memory was cherished with fond affection by her son. Speaking of the impression of a first grief, "The first sorrow I ever knew," he says, "was upon the death of my father, at which time I was not quite five years of age; but was rather amazed at what all the house meant, than possessed with a real understanding why nobody was willing to play with me. I remember, I went into the room where the body lay, and my mother sat weeping alone by it. I had my battledore in my hand, and fell a-beating the coffin, and calling, 'Papa ;' for, I know not how, I had some slight idea that he was locked up there. My mother catched me in her arms, and, transported beyond all patience of the silent grief she was before in, she almost smothered me in her embraces; and told me, in a flood of tears, 'Papa could not hear me, and would play with me no more, for they were going to put him under ground, whence he could never come to us again.' She was a very beautiful woman, of a noble spirit; and there was a dignity in her grief, amidst all the wildness of her transport, which, methought, struck me with an instinct of sorrow that, before I was sensible what it was to grieve, seized my very soul, and has made pity the weakness of my heart ever since."* Young Steele, at twelve years of age, (1684,) had the good fortune to be sent for his education to a noble institution in London. Some distance in the rear of Christ's Hospital and Little Britain, in the city, stands the Chartreuse, or, as it has been corrupted, Charter-House, founded by Sir Thomas Sutton, in 1611, on the site of a Carthusian priory, and of a terrible charnel-house, caused by the visitation of the plague in 1348, where fifty thousand victims are Tatler, No. 181. said to have been interred in one year, to commemorate which a church and religious house called The Salutation were established. Many are the celebrated names which it boasts among its alumni; and, among other ornaments of recent times, claims the pen of Thackeray, which was employed in its illustration, and the pencil of Leech. The Duke of Ormond being one of the governors of the house, used his interest in placing the son of his former secretary upon the foundation, not the least considerable advantage of which was the formation of his friendship with Joseph Addison, who, one year his junior, was then pursuing his studies there as a private pupil. Of the life-intimacy thus formed, it is difficult to overestimate the beneficial effect on the happiness and fame of both. In 1689, Steele was matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford; and his name stood at the head of the Postmasters* of Merton College in 1691. Of his academic career, in which he was probably assisted by the liberality of his uncle Gascoigne, little is known; but as he began there the cultivation of the dramatic literature to which he afterwards successfully devoted himself, it is not unreasonable to conclude that such pursuits were scarcely compatible with any very ardent devotion to his scholastic studies; nor is it improbable that, like many men of lively parts, and some of the most shining names in literature, including that of Swift, he may have felt the drudgery of the college A corruption of Portionista, signifying those having an interest in the emoluments of the house, in other words, scholarships. The date of his entrance, erroneously given in the previous notices of his life, has been authenticated by the kindness of the Rev. J. Griffiths, M.A., keeper of the University archives at Oxford. course an irksome task, beyond the moderate application necessary to go through the routine without discredit. Thus much, at least, he is believed to have done. He left the university without taking his degree,* but not, however, without leaving the most kindly feelings behind him. During his residence there he completed a comedy, which he submitted to the inspection of one of his particular friends, Mr Parker, afterwards one of the Fellows of Merton, who, either from his high opinion of his friend's powers, or the intrinsic demerit of the performance in his estimate, pronounced unfavourably upon it; and Steele, with that docility which he united to high spirit in a remarkable degree, never called the decision in question, but submitted to it with a humility truly exemplary in a budding author. Of his college tutor, the Rev. Dr Ellis, he afterwards makes grateful mention in the preface to the "Christian Hero," for his valuable services. Whether Steele afterwards recast the rejected comedy, or in any shape dragged it from the oblivion to which the voice of friendly criticism had consigned it, would be interesting to know, as a somewhat similar fate attended the first production of the author of "Waverley." The first occasion on which he indemnified himself for this miscarriage was in some verses on the death of Queen Mary in 1695. The poem is entitled, "The Procession," and gives a pleasing picture of the mourners of all classes for the loss of their royal mistress, that portion which * We understand that, in those times, this was not what Miss Aikin, in her Life of Addison, has naturally enough termed it, "a significant circumstance," but might arise from various causes, in no way affecting his scholarship, and that little importance was then attached to it. We state this on the authority of Dr Haig Brown, the present head-master of the Charter-House. refers to the objects of her bounty being the most striking "A mourning world attends her to the tomb: Some, who had virgin vows to wedlock broke, Among the courtly portion of the train, Ormond and Somers alone are brought into relief, in high eulogistic strains. The poem concludes with a picture of the living queen, pathetically contrasted with the cold remains carried in stately pomp to their last resting-place : "I see her yet, nature and fortune's pride: A sceptre graced her hand, a king her side; These verses cannot be said to indicate any extraordinary aptitude for the higher walks of poetry, though this is only saying what might equally be asserted of the first efforts of many who have subsequently shone in them, which was not Steele's fortune. But the early productions of genius, however trifling, are always interesting. * Steele's Poetic Miscellanies, 1714. Having imbibed an ardent passion for a military life, he left the university without taking his degree, as previously stated, but leaving behind him the most kindly recollections, and resolutely bent upon realising his wishes, despite the warm remonstrances of his friends, who were desirous of using their influence for his promotion in some walk of civil life. Finding no other means of accomplishing his purpose, he entered himself, as it has been smoothly phrased by some writers, as a "gentleman volunteer" in the Horse Guards; and we are not aware whether there was any difference in such a distinction from what we would term in plain English a private. We are not in possession of sufficient knowledge of his early history to form an accurate judgment of all the inducements he may have had to take such an apparently imprudent step. We only know, in addition to his strong feeling in favour of a military life, that he had lost his parents. But whether he felt the unkindness of friends, or his high spirit revolted at their dictation, or from being subject to their bounty, we are without the means of judging. But there is reason to believe that his great admiration of the character of King William had something to do with it. There are, however, some curious parallel instances in the case of some of the highest names in literature. Cervantes, the immortal author of "Don Quixote," though his family belonged to the rank of Spanish grandees, proverbial for their pride, served as a private in the war against the Turks, and lost an arm at the battle of Lepanto; and at this very period, or a little earlier, numbers of young noblemen and persons of family went as volunteers, without commissions, in the navy, and were present at some engagements in the times |