'nKll''''i^V''",i' PR 3304 1910 ^^ '•*"•" \*i.:;4r*r<-. ^<=>^n VV ^^v ^^,^«,^_ ^^ v5^ -o . » .^'''k .♦ .t'.« "^c ^o-n^. V ^>" .» V '. -^o. o/-»^*\o'5 ^^^ *^- **.«,■«■' ^ J ,.-. sr .-L A V ^ M /> ^^ V« (V - „_ Cl)c ^ingslep Cngltgf) tE^txU TMB SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS IN TflE SPECTATOR JOSEPH ADDISON, RICHARD STEELE, EUSTACE BUDGELL EDITED, fFITH NOTES, OUTLINE STUDY AND EXAMINATION QUESTIONS BY MAUD ELMA KINGSLEY, A.B., A.M. AND FRANK HERBERT PALMER, A.B., A.M, BOSTON, U. S.A. THE PALMER COMPANY 120 Boylston Street 1910 ^i/ Copyright^ iqio BY The Palmer Company (g,G!.A259740 CONTENTS Preface ..... Introduction The Essay as a Literary Composition Character, Source, and Scope of the Papers Influence of the " London Club " Mr. Spectator Introduces Himself Mr. Spectator Introduces Sir Roger \ Sir Roger ON Manners . CovERLEY Hall, Sir Roger's Views on Sermons ..... ^ The Coverley Servants Sir Roger's Guests . ... Sir Roger's Ancestors . I Coverley Superstitions^ The Coverley Sabbath ( " . «v Views on The Folly of Men in Love Sir Roger's Economy The Coverley Hunt Sir Roger as a Huntsman t. Views on Witchcraft . Views on Confidantes and Coquetry ^ The Coverley Code of Manners Sir Roger's Poultry Sir Roger's Ducks ,SiR Roger and His Neighbors IV CONTENTS Florio and Leontilla: The Value of an Education ...... Party Spirit Deplored . . . . Sir Roger's Politics ..... Sir Roger and The Gypsies Mr. Spectator Leaves Coverley Hall Reflections on Town Versus Country Life ....... Debate With Sir Andrew Freeport Sir Roger's Admiration for Prince Eugene Reflections in Westminster Abbey '-^ Sir Roger and Beards . Sir Roger at The Play k / . Sir Roger and Will Honeycomb Sir Roger at Vauxhall Death of Sir Roger .v . Outline Study .... Examination Questions 137 134 140 146 152 163 170 1^ 176 ' 194 199 204 f/ 3 17 PREFACE It is the aim of the Kingsley English Texts to pre- sent the student with every necessary aid to the proper understanding of the books studied, without burdening him ^ »th superfluous matters. We believe that the Introduction that follows, together with the carefully prepared footnotes and the Suggestive Outline Study will give the reader a clear knowledge and a retentive memory of the famous papers vsrhich made the Spectator such a notable contribution to the literature of the eighteenth century. The examination questions at the close of the volume are of such a nature that the student to answer them must know a good deal about the whole subject. Special attention has been given to the typographical make-up of these texts. One of the greatest faults in the school texts of the day is found in the small type and close lines, which results in serious eye strain. This has been carefully guarded against in the present edition. Kingsley Texts of Julius Ccesar^ Macbeth^ Evangeline^ V^ision of Sir Launfal and Sir Roger de Coverley Papers are now available. Others are in preparation. The Editors. Boston, Mass., December 20, 1909. INTRODUCTION I. The Essay as a Literary Composition Note. The aim of the essayist is to instruct and influence readers who will give no hearing to the preacher or the pedant. His manner must be polite and insinuating, his touch delicate and even trifling; but his aim must be definite, and his home thrust firm and sure. The essay is intended, not so much to add to the reader's stock of knowledge of the subject chosen, as to classify and digest the information which he already possesses. The essay- ist must never allow his style to become controversial ; he is not required to conceal his own opinions beneath an affectation of judicial impartiality, but, as he expects his reader to approach the subject with an open mind, so he himself must maintain at least the appearance of perfect candor. This style of candid trifling is particularly adapted to the discussion of questions affecting personal manners and conduct, where established opinion and deeply rooted prejudices are involved. In such dis- cussion, the essayist disarms prejudice by graceful banter, and the reader is interested and convinced, when he only expected to be amused. In the i8th century, the periodical essay was regarded as the most satisfactory means of enlightening the English public on social and economic questions ; and, for this purpose, it took the place of the controversial pamphlet which was so prominent in the popular literature of the 17th century. The change from the always violent, and often scurrilous, pamphlet, to the light and graceful essay was indicative, not only of a great improvement in taste and manners in England, but of the growth of that spirit of tolerance and mutual for- viii INTRODUCTION bearance which marks the attainment of the last and most diffi- cult grade in the long process of educating a people for self- government. 2. Character, Source, axd Scope of the Sir Roger de Coverlev Papers Suggestion.— study Outline Study, A. 3. The Ixfluexce of the ''Loxdox Club" Note. To appreciate that portion of The Spectator known in literature as The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers, it is necessary to study for a little the character and influence of the '* London Club," as it existed in the first half of the iSth century. The reign of Queen Anne begins the modern history of Eng- land. At this period, the old barriers, which, in the ages of feudalism, had limited the activities and interests of each class of society to one sphere, were everywhere breaking down ; a feel ing of community of interest in everything relating to the national welfare was becoming stronger among thinking men than old prejudices of caste or creed ; intelligent public opinion was beginning to assert itself in political and economic discus- sion. This newly awakened and sustained interest in broad questions of public policy was regarded in official circles as per- nicious ; the ministers of the crown, in political affairs, and the dignitaries of the Church, in inatters of education and morals, recognized no accountability to public opinion, and regarded public interest in such matters as evidence of a seditious spirit ; the newspapers, in the rudimentary form in which they then existed, were carefully debarred from all sources of accurate in- formation, and were harshly punished for circulating false- hoods ; the libel laws and the excessive respect regarded as due to rank and authority made it impossible to comment openly, in print, on the acts of public men. Thus, since news could circulate freely only by word of mouth, the collection and dis- INTRODUCTION ix semination of news became a fashionable pastime among men of letters. Public houses, particularly the coffee houses (newly devised places of resort for men of culture and refinement) , were thronged daily by well-informed men of leisure and by men representing the higher professional and business classes, — all eager to hear, and, incidentally, to discuss the news of the day. Men of the same tastes, constantly meeting in the same places of resort, naturally developed friendship from acquaintance, and began, gradually, to combine their resources in their favorite pursuit of news gathering. Following a custom long practiced for the purpose of jovial sociability