coarseness of Restoration literature, clung to its poisoned skin. Not long before Dryden's demise there rose above the horizon the clear bright star of a very different class of writings. The earliest of these was "The Tatler," which was followed in due order by "The Spectator" and "The Guardian." The latter publication emanated from "Buttons'," which was constituted the receiving office for all contributions intended for its pages. "The Tatler" appeared in the spring of 1709, and was a long-cherished and deeply considered venture of Steele. Unlike those of its contemporary rivals, its columns were not exclusively occupied with foreign and political intelligence, although its editor had ample opportunities for making use of such information. Macaulay writes that Steele "had been appointed Gazetteer by Sunderland at the request, it is said, of Addison, and thus had access to foreign news earlier, and more authentic than any in those times within the reach of an ordinary news-writer." The main object, however, of the paper was to fill a void in the literary publications of the period. The idea was to bring out a chatty periodical. Addison, being consulted, at once fell in with the suggestion, and his contributions, the earlier as well as the later, received the most favourable notice. The effect of Addison's assistance cannot be described better than in Steele's own words. "I fared," said he, "like a distressed prince who calls in a powerful neighbour to his aid. I was outdone by my auxiliary. When I had called him in, I could not subsist without dependence on him." "The paper," he says elsewhere, 66 was advanced indeed. It was raised to a greater thing than I intended it" (Macaulay's "Life of Addison"). "The Tatler" was due to appear three times a week-Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, these being the days on which the post left town for the country. Its chief novelty lay in the articles for both sexes. For the ladies there was fashionable intelligence on dress, etc., and for the gentlemen, gossip on the literary news at Wills's, criticisms on the latest theatrical production, and, in short, "such light topics as would pleasantly while away the time spent over coffee and tobacco " (Alex. Charles Ewald, F.S.A.). The paper lasted two years, having changed, as Macaulay observes, from its original purpose to a collection of essays on books, morals, and manners. The last issue appeared on January 11, 1711. "The Spectator" made its first bow to the public two months later, and was, from the very first, a conspicuous success. The papers, or collection of essays, contain such beautiful and lifelike sketches of character, that the work has all the interest of a modern novel. It may be said to have owed much of its popularity to the fact that it was the first example of a powerful illustration of the life and manners of England. Richardson and Fielding had not yet entered the literary arena, and Smollett was not yet born. It may be conjectured that the literary birth of all three owes much to their intellectual progenitor, Addison. "The Spectator" came to an end at the conclusion of 1712. "The Guardian" succeeded it, but enjoyed only a brief existence. In 1714 a new series of "The Spectator' appeared, in which are to be found, so modern critics assert, some of the finest in the English language. essays The glory of Addison is to have taught a corrupt age that it is possible to be witty and humorous without being coarse and profligate; to turn the laugh to the side of the honest man away from the side of the knave and seducer; in fact, to steal from the devil, as Luther proposed to do, some of his best tunes. CHAPTER VI The celebrated lion's head at Buttons'-The life of a man of letters in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-Ambrose Phillips and Pope-The Rose: its correct situation-Pepys' description-Tom's, and its fashionable clientele-Tom Davies and Boswell-Dr. Samuel Johnson-Charles Lamb-His appreciation of the neighbourhood-The Hummums-Dr. Johnson's famous ghost story-The Bedford and its historyDavid Garrick-The Piazza Coffee-house-Present-day Russell Street-Hooper's Pharmacy and the credulous costermonger-The Harp. BUTTONS', as before stated, was appointed the receiving place for all contributions to "The Guardian," for which purpose a lion's head was set up at the coffee-house, as a sort of pillar-box. It was taken from the antique Egyptian lion, and was designed by Hogarth. It was inscribed as follows: "Cervantur magnis isti cervicibus ungues |