It is entitled the Distressed Mother and was written by Ambrose Philips (1675-1749), a popular but by no means remarkable dramatist of the day. The play was first acted at Drury Lane Theater on March 17, 1712, just eight days before the performance which Sir Roger is supposed to attend, and was supplied with a prologue by Steele and with an epilogue by Addison. The plot of the play was taken by Philips from that of the Andromaque, a play by Racine, the distinguished French dramatist. The play opens at Troy immediately after the destruction of that city by the Greeks and deals with the fortunes of Andromache, widow of Hector, the bravest of the Trojans. The Greek victor Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, has just captured Andromache and tries to induce her to marry him with the promise that her young son Astyanax shall become the future king of Troy. She yields a reluctant consent, being secretly resolved to kill herself before that event. The catastrophe of the tragedy is brought about in the following manner. Pyrrhus, it seems, is loved by the Greek maiden Hermione, who, enraged with jealousy because of his attentions to Andromache, incites the Greeks to revolt against him. The Greek warrior Orestes slays Pyrrhus and then goes mad; Hermione commits suicide; and Andromache is thus saved from the designs against her honor.

125, 1. The Committee: a comedy by Sir Robert Howard (1626-1698). It satirizes the Puritans and is therefore termed by Sir Roger "a good church of England comedy."

125, 10. The Mohocks: a band of dissolute young gentlemen who roamed the streets by night, playing mischievous tricks upon the weak and defenseless for the sake of their own amusement. One of their favorite pastimes was to roll old women downhill in hogsheads. They were particularly active during the month in which this paper was written, and many complaints were being made against them. See the Spectator Nos. 324, 332, and 347.

125, 27. Norfolk Street. See the note to 8, 11.

125, 32. That we may be at the house before it is full. See note to 9, 33.

126, 3-4. The battle of Steenkirk: a battle in which the English were defeated by the French near Steenkirk, a small town in Belgium, on August 3, 1692. A “steenkirk ” was the name afterward applied to a loose, negligé style of cravat made in Paris and so named out of compliment to the French soldiers

who, in their eagerness for battle, did not stop to array themselves in careful military attire.

126, 6. Plants: cudgels.

127, 3. Pyrrhus his threatening: Pyrrhus's threatening. In and before the eighteenth century, "his" was often used instead of "s" as a sign of the genitive or possessive case of the noun. The word, though written like the pronoun, was never pronounced "his," but either "s" or "es."

127, 28. Baggage. See the note to 93, 29.

128, 1. Pylades: bosom friend of Orestes. Like the phrases "David and Jonathan" and "Damon and Pythias," the phrase "Orestes and Pylades" is used to describe a very close intimacy between friends.

128, 4-5. The old fellow in whiskers: Phoenix, counsellor to Pyrrhus. Altogether he speaks about sixty-five verses in the play.

128, 8. Smoke the knight: make fun of the knight by asking him ridiculous questions. Another instance of eighteenth-century slang. See the note to 93, 29.

128, 13-14. It was not done upon the stage. As Addison very well knew, but Sir Roger did not, it was a cardinal maxim in Greek tragedy that murders should never be performed upon the stage. In this English play, which was, of course, ultimately derived from the Greek, the convention is still observed.

QUESTIONS

1. Why did Addison select the Distressed Mother as the particular play for Sir Roger to witness?

2. What characteristic of Sir Roger has Mr. Spectator in mind when he represents him as standing up to observe the audience at this play? On what previous occasion has he represented Sir Roger as performing the same operation at a public assembly?

3. To what peculiarity of tragic diction has Addison reference when he represents Sir Roger as asking the question, "Should your people in tragedy always talk to be understood?"

4. Read in connection with Sir Roger's criticism of the Distressed Mother the equally famous piece of "natural criticism made by Partridge upon a performance of Hamlet in Fielding's Tom Jones, book XVI, chapter V.

XXX. WILL HONEYCOMB AND THE LADIES

In this paper Budgell again assumes the rôle of Mr. Spectator. Although this is only his third contribution to the Sir Roger series, he nevertheless exhibits an acquaintance with earlier papers in the series which would have done justice to one who, like Steele and Addison, had been a regular contributor from the beginning. The references herein contained to Sir Roger's relations to the widow harmonize most accurately with Steele's treatment of this topic in Nos. XII and XV.

(Motto).

"Lions the wolves, wolves the kids pursue,
The kids, sweet thyme-and still I follow you."

-VIRGIL, Eclogue II, verses 63-64. 130, 5. Amours. Notice how consistently Will Honeycomb plays the part of the old beau. See introductory comment to No. II.