among frequenters of tav- erns, a reserved room, a common fund for expenses, whatever useful books or periodicals were available, a simple organization and rules for regulation of debate and the admission of new members, made the accidental association of amateur politicians an organized club^ as the word was understood in the reign of Queen Anne. The Club proved so useful an institution, that its use became practically universal. . Every man, a resident or a regular visitor in London, who had means, leisure and a taste for the society of his kind, was a member of from one to a dozen clubs. There were Whig clubs and Tory clubs ; there were clubs devoted to general political discussion and clubs for the discussion of social problems ; while others were frankly devoted to inere gossip. There were clubs of actors, lawyers, merchants, etc. These were all voluntary associations based on similarity of habits among their members without regard to other considerations. Consequently, in many of the clubs, artificial social distinctions were entirely overlooked in making up the membership ; and club life became a powerful agency in weakening the force of such distinctions as affecting the ordi- nary intercourse of life among men. The Spectator Papers are presented as originating in the discussions of one of these clubs, and their point of view is indicated by the description in the first Paper of the character of the leader and moving spirit in the club, who feigns to con- ceal his identity under the pseudonym of " Mr. Spectator." THE SPECTATOR "Mr. Spectator" Introduces Himself (Addison, in Spectator ^ No. i, March i, 171 1) Introductory Note, This first paper of the series introduces Mr. Spectator, the narrator and philosopher of the Sir Roger DE CovERLEY PAPERS. He appears as a man of ample income derived from landed property, university trained, with a mind broadened by foreign travel, and intimately acquainted with public men and affairs. He is proud of his ancient lineage and his military ancestors, but he is liberal in his political views and frankly commercial in his ideas on economic subjects. It is not modesty nor taciturnity, but merely self-conscious shyness, which keeps him from the scramble and turmoil of public life. In a really serious emergency his talents would be devoted to the public service and would be found extremely useful. As thus sketched, the character of the " Spectator" is typical of a class to which the British nation owes much of its reputation for sagacity and energy in political and commercial affairs. ' ' No )i fu in a in c x fii I go re, sed ex fu in o da re luce 111 Cogitat, ut spectosa dehinc tniracula promaty ^ Horace, Ars Poetica, ver. 143. I HAVE observed, that a reader seldom peruses a book with pleasure till he knows whether the writer of it be a black^ or a fair man, of a mild or choleric disposition, 1. "He never tries to bring forth smoke from brilliant blaze, but from the smoke to give out light, that after that he may disclose to view things beautiful and strange." What bearinn^ lias tliis motto upon the subject-matter of the essay 1 2. Of dark complexion. What meaning; ^vould the expression < There are three very material points w^hich I have not spoken to in this paper, and which, for several important reasons, I must keep to myself, at least for some time : I mean, an account of my name, my age, and my lodg- ings. I must confess that I would gratify my reader in anything that is reasonable ; but as for these three par- ticulars, though I am sensible they might tend very much to the embellishment of my paper, I cannot yet come to a resolution of 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 impos- sible, but I may make discoveries of both in the progress of the work I have undertaken. ^i 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, 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 20. Quote the lines from tliis paragrapH ^which state tlie pur- pose of the << l^pectator Papers." 21. Point out an unfamiliar idiom in this paragraph. J 8 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY me, may direct their letters to tiie '' Spectator," at Buckley's, ^2 in Little Britain. ^3 For I must further ac quaint the reader, that though our Club meets only o Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have appointed a commit- tee to sit every night, for the inspection of all such papers as may contribute to the advancement of the public weal. C. 22. The original issue of the Spectator Papers as a bound volume bears the imprint ot *• S. Buckley, at the Dolphin in Little Britain." 23. A street in London largely devoted to the printing and publish- ing trades. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 9 II THE SPECTATOR CLUB ''Mr. Spectator" Introduces Sir Roger TO THE Reader (Steele, in Spectator^ No. 2, March 2, 1711) Introductory Note, Of the club members, by far the most important is Sir Roger de Coverlej, a very wealthy land- owner in Worcestershire. Sir Roger's acres are so extensive that he usually lives a secluded life in the midst of them. His tenants and servants are so numerous that they form a consid- erable community, which looks to Sir Roger as its judge and ruler in all the little affairs of rural life. Sir Roger is upright, conscientious and patriotic. He inherits the chivalrous spirit of his knightly ancestors without their arrogance and turbu- lence ; but his manner of living, while it has, perhaps, unduly broadened his sympathies, has protected him from that rough contact with the world which would have freed his mind from inherited prejudice and the results of a defective education. The charm of the worthy baronet's character lies in his unfail- ing courtesy, universal charity, and the sound good sense which prompts him to seek the society of men whose point of view is radically different from his own. Another prominent member of. the club is Sir Andrew Free- port, a wealthy merchant of the city of London. We are not made so intimately acquainted with him as with Sir Roger, and he appears in the Papers merely as one who represents the opin- ions of the mercantile and capitalist interest, which, in England, had always maintained a practical equality with the landed interest. Other members of the club are as follows : a lawyer, who being relieved by fortune from the necessity of making his living at the bar, devotes his time to the study of literature and the drama; Will Honeycomb, a fashionable man about town; 10 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY Captain Sentry, Sir Roger's heir-at-law, a professional soldier, retired from active service, modest and unassuming, as is fitting in a member of a profession generally unpopular in England; a clergyman, distinguished for his learning and piety, but not employed in the official activities of the Church. Suggestion. — Studj^ Outline Study, ]Vote 6. ^''As^t alii sex Et f lures 11710 co7iclamaiit ore.""