, a treatise uniting patient research and originality of thought and conception. Pope addressed some beautiful lines to Addison on these Dialogues, in which he has complimented him with his usual felicity and grace :— Touched by thy hand, again Rome's glories shine; The learning of Addison is otherwise displayed in and who will either overlook or not observe his little imperfections, whom he can live with as his inferior, defects. Such an easy companion as this, either now and then throws out a little flattery, or lets a man silently flatter himself in his superiority to him. If you take notice, there is hardly a rich man in the world who has not such a led friend of small consideration, who is a darling for his insignificancy. It is a great ease to have one in our own shape a species below us, and who, without being listed in our service, is by nature of our retinue. These dependents are of excellent use on a rainy day, or when a man has not a mind to dress; or to exclude solitude, when one has neither a mind to that or to company. There are of this good-natured order who are so kind to divide themselves, and do these good offices to many. Five or six of them visit a whole quarter of the town, and exclude the spleen, without fees, from the families they frequent. If they do not prescribe physic, they can be company when you take it. Very great benefactors to the rich, or those whom they call people at their ease, are your persons of no consequence. I have known some of them, by the help of a little cunning, make delicious flatterers. They know the course of the town, and the general characters of persons; by this means they will sometimes tell the most agreeable falsehoods imaginable. They will acquaint you that such one of a quite contrary party said, that though you were engaged in different interests, yet he had |