No. 50Friday, April 27, 1711. [1] ‘Nunquam aliud Natura, aliud Sapientia dixit.’ Juv. When the four Indian Kings were in this Country about a Twelvemonth ago, [2] I often mixed with the Rabble, and followed them a whole Day together, being wonderfully struck with the Sight of every thing that is new or uncommon. I […]

No. 42Wednesday, April 18, 1711. Addison. Garganum inugire putes nemus aut mare Thuscum,Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur; et artes,Divitiaeque peregrina, quibus oblitus actorCum stetit in Scena, concurrit dextera laevae.Dixit adhuc aliquid? Nil sane. Quid placet ergo?Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno. Hor. Aristotle [1] has observed, That ordinary Writers in Tragedy endeavour to raise Terror and […]

No. 44Friday, April 20, 1711. Addison. ‘Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi.’ Hor. Among the several Artifices which are put in Practice by the Poets to fill the Minds of [an] [1] Audience with Terror, the first Place is due to Thunder and Lightning, which are often made use of at the Descending […]

No. 45Saturday, April 21, 1711. Addison. ‘Natio Comaeda est.’ Juv. There is nothing which I more desire than a safe and honourable Peace, [1] tho’ at the same time I am very apprehensive of many ill Consequences that may attend it. I do not mean in regard to our Politicks, but to our Manners. What […]

No 46Monday, April 23, 1711. Addison Non bene junctarum discordia semina rerum. Ovid. When I want Materials for this Paper, it is my Custom to go abroad in quest of Game; and when I meet any proper Subject, I take the first Opportunity of setting down an Hint of it upon Paper. At the same […]

No. 39Saturday, April 14, 1711. Addison. ‘Multa fero, ut placem genus irritabile vatum, Cum scribo.’ Hor. As a perfect Tragedy is the Noblest Production of Human Nature, so it is capable of giving the Mind one of the most delightful and most improving Entertainments. A virtuous Man (says Seneca) struggling with Misfortunes, is such a […]

No. 40Monday, April 16, 1711. Addison. ‘Ac ne forte putes, me, que facere ipse recusem,Cum recte tractant alii, laudare maligne;Ille per extentum funem mihi fosse videturIre Poeta, meum qui pectus inaniter angit,Irritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus implet,Ut magus; et modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athenis.’ Hor. The English Writers of Tragedy are possessed with a Notion, […]

No. 41Tuesday, April 17, 1711. Steele. ‘Tu non inventa reperta es.’ Ovid Compassion for the Gentleman who writes the following Letter, should not prevail upon me to fall upon the Fair Sex, if it were not that I find they are frequently Fairer than they ought to be. Such Impostures are not to be tolerated […]

No. 035Tuesday, April 10, 1711. Addison. ‘Risu inepto res ineptior milla est.’ Mart. Among all kinds of Writing, there is none in which Authors are more apt to miscarry than in Works of Humour, as there is none in which they are more ambitious to excell. It is not an Imagination that teems with Monsters, […]

No. 37Thursday, April 12, 1711. Addison. … Non illa colo calathisve MinervaeFoemineas assueta manus … Virg. Some Months ago, my Friend Sir Roger, being in the Country, enclosed a Letter to me, directed to a certain Lady whom I shall here call by the Name of Leonora, and as it contained Matters of Consequence, desired […]

No. 31.Thursday, April 5, 1711. Addison. ‘Sit mihi fas audita loqui!’ Vir. Last Night, upon my going into a Coffee-House not far from the Hay-Market Theatre, I diverted my self for above half an Hour with overhearing the Discourse of one, who, by the Shabbiness of his Dress, the Extravagance of his Conceptions, and the […]

No. 34Monday, April 9, 1711. Addison. ‘… parcit Cognatis maculis similis fera …’ Juv. The Club of which I am a Member, is very luckily composed of such persons as are engaged in different Ways of Life, and disputed as it were out of the most conspicuous Classes of Mankind: By this Means I am […]

No. 28Monday, April 2, 1711. Addison. ‘… Neque semper arcumTendit Apollo.’ Hor. I shall here present my Reader with a Letter from a Projector, concerning a new Office which he thinks may very much contribute to the Embellishment of the City, and to the driving Barbarity out of our Streets. [I consider it as a […]

No. 29Tuesday, April 3, 1711. Addison. … Sermo lingua concinnus utraque Suavior: ut Chio nota si commista Falerni est. Hor. There is nothing that [has] more startled our English Audience, than the Italian Recitativo at its first Entrance upon the Stage. People were wonderfully surprized to hear Generals singing the Word of Command, and Ladies […]

No. 23Tuesday, March 27, 1711 [1] Addison. Savit atrox Volscens, nec teli conspicit usquam Auctorem nec quo se ardens immittere possit. Vir. There is nothing that more betrays a base, ungenerous Spirit, than the giving of secret Stabs to a Man’s Reputation. Lampoons and Satyrs, that are written with Wit and Spirit, are like poison’d […]

No. 25Thursday, March 29, 1711. Addison. … AEgrescitque medendo. Vir. The following Letter will explain it self, and needs no Apology. SIR, ‘I am one of that sickly Tribe who are commonly known by the Name of Valetudinarians, and do confess to you, that I first contracted this ill Habit of Body, or rather of […]

No. 26Friday, March 30, 1711. Addison. ‘Pallida mors aquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres, O beate Sexti, Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam. Jam te premet nox, fabulaeque manes, Et domus exilis Plutonia.’ Hor. When I am in a serious Humour, I very often walk by my self in Westminster Abbey; where […]

No. 21Saturday, March 24, 1711. [1] Addison. ‘Locus est et phiribus Umbris.’ Hor. I am sometimes very much troubled, when I reflect upon the three great Professions of Divinity, Law, and Physick; how they are each of them over-burdened with Practitioners, and filled with Multitudes of Ingenious Gentlemen that starve one another. We may divide […]

No. 15Saturday, March 17, 1711. Addison. ‘Parva leves capiunt animos …’ Ovid. When I was in France, I used to gaze with great Astonishment at the Splendid Equipages and Party-coloured Habits, of that Fantastick Nation. I was one Day in particular contemplating a Lady that sate in a Coach adorned with gilded Cupids, and finely […]

No. 16Monday, March 19. Addison. Quid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum. Hor. I have receiv’d a Letter, desiring me to be very satyrical upon the little Muff that is now in Fashion; another informs me of a Pair of silver Garters buckled below the Knee, that have been lately […]