^ Juvenal, Sat. vii. 167. The first of our society is a gentleman of Worcester- shire, '^ of ancient descent, a baronet, ^ his name Sir Roger de Coverley. His great-grandfather was inventor of that famous country-dance^ which is called after him. All who know that shire 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 singular- ities'' proceed from his good sense, and are contradic- tions 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 ^vho kno\v him. When he is in town he 1. *'But six or more are all talking at once." State the applica tioii of this title verse. 2. How is tills word pronouiicedl 3. The lowest rank of hereditary nobility in England. Baronet; are not peers, and, consequently, are eligible to the House of Coni-i nions. They are regarded as kniglits, and, like other knights, are entitled to the honorary prefix " Sir " before their names. 4. Practically the same as our " contra-dance." The tune of "Sir Roger de Coverley " or '• Calverley " was used, in this dance at least century before these papers were written. 5. What word would an American Avriter use instead of this \ SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 11 lives in Soho Square :^ it is said, he keeps himself a bachelor by reason"^ he was crossed in love by a per- verse beautiful v^idow^ of the next county to him. Be- fore this disappointment, Sir Roger w^as what you call a fine gentleman, had often supped with my Lord Rochester^ and Sir George Etherege,^ fought a duel upon his first coming to town, and kicked Bully Daw- son^^ in a public coffee-house for calling him young- ster.^^ But being ill used by the above-mentioned widow, he w^as 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 and out^^ twelve times since he first wore it. He is now in his fifty-sixth year, cheer- ful, gay, and hearty, keeps a good house in both town and country ; a great lover of mankind ; but there is such a mirthful caste in his behavior, that he is /at/icr beloved than esteemed. ^^ His tenants grow rich, his 6. A small square, opening off Oxford Street. A fashionable resi- dence section in Queen Anne's reign. 7. By reason. What one word Avould you use instead? 8. A noted poet and wit at the Court of Charles II. 0. A dramatist and courtier in the reign of Charles II. 10, A noted character in his day. lie frequented the society of gentlemen, but was known to be the leader of a gang of sharpers and cutthroats. \ 11. Note the characteristics and accomplishments of tlie << line l^entleman " of the period. 13. i. e. In the prevailing fashion. , 13. i. e. Of fashion. 14. We would say " Even more loved than esteemed." 12 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY servants look satisfied, all the young women profess love to him, and the young men are glad of his com- pany : when he comes into a house he calls the servants by their names, and talks all the way upstairs to a visit. 1^ I must not omit that Sir Roger is a justice of the quorum ; ^^ that he fills the chair^'^ at a quarter-ses- sion^^ with great abilities, ^^ and three months ago, gained universal applause by explaining a passage in the game- act. 20 The gentleman next in esteem and authority among us, is another bachelor, w^ho is a member of the Inner Temple ;'2i a man of great probity, wit, and understand- ing ; 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 15. Talks . . . visit. Revrrite tliis sentence in your o^^ii %Tords. 16. These were Justices of llie Peace of superior qualifications, one of whom (qnoriim) Avas obliged to be present at all trials and judi- cial inquests in his county. In ^vhat connection do Americans use the word ^' quorum " 1 17. As presiding justice. 18. A criminal court held by Justices of the Peace. 19. Ho^v ivould you liave ^%vritten this phrase 1 20. The law for the protection of the wild game. 21. The lawyers of London have from time immemorial grouped themselves into societies or guilds, each of which regulates among its members such matters as courses of study, admission to the bar, and professional ethics. Each society has its residence or *• inn," a group of buildings where students and young practitioners live like stu- dents at a college. The society of the Inner Temple is so called be- cause its " inn " stands on ground once the property of the Knights Tenfplar. 22. This word in the Spectator is applied to a person who indulges his own peculiar tastes and traits of character beyond the bounds of reason. SIR ROGER DE COVER LEY 13 of any of the house in those of the stage. Aristotle and Longinus^-^ are much better understood by him than Littleton or Cooke. ^^ 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 know^s the argument of each of the orations of Demosthenes^^ 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 inti- mate friends, know he has a great deal of wit. This turn makes him at once both disinterested and agree- able : 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, 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 ; exactly at five he passes through New Inn, crosses 23. Ancient Greek pliilosoplieis. 24. Famous authors of treatises on the laws of England. Para- phrase the gentence, substitiiling^ §^eiieral for specific terms. 25. In England an attorney is not a lawyer but a legal contractor who employs lawyers. 26. The most famous orator of Athens. 27. Cicero, Rome's greatest orator. 28. i. e. Derived from the consideration of the ordinary affairs of life. 29. Strictly exact. 14 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY through Russeh Court : and takes a turn at Will's till the play begins ; he has his shoes rubbed and his peri- wig30 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. The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew Free- port, a merchant of great eminence in the city of Lon- don : a 23erson 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) he calls the sea thfe British Common. 3'^ 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 j^ower is to be got by arts and industry. He will often argue, that if this part of our trade were v^^ell cultivated, we should gain from one nation; and if another, from another. I have heard him prove that diligence makes more last- ing 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 ; and Sir Andrew having a natural unaffected eloquence, the perspicuity of his discourse gives the same pleasure 30. At this ])eiiod a wig of false hair was an essential part of a gen- tleman's costume. 31. An actors' tavern near Drury Lane Theatre. 