"THAT the highly-finished models of periodical composition which had been given to the world by Steele and Addison, should excite a spirit of emulation, and give birth to a number of competitors, was an event equally to be wished for and expected. Such, however, was the literary excellence of which the Spectator had to boast, that many years elapsed before a paper was produced whose merits afforded any very just title to the claim of rivalship. In the interim, it properly becomes a part of our province not wholly to over look the crowd of publications which, under the appellation of periodical, issued in succession from the press. An attention to these various works, and they are infinitely more numerous than has been generally supposed, will, if duly proportioned to their moral and literary rank, not only be singularly curious, as affording a novel view of the progress of polite literature, but will, at the same time, prove the best introduction to the classical labours of the Rambler.

The popularity which, attended the periodical productions of Steele and Addison, and the admira tion which they had excited throughout the kingdom, speedily

established a decided taste for a species of composition alike adapted to grave or gay subjects, to the purposes of instruction and amuse-, ment: and fortunate would it have been for the interests of general literature, had the swarm of imita tors strictly confined themselves to the plan of the Spectator, to a laudable attemptat reforming the morals and the manners of the age. The facility, however, with which this mode of writing might be rendered a vehicle for slander, for ran corous politics, and virulent satire, soon tempted many to deviate from the salutary example of the authors of the Tatler and Spectator; and the former of these papers had not run half its course before it was as sailed by a multitude of writers, who were actuated by no other motives than those of envy and illnature. Of a few of these antagonists, Addison has condescended to take some notice in the Tatler, No. 229, and has probably preserv ed the names of several productions which had otherwise been unknown to posterity." I was threat

ened," be observes," to be an "swered weekly tit for tat; I was "undermined by the Whisperer; "haunted by Tom Brown's ghost; "scolded at by a female tattler.—Í

"have been annotated, retattled, “examined, and condoled.”

In the catalogue of periodical works which I am about to place before the reader, I shall, as a matter of mere curiosity, enumerate, as far as my researches have enabled me to proceed, every paper, Ierary or political, which, in its fm or mode of publication, has adored the plan of the Spectator and Freeholder. As the principal intent n, however, of these pages is to mark the progress of elegant literature, and of moral improvement, and to ascertain how far the periodical essayists have contributed towards their promotion, I shall dwell on those productions alone which have been written, not only in the form, but with a portion of the spirit and purport, of their great originals, the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian.

Of the various papers that appeared during the publication of these standard works, and which adopted their structure, I shall commence with those that seem to have arisen from an eager desire to calumniate, or to share the profits of the Tatler; and the authors of which, as Addison remarks, every day turned a penny by nibbling at the lucubrations of Isaac Bicker-. staff. Foremost of the train are, 1. The Re-Tattler, and 2. The Condoler, of whose existence, however, no other proof now remains than what is to be found in the pages of Addison. 3. The Tit for Tat, the first number of which appeared on March 2d, 1709-10, was published under the assumed name of John Partridge, esq. who, by a glaring misnomer, has termed his papers dilucidations; they are a compound of nonsense and obscurity, but happily reach no farther

than No. 5, which is dated March 11th 1709;

4. The Female Tatler. This work was written by Mr. Thomas Baker, and commenced its circulation in 1709. It extended to many numbers, most of which are now no longer extant. Its gross personalities obtained its author a sound endgelling from an offended family in the city; and in the month of October, 1709, it was presented as a nuisance by the grand Jury at the Old Bailey. Mr. Baker whose general style of writing was ironical, took every opportunity of re cording the singularities of Steele, whether personal or moral. No. 72, for instance, he has ridiculed Sir Richard's absence of mind, and peculiarity of attitude in walking the streets." I saw Mr. "Bickerstaff going to the corner "of St James's, in the beginring "of December. It was a great

In

fog, yet the 'squire wore his bat "under his lett arin, and, as if that "side had been, lame, all the stress "of his gait was laid upon the "other; he stooped very much for"ward; and whenever his right "foot came to the ground, which

was always set down with a more "than ordinary and affected force, "his cane, with a great vibration "of the arm, struck the stones, "whilst a violent jerk of his head

kept time with the latter. I ob"served several besides myself that "took notice of this strange singu "larity, which nobody could ima

gine to proceed from less than ei. "ther madness or despair. It is "not to be conceived how any wise "man alive that had been such an "implacable enemy to all singu"larities and mimic postures, and "writ so learnedly concerning the use of the cane, could make such “a ridiculous

