communicating them to the public. They would indeed draw me out of that obscurity which I have enjoyed for many years, and expose me in public places to several salutes and civilities which have been always very disagreeable to me; for the greatest pain I can suffer is the being talked to and being stared at. It is for this reason, likewise, that I keep my complexion and dress as very great secrets: though it is not impossible but I may make discoveries of both in the progress of the work I have undertaken.

After having been thus particular upon myself, I shall in to-morrow's paper give an account of those gentlemen who are concerned with me in this work; for, as I have before intimated,1 a plan of it is laid and concerted (as all other matters of importance are) in a club. However, as my friends have engaged me to stand in the front, those who have a mind to correspond with me may direct their letters to the SPECTATOR, at Mr. Buckley's in Little Britain. For I must further acquaint the reader that, though our club meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have appointed a committee to sit every night, for the inspection of all such papers as may contribute to the advancement of the public weal.

1 See note 1, p. 2.

2 A short street near the present Smithfield market.

C.3

Addison took as a keyword CLIO (the name of the Muse of History), and signed one of those letters to all papers written by him. Steele signed his contributions either R or T. Morley stigmatizes as baseless a suggestion of Dr. Calder's, which has been copied and recopied, that when Addison signed C he wrote at Chelsea, when L in London, when I in Ireland, and when O at the office. This notion was invented to dispose of an idea that there was vanity in taking the name of a Muse as a word from which to get the four letters used to abate the reader's over-certainty as to the authorship of papers. If Addison had wanted ten letters instead of four he might have had Bucephalus for a keyword, and then perhaps some editor would have thought it requisite to find a way of proving that he had not actually mistaken himself for a horse."

There is a humorous explanation of the "Capital Letters which are placed at the End" in Spectator No. 221, which no one should fail to read.

II.

THE CLUB.

[Spectator No. 2. Friday, March 2, 1711. Steele.]

-Ast alii sex,

Et plures, uno conclamant ore

JUVENAL.

THE first of our society is a gentleman of Worcestershire, of ancient descent, a baronet, his name Sir Roger d de Coverley. His great-grandfather was inventor of that famous country-dance which is called after him. All who know that shire 2 are very well acquainted with the parts and merits of Sir Roger. He is a gentleman that is very singular in his behavior, but his singularities proceed from his good sense, and are contradictions to the manners of the world only as he thinks the world is in the wrong. However, this humor creates him no enemies, for he does nothing with sourness or obstinacy; and his being unconfined to modes and forms, makes him but the readier and more capable to please and oblige all who know him. When he is in town, he lives in Soho Square. It is said he keeps himself a bachelor by reason he was crossed in love by a perverse, beautiful widow of the next county to him. Before this disappointment, Sir Roger was what

The tune was called "Roger a Calverley" at first and was named after a knight of the time of Richard I. To show the popularity of the tune at country-dances when Addison wrote, G. W. Greene quotes from a work published in 1715: "Upon the preludes being ended, each party fell to bawling and calling for particular tunes. The hobnailed fellows, whose breeches and lungs seemed to be of the same leather, cried out for Cheshire Round,' 'Roger of Coverley,' 'Joan's Placket,' and 'Northern Nancy." Swift suggested the adaptation of the name to the knight of the Spectator Club.

2 Does this mean the same as county? See dictionary. At that time a very fashionable quarter.

you call a fine gentleman, had often supped with my Lord Rochester1 and Sir George Etherege,1 fought a duel upon his first coming to town, and kicked Bully Dawson 2 in a public coffee-house for calling him "youngster." But being ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards. He continues to wear a coat and doublet of the same cut that were in fashion at the time of his repulse, which, in his merry humors, he tells us, has been in 3 and out twelve times since he first wore it. 'Tis said Sir Roger grew humble in his desires after he had forgot this cruel beauty; but this is looked upon by his friends rather as matter of raillery than truth. He is now in his fifty-sixth year, cheerful, gay, and hearty; keeps a good house in both town and country; a great lover of mankind; but there is such a mirthful cast in his behavior that he is rather beloved than esteemed. His tenants grow rich, his servants look satisfied, all the young women profess love to him, and the young men are glad of his company; when he comes into a house he calls the servants by their names, and talks all the way up stairs to a visit. I must not omit that Sir Roger is a justice of the quorum;5 that he fills the chair at a quarter-session with great

1

Both "fine gentlemen" who lived fast lives. The first was a favorite of Charles II. He died at thirty-one, confessing to Bishop Burnet that he had "for five years been continually drunk." The second was a witty writer of some ability (Spec. No. 51), but he fell down stairs while intoxicated and broke his neck. Perhaps it was well that Sir Roger became “ very serious for a year and a half," as stated below.