32. The village common was a pasture in which each villager might claim the right of grazing cattle. Follow out tlic comparison. SIR ROGER BE COVER LEY 15 that wit would in another man. He has made his for- tunes himself ; and says that England may be richer than other kingdoms, by as plain methods as he himself is richer than other men ; though at the same time I can say this of him, that there is not a point in the compass, but blows home a ship in which he is an owner. Next to Sir Andrew in the club-room sits Captain Sentry, a gentleman of great courage, good understand- ing, but invincible modesty. ILe is one of those that deserve very well, but are very awkward at putting their talents within the observation of such as should take notice of them. He was some years a captain, ^^ and behaved himself with great gallantry in several engagements, and at several sieges ; but having a small estate of his own, and being next heir to Sir Roger, he has quitted a way of life in which no man can rise suit- ably to his merit, who is not something of a courtier, as well as a soldier. I have heard him often lament, that in a profession where nnerit is placed in so con- spicuous a view, impudence should get the better of modesty. When he has talked to this purpose, I never heard him make a sour expression, but frankly confess that he left the world, because he was not fit for it. A strict honesty and an even regular behavior, are in themselves obstacles to him that must press through crowds who endeavor at the same end with himself, the favor of a commander. He will, however, in this way 33. In the regular arni3\ In ^-rlint war ^vns Kii^laiid engaged at this i)erioi1 i 16 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY of talk, excuse generals, for not disposing according to men's desert, or inquiring into it : for, says he, that great man who has a mind to help me, has as many to break through to come at me, as I have to come at him : therefore he will conclude, that the man who Avould make a figure, especially in a military way, must get over all false modesty, and assist his patron against the importunity of other pretenders, by a proper assurance in his own vindication. He says it is a civil cowardice to be backward in asserting wliat you ought to expect, as it is a military fear to be slow in attacking when it is your duty. With this candor does the gen- tleman speak of himself and others. The same frank- ness runs through all his conversation. The military part of his life has furnished him with many adventures, in the relation of which he is very agreeable to the com- pany ; for he is never overbearing, though accustomed to command men in the utmost degree below^ him ; nor ever too obsequious, from a habit of obeying men highly above him.^"* But that our society may not appear a set of humor- ists^^ unacquainted with the gallantries and pleasures of the age, we have among us the gallant Will Honey- comb, a gentleman who, according to his years, should be in the decline of his life, but having ever been very careful of his person, and always had a very easy for- tune, time has made but very little impression, either 34. Ke^vrite from memory tills paragraph describing Captain Sentry. 35. See Footnote 22. WHat Tvould tliis sentence mean if found in an American essay 7 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 17 by wrinkles on his forehead, or traces in his brain. His person is well turned, and of a good height. ^^ He is very ready at that sort of discourse with which men usually entertain women. He has all his life dressed very w^ell, and remembers habits^^ as others do men. He can smile when one speaks to him, and laughs easily. He knows the history of every mode, and can inform you from w^liich of the ladies of the French Court our wives and daughters had this manner of curl- ing their hair, that w^ay of placing their hoods ; whose vanity to show her foot made the petticoat so short in such a year. In a word, all his conversation and knowl- edge has been in the female world : as other men of his age will take notice to you what such a minister said upon such and such an occasion, he will tell }ou when the Duke of Monmonth^^ danced at court such a woman was then smitten, another was taken with him at the head oE his troop in the Park. In all these important relations, he has ever about the same time received a kind glance, or a blow of a fan, from some celebrated beauty, mother of the present Lord Such-a-one. If you speak of a young Commoner^^ that said a lively thing in the House, he starts up, '' He has good blood in his veins ; that young fellow's mother used me more like a dog than any woman I ever made advances to." This way of talking of his, very much enlivens the conversa- tion among us of a more sedate turn ; and I hnd there 30. Ilewrite tliis sentence in modern £ns;lisii. 87. Costumes. 38. An illegitimate son of King Charles II. 39. Member of the House of Commons. 18 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY is not one of the company but myself, who rarely speak at all, but speaks of him as of that sort of man, who is usually called a well-bred fine gen Jen: an. To conclude his character, where \\^omen are not concerned, he is an honest w^orthy man. I cannot tell whether I am to account him whom I am next to speak of, as one of our company; for he visits us but seldom, but when he does, it adds to every man else a new enjoyment of himself. He is a clergyman, a very philosophic man, of general learning, great sanc- tity of life, and the most exact good breeding. He has the misfortune to be of a very weak constitution, and consequently cannot accept of such cares and business as preferments in his function would oblige him to : he is therefore among divines what a chamber-counselor^^ is among lawyers. The probity of his mind, and the integrity of his life, create him followers, as being elo- quent or loud advances others. He seldom introduces the subject he speaks upon ; but we are so far gone in years, that he observes when he is among us, an earnest- ness to have him fall on some divine topic, ^^ which he always treats with much authority, as one who has no interests in this world, as one who is hastening to the object of all his wishes, and conceives hope from his de- cays and infirmities. These are my ordinary companions. R. 40. A lawyer who gives advice in liis office but never appears at court. 41. Question of theology. 8ugo;estioii. — Write a paper describing the appearance and mode of life of a "fine gentleman" of Queen Anne's day from the material furnished by Spectator Papers 1 and 2. SM ROGER DE COVERLEV 19 III SIR ROGER DISCOURSES ON MANNERS (Steele, in Spectator^ No. 6, March 7, 171 1) Litroductory Note. Paper No. 6 is an Essay on Manners, and, as such, is as applicable to the time in which we live as to that in which Addison and Steele wrote. Sir Roger maintains that education and refinement, when these are merely superficial polish, and do not regulate and control the entire moral being of a man, are not only useless, but are often pernicious. '''' Cj'edehant hoc gra7ide 7iefas^ et morte piajidum^ Si juvenis vetulo ?i07i assii7'rexerat.^^^ Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 154. 