"a ridiculous figure of himself in the street, at the very moment "that his Os homini sublime, &c. "was a-printing." The allusion in the last line of this quotation is to the motto of the Tatler, No. 108. Steele is supposed to have ridiculed Mr. Baker under the character of Nick Doubt, in No. 91 of the Tatler,

5. The Tory Tatler. Of this paper, which seems from its title to have been written in opposition to the political principles of Steele, I have been unable to obtain any other information than that it was worthless and short-lived;

6. The Tell Tale is another ephemeral production, of whose existence scarcely a trace remains. It is noticed, however, by Gay in his Essay on the present State of Wit, and is there said to have been christened the Tell Tale, in order to please the ladies.

7. The Gazette à-la-mode. The first number of this paper was published on Thursday May 12th, 1709. It appears to have soon deservedly dropped into oblivion.

8. The Tatling Harlot. Of this foolish paper three numbers are extant in the British Museum, the first of which is dated August 22d, 1709.

9. The Whisperer. Though this work (to which Adison has given the epithet undermining) is said to have been written by Mrs. Jenny Bickerstaff, half-sister to Isaac Bickerstaff, esq. no proof of the relationship is visible in the construction of her style and sentiments, "It is clear," says the annotator on No. 229 of the Tatler," she "was not related even in a left "handed way to the family of the "Staffs. Her undermining was like

the work of a mole on the site of

"Alnwick castle, which measures "a mile round the walls."

10. The General Postscript. A periodical paper under this title was published in 1709. No. 19, dated November 9th, 1709, is quoted by the annotator on No. 91 of the Tatfer. It is probable that Mr. Baker, the author of the Female Tatler, contributed to its support, as an advertisement by him is subjoined to No. 19.

11. The Monthly Amusement. Two periodical publications under this title made their appearance about the commencement of the eighteenth century. The first was projected by Mr. Ozell; but, be ing principally occupied by translations from French novels or plays, it cannot with propriety have a place in this enumeration; the second by Hughes was more assimilated to the form, as originally established by Steele, and began its career in November, 1709.

12. The Tatler, vol. the fifth. This spurious Tatler, of which I have given some account in vol. 3d, p. 336, of my essays, was conducted by Harrison and Swift, with the occasional assistance of Henley and Congreve. It consists of 52 numbers, the first published on the 13th of January, 1710-11, and the last on the 19th of May, 1711.

It is chiefly valuable for the light occasionally thrown on the history of the genuine Tatler. In No 28, Swift has described Steele under the appellation of Hilario.

13. The Tatler, by Baker. No sooner had Steele given up the censorship, than a number of spurious Tatlers immediately issued from the press. Besides Harrison's, which we bave just mentioned, the following advertisement indicates that two more were at that period

in existence, and that one of them was conducted by Mr. Baker, who had been under the necessity of relinquishing his former attempt through the interference of the law. "Whereas an advertisement was "yesterday delivered out by the "author of the late Female Tatler, "insinuating, according to his cus"tom, that he is Isaac Bickerstaff, esq. This is to give notice, that "this paper is continued to be sold "by John Morphew, as formerly, "and may easily be distinguished "from the spurious paper, by the "number and publisher's name he "has assumed." This curious notice is subjoined to a Tatler in folio, pretending to be a continuation of the original Tatler, dated January 13th, 1710, and numbered 276.

14. Annotations on the Tatler. This publication, to which Addison alludes in No. 229 of the Tatler, was written by William Oldisworth, under the fictitious name of Walter Wagstaff, esq. and was published in 1710, in 2 vols. 24to. The author, however, to shield himself as much as possible from the chastisement which he justly merited, asserted in his title-page that the work was a translation from the French of a Monsieur Bournelle. On this virulent but foolish production, Steele is supposed to have passed sentence in the concluding paragraph of No. 79 of the Tatler.

15. The visions of Sir Heister Ryley. Though these visions are a profeessed imitation of the Tatler in point of form, every paper being separated into two or three parts, and these again dated from different places; with regard to manner and style, they are placed at an infinite distance from their model. They consist of eighty numbers, the first of which was published on August 21st, 1710, and the last on

February 21st, 1710-11. So worthless, however, is the entire texture of this compilation, that I know not whether a single page can be deemed worthy of preservation.

