No. 351Saturday, April 12, 1712. Addison. In te omnis domus inclinata recumbit. Virg. If we look into the three great Heroick Poems which have appeared in the World, we may observe that they are built upon very slight Foundations. Homer lived near 300 Years after the Trojan War; and, as the writing of History was […]

No. 345Saturday, April 5, 1712. Addison. Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altae Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in coetera posset, Natus homo est. Ov. Met. The Accounts which Raphael gives of the Battel of Angels, and the Creation of the World, have in them those Qualifications which the Criticks judge requisite to an Episode. They […]

No. 343Thursday, April 3, 1712. Addison. –Errat et illincHuc venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artusSpiritus: eque feris humana in corpora transit,Inque feras noster– Pythag. ap. Ov. Will. Honeycomb, who loves to shew upon occasion all the little Learning he has picked up, told us yesterday at the Club, that he thought there might be […]

No. 338Friday, March 28, 1712. [–Nil fuit unquam Tam dispar sibi. Hor. [1]] I find the Tragedy of the Distrest Mother is publish’d today: The Author of the Prologue, I suppose, pleads an old Excuse I have read somewhere, of being dull with Design; and the Gentleman who writ the Epilogue [2] has, to my […]

No. 339Saturday, March 29, 1712. Addison [–Ut his exordia primisOmnia, et ipse tener Mundi concreverit orbis.Tum durare solum et discludere Nerea pontoCoeperit, et rerum pauliatim sumere formas. Virg. [1]] Longinus has observed, [2] that there may be a Loftiness in Sentiments, where there is no Passion, and brings Instances out of ancient Authors to support […]

No. 335Tuesday, March 25, 1712. Addison. Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces. Hor. My Friend Sir ROGER DE COVERLEY, when we last met together at the Club, told me, that he had a great mind to see the new Tragedy [1] with me, assuring me at the same time, […]

No. 333Saturday, March 22, 1712. Addison. –vocat in Certamina Divos. Virg. We are now entering upon the Sixth Book of Paradise Lost, in which the Poet describes the Battel of Angels; having raised his Readers Expectation, and prepared him for it by several Passages in the preceding Books. I omitted quoting these Passages in my […]

No. 327Saturday, March 15, 1712. Addison. Major rerum mihi nascitur ordo. Virg. We were told in the foregoing Book how the evil Spirit practised upon Eve as she lay asleep, in order to inspire her with Thoughts of Vanity, Pride, and Ambition. The Author, who shews a wonderful Art throughout his whole Poem, in preparing […]

No. 328Monday, March 17, 1712. Addison. Nullum me a labore reclinat otium. Hor. Mr. SPECTATOR, As I believe this is the first Complaint that ever was made to you of this nature, so you are the first Person I ever could prevail upon my self to lay it before. When I tell you I have […]

No. 329Tuesday, March 18, 1712. Addison. Ire tamen restat, Numa quo devenit et Ancus. Hor. My friend Sir ROGER DE COVERLEY told me tother Night, that he had been reading my Paper upon Westminster Abby, in which, says he, there are a great many ingenious Fancies. He told me at the same time, that he […]

No. 323Tuesday, March 11, 1712. Addison. Modo Vir, modo Foemina. [1] Virg. The journal with which I presented my Reader on Tuesday last, has brought me in several Letters, with Accounts of many private Lives cast into that Form. I have the Rakes Journal, the Sots Journal, the Whoremasters Journal, and among several others a […]

No. 321Saturday, March 8, 1712. Addison. Nec satis est pulchra esse poemata, dulcia sunto. Hor. Those, who know how many Volumes have been written on the Poems of Homer and Virgil, will easily pardon the Length of my Discourse upon Milton. The Paradise Lost is looked upon, by the best Judges, as the greatest Production, […]

No. 317.Tuesday, March 4, 1712. Addison. –fruges consumere nati. Hor. Augustus, a few Moments before his Death, asked his Friends who stood about him, if they thought he had acted his Part well; and upon receiving such an Answer as was due to his extraordinary Merit, Let me then, says he, go off the Stage […]

No. 315Saturday, March 1, 1712. Addison. Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit. Hor. Horace advises a Poet to consider thoroughly the Nature and Force of his Genius. [1] Milton seems to have known perfectly well, wherein his Strength lay, and has therefore chosen a Subject entirely conformable to those Talents, of which he […]

A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next, to escape the censures of the world. If the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it […]

Part One. Sic vita erat: facile omnes perferre ac pati:Cum quibus erat cunque una, his sese dedere,Eorum obsequi studiis: advorsus nemini;Nunquam praeponens se aliis. Ita facillimeSine invidia invenias laudem.– TER., Andr., Act i. se. 1. His manner of life was this: to bear with everybody’s humours; to comply with the inclinations and pursuits of those […]

–Remove fera monstra, tuaequeSaxificos vultus, quaecunque ea, tolle Medusae.OVID, Met. v. 216. Hence with those monstrous features, and, O! spareThat Gorgon’s look, and petrifying stare. POPE. In a late paper, I mentioned the project of an ingenious author for the erecting of several handicraft prizes to be contended for by our British artisans, and the […]

Si fractus illabatur orbis,Impavidum ferient ruinae. –HOR., Car. iii. 3, 7. Should the whole frame of nature round him break,In ruin and confusion hurled,He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack,And stand secure amidst a falling world. ANON. Man, considered in himself, is a very helpless and a very wretched being. He is subject every moment […]

Having often received an invitation from my friend Sir Roger de Coverley to pass away a month with him in the country, I last week accompanied him thither, and am settled with him for some time at his country-house, where I intend to form several of my ensuing Speculations. Sir Roger, who is very well […]

I am always very well pleased with a country Sunday, and think, if keeping holy the seventh day were only a human institution, it would be the best method that could have been thought of for the polishing and civilizing of mankind. It is certain the country people would soon degenerate into a kind of […]