1 KNOW no evil under the sun so great as the abuse of the understanding, and yet there is no one vice more common. It has diffused itself through both sexes, and all qualities of mankind ; and there is hardly that person to be found, who is not more concerned for the reputation of wit and sense, than honesty and virtue. But this unhappy affectation of being wise rather than honest, witty than good-natured, is the source of most of the ill^ habits of life. Such false impressions are owing to the abandoned writings of men of wit, and the awkward imitation of the rest of mankind. For this reason. Sir Roger was saying last night, that he was of opinion that none but men of fine parts 1. "They used to hold it as a heinous sin, that naught but death couLl expiate, if a young man had not risen up to paj'^ honor to an old one." 2. What word would aii Ainericaii writer use liere 1 20 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY deserve to be hanged. ^ The reflections of such men are so deUcate upon all occurrences which they are con- cerned in, that they should be exposed to more than ordinary infamy and punishment, for offending against such quick^ admonitions as their own souls give them, and blunting the fine edge of their minds in such a manner, that they are no more shocked at vice and folly, than men of slow^er capacities. There is no greater monster in being, than a very ill man of great parts : he lives like a man in a palsy, with one side of him dead. While perhaps he enjoys the satisfaction of luxury, of wealth, of ambition, he has lost the taste of good wall, of friendship, of innocence. Scarecrow, the beggar in Lincoln's Inn Fields,^ wdio disabled himself in his right leg, and asks alms all day to get himself a warm supper at night, is not half so despicable a wretch as such a man of sense. The beggar has no relish above sensations ; he finds rest more agreeable than motion ; and while he has a warm fire, never reflects that he deserves to be whipped. Every man who ter- minates his satisfaction and enjoyments within the supply of his own necessities and passions, is, says Sir Roger, in my eye as poor a rogue as Scarecrow. " But," con- tinued he, '' for the loss of public and private virtue w^e are beholden to your men of parts forsooth ; it is with 3. Hanged, i. e., the common run of criminals are made so far irre- sponsible by brutish nature and lack of intelligence that fcociety should rather restrain them than avenge itself upon them. 4. IV hat is tlie nieaiiin§f oftlie word 1 5. An open square or small park much frequented by lawyers and persons having business in the Courts of Justice near by. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 21 them no matter what is done, so it is done with an air. But to me who am so whimsical in a corrupt age as to act according to nature and reason, a selfish man in the most shining circumstance and equipage,^ appears in the same condition with the fellow above mentioned, but more contemptible in proportion to what more he robs the public of and enjoys above him. I lay it down therefore for a rule, that the whole man is to move together ; that every action of any importance is to have a prospect of public good ; and that the general ten- dency of our indifferent actions ought to be agreeable to the dictates of reason, of religion, of good breeding; without this, a man, as I have before hinted, is hopping instead of walking, he is not in his entire and proper motion." While the honest knight was thus bewildering himself in good starts,^ I looked intentively^ upon him, which made him I thought collect his mind a little. ''What I aim at," says he, " is, to represent that I am of opinion, to polish our understandings and neglect our manners is of all things the most inexcusable. Reason should govern passion, but instead of that you see, it is often subservient to it ; and, as unaccountable as one would think it, a wise man is not always a good man." This degeneracy is not only the guilt of particular persons, but also at some times of a whole people ; and perhaps it may appear upon examination, that the most polite 6. In the most . . . equipage. Express the tliought in your o^%th Tvords. 7. Disconnected outbursts of eloquence. 8. IVliat ivord ^vould an American use lieref 22 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY ages are the least virtuous. This may be attributed to the folly of admitting wit and learning as merit in them- selves, without considering the application of them. By this means it becomes a rule not so much to reg^ard what we do, as how we do it. But this false beauty will not pass upon men of honest minds and true taste. Sir Richard Blackmore^ says, with as much good sense as virtue, "It is a mighty dishonor and shame to employ excellent faculties and abundance of w^it, to humor and please men in their vices and follies. The great enemy of mankind, 1^ notwithstanding his wit and angelic facul- ties, is the most odious being in the whole creation." He goes on soon after to say very generously, that he undertook the writing of his poem "to rescue the Muses^^ out of the hands of ravishers, to restore them to their sweet and chaste mansions, and to engage them in an employment suitable to their dignity. "^'^ This cer- tainly ought to be the purpose of every man who appears in public ; and whoever does not proceed upon that foundation, injures his country as fast as he suc- ceeds in his studies. When modesty ceases to be the chief ornament of one sex, and integrity of the other, society is upon a wrong basis, and we shall be ever after without rules to guide our judgement in what is really becoming and ornamental. Nature and reason direct 9. A famous pliysician, essayist, and poet of the day. The quota- tion is from the preface to an epic poem entitled *• King Arthur." 10. To Avhoin is tlie reference \ 11. In Greek mythology, goddesses presiding over literature and the kindred arts of civilization. 12. i. e. He wished to write a poem which should have a suitable and dignified theme. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 23 one thing, passion and humor another : to follow the dictates of the two latter, is going into a road that is both endless and intricate ; when we pursue the other, our passage is delightful, and \vhat we aim at easily attainable.!^ I do not doubt but England is at present as polite a nation as any in the world ; but any man who thinks can easily see, that the affectation of being gay and in fashion has very near eaten up our good sense and our religion. Is there anything so just, as that mode and gallantryi'* should be built upon exerting ourselves in what is proper and agreeable to the institutions of jus- tice and piety among us? And yet is there anything more common, than that we run in perfect contradiction to them ? All which is supported by no other preten- sion, than that it is done with what we call a good grace. 1^ Nothing ought to be held laudable or becoming, but what nature itself should prompt us to think so. Respect to all kinds of superiors is founded methinks upon instinct; and yet what is so ridiculous^^ as age? I make this abrupt transition to the mention of this vice more than any other, in order to introduce a little stor}^, which 1 think a pretty instance that the most polite age is in danger of being the most vicious. 13. Snumerate the three heads of the little << sermon" con^ tatned in this parag.raph. 14. i. e. The standard of fashion and good breeding. 15. Frankly. Neither intending evil nor fearing censure. 