2 A noted sharper and debauchee.

3 I. e., in fashion.

4 Could this sentence (from the last period) be recast to advantage? 5 The commission formerly issued to justices of the peace, in England, contained a clause beginning, Quorum aliquem vestrum unum esse volumus; hence magistrates acting under this commission were called "justices of the quorum."

A general court of criminal jurisdiction held quarterly by the justices of peace in different counties.

abilities; and, three months ago, gained universal applause by explaining a passage in the Game Act.1

3

4

The gentleman next in esteem and authority among us is another bachelor, who is a member of the Inner Temple; 2 a man of great probity, wit, and understanding; but he has chosen his place of residence rather to obey the direction of an old humorsome father, than in pursuit of his own inclinations. He was placed there to study the laws of the land, and is the most learned of any of the house in those of the stage. Aristotle and Longinus3 are much better understood by him than Littleton or Coke. The father sends up, every post, questions relating to marriage-articles, leases, and tenures, in the neighborhood; all which questions he agrees with an attorney to answer and take care of in the lump. He is studying the passions themselves, when he should be inquiring into the debates, among men, which arise from them. He knows the argument of each of the orations of Demosthenes 5 and Tully, but not one case in the reports of our own courts. No one ever took him for a fool, but none, except his intimate friends, know he has a great deal of wit. This turn makes him at once both disinterested and agreeable; as few of his thoughts are drawn from business, they are most of them. fit for conversation. His taste of books is a little too just for the age he lives in; he has read all, but approves of very few. His familiarity with the customs, manners,

1

Explain the humor and note the mild sarcasm.

2 There are four societies in London which have the sole right of calling persons to the English bar-the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn. The Inner and Middle Temples are the two Inns of Court which occupy two ranges of buildings on the site of a former establishment of the Knights Templars, called the Temple.

3 Two famous Greek philosophers. See a classical dictionary. Two celebrated English judges, both members of the Inner Temple. Coke's Commentary upon Littleton's Tenures is a standard legal text-book.

The most illlustrious orators of Greece and Rome. What name is commonly used in place of Tully nowadays?

He does not "talk shop."

actions, and writings of the ancients makes him a very delicate observer of what occurs to him in the present world. He is an excellent critic, and the time of the play is his hour of business; 2 exactly at five he passes through New Inn, crosses through Russell Court, and takes a turn at Will's till the play begins; he has his shoes rubbed and his periwig powdered at the barber's as you go into the Rose. It is for the good of the audience when he is at a play, for the actors have an ambition to please him.

4

The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew Freeport, a merchant of great eminence in the city of London, a person of indefatigable industry, strong reason, and great experience. His notions of trade are noble and generous, and (as every rich man has usually some sly way of jesting which would make no great figure were he not a rich man) 5 he calls the sea the British Common. He is acquainted with commerce in all its parts, and will tell you that it is a stupid and barbarous way to extend dominion by arms; for true power is to be got by arts and industry. He will often argue that if this part of our trade were well cultivated, we should gain from one nation; and if another, from another. I have heard him prove that diligence makes more lasting acquisitions than valor, and that sloth has ruined more nations than the sword. He abounds in several frugal maxims, amongst which the greatest favorite is, "A penny saved is a penny got." A general trader of good sense is pleasanter company than a general scholar;6 and Sir Andrew having a natural unaffected eloquence,

66

It was the custom then to dine before noon, and the play began in the afternoon. A flag was raised, which floated over the theatre while the performance continued.

2 Note the antithesis.

3 A tavern near Drury Lane Theatre.

Is there any significance in this name? See if any other members of the club have names equally appropriate.

Is this a satire upon the jester or upon those who laugh at his jests?

Is this false or true; and why?