130, 16. The old put: the old fool. A further example of eighteenth-century slang. See the notes to 93, 29, and 128, 8. 130, 23-24. Her attorney in Lyon's Inn. It is evident that the widow's attorney could not have been a particularly distinguished member of the bar, for he belonged to Lyon's Inn, one of the minor legal societies, known as Inns of Chancery, whence one might be advanced to one of the major legal societies, known as Inns of Court. This somewhat slighting allusion to the professional status of the widow's legal adviser is not, of course, intended as an altogether unmixed compliment to the widow herself.

131, 3. Miss Jenny. The epithet "Miss," in contrast to the more dignified "Mistress," is used by Will Honeycomb with a tinge of contempt, to signify his vexation at losing the lady. See the note to 99, 22.

131, 9-10. Such a spindle pair of legs as Mr. Honeycomb. A sudden humorous sally in which Budgell shows himself an apt pupil of his master Addison.

131, 26-27. The book I had considered last Saturday: the tenth book of Paradise Lost, considered by Addison in Spectator No. 357. The advantage which Budgell here takes of a recent paper contributed to the Spectator not by himself but by Addison is but another example of the skill with which he manages to fit his own paper into a series mainly written by others.

131, 28. Milton. Addison was a diligent student of Milton and contributed to the Spectator a series of critical papers upon Paradise Lost which, in spite of minor defects, not only delighted his own age, but still serves as an inspiration to present-day readers of that great poem.

132, 20-21. Told us that he would read over these verses again before he went to bed. One of the most striking peculiarities of Sir Roger is the length of time it takes him to grasp a new idea. This trait is illustrated by his desire to "read over "the verses of Milton in his own apartment as well as by the invitation which he extended to his guide to talk over the sights of Westminster Abbey with him more at leisure" in his own lodgings (121, 12-14). This extreme deliberateness is a marked characteristic of the English country squire, who has always been a rather heavy, dull-witted individual, slow to receive impressions to which he is not accustomed.

QUESTIONS

1. Name the several members of Mr. Spectator's club. Was Will Honeycomb among them?

2. In what earlier de Coverley paper were these members described? What was there said of the character of Wil Honeycomb ?

3. Enumerate the several love experiences of Will Honeycomb. Do these experiences harmonize with what has previously been said of Will Honeycomb's character? In what respects?

XXXI. SIR ROGER AT VAUXHALL

In this paper Addison brings to an end his account of the experiences of Sir Roger in London. Like the papers mentioned in the introductory comment to No. XXIX, the present paper abounds in those exhibitions of artless simplicity which make Sir Roger one of the most delightfully humorous creations in all literature. His remark to the effect that "church work is slow, church work is slow," uttered with the deliberate emphasis of one who has something new to impart, will last as long as the English language.

(Motto).

"A beauteous garden, but by vice maintained." JUVENAL, Satire I, verse 75. 133, 2. Spring Garden: also called Vauxhall or Fox-hall (133, 28). This was a famous eighteenth-century pleasure garden in which people gathered for music, refreshments, and social intercourse. Vauxhall was situated on the south side of the Thames near the present Vauxhall Bridge. It was first opened in 1661 and finally closed in 1857.

133, 12. The Temple Stairs: the boat landing nearest Sir Roger's lodgings in Norfolk Street.

133, 23. My livery. See the note to 33, 32-33. 133, 28. Fox-hall.

See the note to 133, 2.

133, 30. La Hogue. The combined Dutch and English fleets defeated the French fleet in an engagement off Cape La Hogue, on the northwest coast of France, on May 19, 1692.

134, 3. London Bridge: the most easterly of the three bridges that spanned the Thames in Addison's day. There are now nine such bridges.

134, 4. The seven wonders of the world. These are: the Egyptian pyramids, the mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Colossus at Rhodes, and the Pharos, or lighthouse, at Alexandria.

134, 11. Temple Bar: a gateway which divided Fleet Street which lay to the east, from the Strand, which lay to the west, and separated the business section of London, known as the "city," in which Sir Roger's Norfolk lodgings were situated, from the more fashionable section of London to the west, in which Vauxhall was located. As Sir Roger passes westward in his boat upon the Thames, he observes the contrast between the large number of churches in the former section of London, in which he embarked, and the scarcity of churches in the latter section of the city, past which he is just now journeying on his way to Vauxhall.

134, 13. The fifty new churches: granted by an Act of the Tory Parliament in the preceding year.

134, 23. Knight of the shire. See the note to 41, 16. 134, 30. Old put. See the note to 130, 16.

134, 31-32. Thames ribaldry: the coarse language characteristic of Thames boatmen.

134, 34. Middlesex justice: instead of being, as he is, a