16. Steele means, *• What is so often made a subject of ridicule? " What 'would this sentence mean if found in an American essay S 24 • SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY " It happened at Athens, ^^ during a public representa- tion of some play exhibited in honor of the common- wealth that an old gentleman came too late for a place suitable to his age and quality. Many of the young gentlemen who observed the difficulty and confusion he was in, made signs to him that they would accommo- date him if he came where they sat : the good man bustled through the crowd accordingly ; but when he came to the seats to which he was invited, the jest was to sit close, and expose him, as he stood out of counte- nance, to the whole audience. The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But on those occasions there were also particular places assigned for foreigners : when the good man skulked towards the boxes appointed for the Lacedaemonians, that honest people, more virtu- ous than polite, rose up all to a man, and with the greatest respect received him among them. The Athe- nians being suddenly touched w4th a sense of the Spartan virtue, and their own degeneracy, gave a thunder of applause; and the old man cried out, 'The Athenians understand what is good, but the Laceda&monians prac- tice it.' " R. 17. Athens and Lacedsemon (Sparta) were rival states of ancient Greece. The Athenians, by cultivating to the utmost every refining and educational influence, made their city the most highly civilized community that has ever existed; the Lacedaemonians, by devoting themselves exclusively to the development of those qualities which tend to make good soldiers, liacame a nation of military athletes. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 25 IV COVERLEY HALL Sir Roger's Views on Clergymen's Sermons (Addison, in Spectator^ No. io6, July 2, i^ii) Introductory Note, To the audience for which the Spectator papers were written, the point of this essay lay in the good- natured criticism of the laboriously composed sermons as common then, as now; but to the reader of to-day, the charm of the paper lies in the picture which it gives of an ideal English rural household in the eighteenth century. At this period, the English nobleman or country gentleman was much more than a mere wealthy landlord. The old feudal idea that the soil of the kingdom was granted in trust by the king to his knights, to be administered by them in such a way as should be conducive to the defense and peace of the realm, was still the foundation principle of society. The fact that commercial relations had been everywhere substituted for the feudal relations, had not yet relieved the landlord from a certain degree of responsibility for the welfare and conduct of the peasants who tilled his lands. And the peasant farmer was bound by social custom to observe towards his landlord much the same attitude of obedience and respect which had been ex- acted from his ancestors by their feudal masters. The tenants on each estate formed a distinct village, the center of which was the hall, the residence of the proprietor and of a small army of male and female dependants and servants of all ranks. The landlord's commission as justice of the peace was believed by the villagers to invest him with most of the practical powers of government, and the larger proprietors were able to direct the influence of the Church through the right which they claimed of nominating to vacant pulpits. The personal character of the 26 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY landlord was, consequently, a matter of vital importance to the rural community which was compelled to look to him for leadership and guidance. ' ' Hmc tih I cop ia Ma7iabit ad ple7iiim^ hejiigiio Riiris ho7iorum opiile^ita cor?iti.''' ^ Horace, Lib. I., Ode xvii. 14. 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 se^'eral of my ensuing speculations. Sir Roger, who is very well acquainted with my humor, ^ lets me rise and go to bed when I please, dine at his own table or in my chamber as I think fit, sit still and say nothing without bidding me be merry. When the gentlemen of the country come to see him, he only shows me at a distance : as I have been walking in his fields I have observed them stealing a sio^ht of me over a hedofe, and have heard the knisfht desiring them not to let me see them, for that 1 hated to be stared at. I am the more at ease in Sir Roger's family, because it consists of sober and staid persons ; for as the knight is the best master in the world, he seldom changes his servants; and as he is beloved by all about him, his servants never care for leaving him ; by this means his domestics are all in years, and grown old with their 1. " Here Plenty, rich in aU the bounties of tlie field, shall stream for you from Fortune's teemiug born." 2. Disposition. SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 27 master. You would take his valet cle cliambre for his brother, his butler is gray-headed, his groom is one of the gravest men that I have ever seen, and his coach- man has the looks of a privy counselor. You see the goodness of the master even in the old house-dog, and in a gray pad that is kept in the stable w^ith great care and tenderness out of regard to his past services, though he has been useless for several years. ^ I could not but observe w^ith a great deal of pleasure the joy that appeared in the countenances of these ancient domestics upon my friend's arrival at his coun- try seat. Some of them could not refrain from tears at the sight of their old master ; every one of them pressed forward to do something for him, and seemed discour- aged^ if they were not employed. At the same time the good old knight, with a mixture of the father and the master of the family, tempered the inquiries after his own affairs with several kind questions relating to them- selves. This humanity and good nature engages^ every- body to him, so that when he is pleascint upon^ any of them, all his family are in good humor, and none so much as the person whom he diverts himself with : on the contrary, if he coughs, or betrays any infirmity of old age, it is easy for a stander-by to observe a secret concern in the looks of all his servants. My worthy friend has put me under the particular 3. What traits of Sir Roger's character does this paragraph reveal? 4. Disheartened. Study the derivation of this Avord and com- pare tilts stiade of meaning wltii ttiat in common use. 5 Can the singular number be justified liere? 6. Inclined to joke. 28 S//^ ROGER DE COVERLEY care of his butler, who is a very prudent man, and, as well as the rest of his fellow-servants, wonderfully desir- ous of pleasing me, because they have often heard their master talk of me as of his particular friend. My chief companion, when Sir Roger is diverting himself in the woods or the fields, is a very venerable man who is ever with Sir Roger, and has lived at his house in the nature of a chaplain'' above thirty years. This gentleman is a person of good sense and some learn- ing, of a very regular life and obliging conversation :^ he heartily loves Sir Roger, and knows that he is very much in the old knight's esteem, so that he lives in the family rather as a relation than a dependant. I have observed in several of my papers, that my friend Sir Roger, amidst all his good qualities, is some- thing of a humorist ;^ and that his virtues, as well as imperfections, are as it were tinged by a certain extrava- gance, which makes them particularly his, and distin- guishes them from those of other men. This cast of mind, as it is generally very innocent in itself, so it renders his conversation highly agreeable, and more delightful than the same degree of sense and virtue would appear in their common and ordinary colors. As I w^as walking with him last night, he asked me how I liked the good man w4iom I have just now men- 7. A clergyman maintained for the exclusive benefit of one house- hold. 8. Kxplain tlie expression << obliging conTersatioii." Do we use the adjective iu tills connection? 