16. The Growler. The only information that I have been able to obtain relative to this paper, is from Gay's Essay on the present State of Wit. Speaking of the multitude of papers to which the Tatler had given birth, he remarks, that "the "expiration of Bickerstaff's Luca"brations was attended with much "the same consequences as the "death of Melibaus's ox in Vir"gil: as the latter engendered "swarms of bees, the former "immediately produced whole "swarms of little satirical scrib"blers. One of these authors "called himself the Growler, and "assured us, that, to make amends "for Mr. Steele's silence, he was "resolved to growl at us weekly sa "long as we should think fit to give him any encouragement."

17. The Examiner. The political lucubrations of Steele in the Tatler, though neither numerous, nor written with much asperity, gave such offence to the Tories, who were then rising into power. that they thought it necessary to establish a periodical paper under the title of the Examiner, as a de fence of their principles and views. The authors of this once celebrated paper were, for the most part, persons of considerable ability; but the virulence and rancour with which they attacked Steele, and calumniated their opponents, reflect no small share of disgrace upon their memory. The early numbers of the Examiner were published under the superintendance of Dr. W. King, who was the author of the fifth, eleventh, and twelfth papers. He was assisted by Bolingbroke,

by

by Prior, who contributed No. 6; by Dr. Atterbury, and Dr. Friend. Dr. King was soon superseded, however, by Swift, who, commencing with No. 14, wrote thirtythree essays in succession, and then relinquished the task to Mrs. Manley, who concluded the first volume, in point of literary merit, the best portion of the work. The management of this scurrilous undertaking was then entrusted to Mr. Oldisworth, who completed the fifth volume, published nineteen numbers of a sixth, and would probably have printed many more, had not the death of the queen arrested the progress of his pen. The Examiner existed during the four last years of Queen Anne, the first number being dated August 3d, 1710, and the last July 26th, 1714. It had the merit of giving origin to the Whig-Examiner of Addison, to the Reader of Steele, and to,

18. The Medley. This paper, which was not strictly confined to politics, immediately succeeded the Whig-Examiner, and carried on, with considerable spirit, the attack upon Swift and his party. It began on the 5th of October, 1710, under the auspices of Mr. Maynwaring, a gentleman of great accomplishments and ability, and of whom, as intimately connected with Steele, I shall give a short biographical sketch. He was born at Ightfield, in Shropshire, in 1668; and, after his usual grammatical education, was sent, at the age of seventeen, to Christ church, Oxford. Having employed a residence of several years at this university, in the ardent cultivation of classical literature, he retired, for a short time into the country; but, adopting the profession of the law, he found it necessary to fix in the metropolis. Here he prosecuted bis studies un

til the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick, when, availing himself of that event, he visited Paris, and became intimately acquainted with the celebrated Boileau. Upon his return to England, he was made a commissioner of the customs; and on the Accession of Queen Anne, through the interest of the lord. treasurer Godolphin, auditor of the imprests, a place of great pecuniary emolument. In 1705 he was cho sen a member of parliament for Preston in Lancashire. He died at St. Alban's, Nov. 13th, 1712, aged 44. Mr. Maynwaring was greatly attached to Mrs. Oldfield, whose theatrical abilities at that time excited the admiration of the lovers of the drama; and by her he left an only son. Oldmixon, who published in 1715, in 8vo. the life and posthumous works of our author, affirms, that he "loved that lady. "for about eight or nine years be❤ "fore his death, and with a passion "that could hardly have been "stronger, had it been both her "and his first love." For Mrs. Oldfield he wrote many prologues and epilogues, and took infinite pains and delight in improving her talents for the stage. The elegance of his manners and taste, and his proficiency in the belles lettres, attracted many friends and admirers, and among these were Addison and Steele, the latter of whom dedicated to him the first volume of the Tatler. He was universally al. lowed, says the Biographia Britannica, to be the best critic of his times; and Mr. Egerton, in his Memoirs of Mrs. Oldfield, has declared, that his learning was without pedantry, his wit without affectation, his judgment without malice, his friendship without interest, his zeal without violence; in a word, he was the best subject, the best friend,

the