9. explain and compare this use VFlth the modern use of the word. SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 29 tioned? and without staying for my answer told me, that he was afraid of being insuhed^^ with Latin and Greek at his own table ; for which reason he desired a particu- lar friend of his at the university to find him out a clergy- man rather of plain sense than much learning, of a good aspect, a clear voice, a sociable temper, and, if possible, a man that understood a little of backgammon. "My friend," says Sir Roger, ''found me out this gentleman, who, besides the endowments required of him, is, they tell me, a good scholar, though he does not show it. I have given him the parsonage^^ of the parish; and because I know his value have settled upon him a good annuity for life. If he outlives me, he shall find that he was higher in my esteem than perhaps he thinks he is. He has now been with me thirty years ; and though he does not know I have taken notice of it, has never in all that time asked anything of me for himself, though he is every day soliciting me for something in behalf of one or other of my tenants his parishioners. There has not been a lawsuit in the parish since he has lived among them : if any dispute arises they apply themselves to him for the decision ; if they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which I think never happened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. At his first settling with me, I made him a present of all the good sermons 10. i. e. By a display of superior learning from a social inferior. 11. The position of parson, including a property right to the taxes paid by the villagers for the support of the Church. These taxes without Sir Roger's bounty would not have afforded a sufficient in- come to support a minister suitably. What would th© sentence mean if written by an American 7 30 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY which have been printed in EngHsh, and only begged of him that every Sunday he w^ould pronounce one of them in the pulpit. Accordingly, he has digested^^ them into such a series, that they follow one another naturally, and make a continued system of practical divinity." As Sir Roger was going on in his story, the gentle- man we were talking of came up to us ; and upon the knight's asking him who preached to-morrow (for it was Saturday night) told us, the Bishop of St. Asaph^^ in the morning, and Dr. South^^ in the afternoon. He then showed us his list of preachers for the whole year, where I saw with a great deal of pleasure Archbishop Tiilotson, Bishop Saunderson, Dr. Barrow, Dr. Calamy, with several living authors \vho have published dis- courses of practical divinity. I no sooner saw this venerable man in the pulpit, but 1 very much approved of my friend's insisting upon the qualifications of a good aspect and a clear voice ; for I was so charmed with the gracefulness of his figure and delivery, as well as with the discourses he pronounced, that I think I never passed any time more to my satisfaction. A sermon repeated after this manner, is like the composition of a poet in the mouth of a graceful actor. I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example ; and instead of wasting their spirits in laborious compositions of their own, would 12. Arranged methodically. 13. William Fleetwood, called the " Silver-tongued," a famous pul- pit orator of the day. 14. Dr. South was better known as a controversialist. The others were famous preachers and authors of theological ^vorks. SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 31 endeavor after a handsome elocution, and all those other talents that are proper to enforce what has been penned by greater masters. This would not only be more easy to themselves, but more edifying to the people. ^^ L. 15. Do you think this is meant to he taken seriously 1 ^Vhat practical difficulties can you perceive in the way of the adop- tion of such a plan 1 Suggestion.— Write a bketcli of Sir Roger's ideal clergyman. Study the literary merits of this essay: tlie diction, the manner in which the sentences are balanced, the effective combination of short and long sentences, etc. 32 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY V THE COVERLEY SERVANTS ''A Gentle Admonition to Thankless Masters" (Steele, in Spectaior^^o. 107, July 3, 171 1) Introductory Note. .This essay is a continuation of paper No. 106. '■^^^sopo i7ige7ite7n statuam posuere Attici\ Servumque collocarunt cEterna in bast, Patere honoris scire?it ut cu7icti viam,''^ ^ Ph.edrus, Ep. i. 2. The reception, manner of attendance, undisturbed f ree SI/^ ROGER DE COVERLEY 1 consider as a kind of natural prayer to that Being who supphes the wants of his whole creation, and who, in the beautiful language of the Psalms, feedeth the young ravens that call upon him. I like this retirement the better, because of an ill report it lies under of being haunted ; for which reason (as I have been told in the family) no living creature ever walks in it besides the chaplain.'* My good friend the butler desired me with a ^ery grave face not to venture-^ myself in it after sun- set, for that one of the footmen had been almost frighted out of his wits by a spirit that appeared to him in the shape~ of a black horse without a head ; to which he added, that about a month ago one of the maids coming home late that way with a pail of milk upon her head, heard such a rustling among the bushes that she let it fall. I w^as taking a walk in this place last night between the hours of nine and ten, and could not but fancy it one of the most proper^ scenes in the world for a ghost to appear in. The ruins of the abbey are scattered up and down on every side, and half covered with ivy and elder-bushes, the harbors'^ of several solitary birds which seldom make their appearance till the dusk of the even- ing. The place was formerly a churchyard, and has still sevcrnl marks in it of graves and burving-places. 4. According to popular belief, spirits and demons had no power in the presence or a priest. 5. Ill modern £iiglish, is <* venture ** a reflexive verb! 6. ^Vhat word ^vould -we Bubstitute for tbis adjective 1 7. Compare tbis use and tbe American use of Ibe Avord. W^bicU usage is general, and wbicb specific 1 . SIR ROGER DE COVER LEY 53 There is such an echo among the old ruins and vaults, that if you stamp but a little louder than ordinary, you, hear the sound repeated. At the same time the walk of elms, with the croaking of the ravens which from time to time are heard from the tops of them, looks exceed- ing solemn and venerable. These objects naturally raise seriousness and attention ; and when night heightens the awfulness of the place, and pours out her super- numerary^ horrors upon everything in it, I do not at ali wonder that weak minds fill it with specters and apparitions. Mr. Locke, 9 in his chapter of the Association of Ideas, has very curious remarks to show how by the prejudice of education one idea often introduces into the mind a whole set that bear no resemblance to one another in the nature of things. Among several examples of this kind, he produces the following instance. '' The ideas of goblins and sprites have really no more to do with darkness than light : yet let but a foolish maid inculcate these often on the mind of a child, and raise them there together, possibly he shall never be able to separate them again so long as he lives ; but darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other. '^lo As I was walking in this solitude, where the dusk of the evening conspired with so many other occasions of 8. Additional. 9. Identify *' Mr. liocke.'' The quotation is from his ♦' Essay on the Human Understanding," Book ii, chapter 33, 10. What purpose does this quotation from Ijocke serve ! 54 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY terror, I observed a cow grazing not far from me, which an imagination that is apt to startle^^ might easily have construed into a black horse without a head : and I dare say the poor footman lost his wits upon some such trivial occasion. My friend Sir Roger has often told me with a great deal of mirth, that at his first coming to his estate he found three parts of his house altogether useless ; that the best room in it had the reputation of being haunted, and by that means was locked up ; that noises had been heard in his long gallery, so that he could not get a servant to enter it after eight o'clock at night ; that the door of one of his chambers was nailed up, because there went a story in the family that a butler had for- merly hanged himself in it ; and that his mother, who lived to a great age, had shut up half the rooms in the house, in which either her husband, a son, or daughter had died. The knight seeing his habitation reduced to so small a compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his own house, upon the death of his mother ordered all the apartments to be flung open, and exorcised^'^ by his chaplain, who lay in every room one after another, and by that means dissipated the fears which had so long reigned in the family. 1 should not have been thus particular upon these ridiculous horrors, did T not find them so very much 11. Do we use '^ startle " as an active or a passive verb in tliis sense 1 12. This was not recognized by the English Church as a clerical function, but rural clergymen were frequently called upon to perform the ceremony. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 55 prevail in all parts of the country. At the same time I think a person who is thus terrified with the imagination of ghosts and specters much more reasonable than one who, contrary to the reports of all historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the traditions of all nations, thinks the appearance of spirits fabulous and groundless : could not I give myself up to this general testimony of mankind, I should to the relations of par- ticular persons who are now living, and whom I cannot distrust in other matters of fact. I might here add, that not only the historians, to whom we may join the poets, but likewise the philosophers of antiquity have favored this opinion. Lucretius^^ himself, though by the course of his philosophy he was obliged to maintain that the soul did not exist separate from the body, makes no doubt of the reality of apparitions, and that men have often appeared after their death. This T think very remarkable ; he was so pressed with the matter of fact which he could not have the confidence to deny, that he was forced to account for it by one of the most absurd unphilosophical notions that was ever started. He tells us, that the surfaces of all bodies are perpetually flying off from their respective bodies, one after another ; and that these surfaces or thin cases that included each other whilst they were joined in the body like the coats of an onion, are sometimes seen entire when they are separated from it ; by which means we often behold the 13. A Roman poet and philosopher born about 55 B. C. He wrote a didactic poem on Natural History in which lie supports the belief of the Epicurean School of Philosophy that the soul dies with the body 56 S/J^ ROGER DE COVERLEY shapes and shadows of persons who are either dead or absent. 1 shall dismiss this paper with a story out of Josephus/^ not so much for the sake of the story itself as for the moral reflections- with w^hich the author concludes it, and which I shall here set down in his own words. '' Glaphyra the daughter of King Archelaus, after the death of her two first husbands (being married to a third, who was brother to her first husband, and so passionately in love with her that he turned off his former wife to make room for this marriage) had a very odd kind of dream. She fancied that she saw her first husband coming towards her, and that she embraced him with great tenderness ; when in the midst of the pleasure which she expressed at the sight of him, he reproached her after the following manner : ' Glaphyra,' says he, ' thou hast made good the old saying, that women are not to be trusted. Was not I the husband of thy virgin- ity? Have I not children by thee? How couldst thou forget our loves so far as to enter into a second marriage, and after that into a third. However, for the sake of our past loves, 1 shall free thee from thy present re- proach, and make thee mine forever.' Glaphyra told this dream to several women of her acquaintance, and died soon after. 1^^ thought this story might not be impertinent in this place, wherein 1 speak of those 14. The famous Jewish historian. The quotation is from his work on the ** Antiquities of the Jews." 15. i. e. Josephus, whose words are quoted. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 57 kings \^^ besides that, the example deserves to be taken notice of as it contains a most certain proof of the immortality of the soul, and of Divine Providence. If any man thinks these facts incredible, let him enjoy his own opinion to himself, but let him not endeavor to disturb the belief of others, w^ho by instances of this nature are excited to the study of virtue." L. 16. The Jewish dynasty of the Herods. Suggcstiou.— Point out that paragraph which seems to you to possess exceptional grace and beauty of style. Compare this essay with the preceding essays as regards interest and felicitous choice of subject. 58 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY IX THE COVERLEY SABBATH (Addison, in Spectator, No. 112, July 9, 1711) I?itrodticto7y Note. Paper No. 112 is an essay on Sunday observance, and the influence of the customs of the English Church on the character of the rural population. '' ' hBavaroVs fi^v irpcjTa Oaovg^ vofiu uc SmKecrai, Pythagoras. I AM always very well pleased with a country Sun- day ;^ 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 deo^enerate into a kind of savao*es and bar- barians, were there not such frequent returns of a stated time, in which the whole village meet together with their best faces, and in their cleanliest habits,^ to con- verse with one another upon indifferent subjects, hear their duties explained to them, and join together in adoration of the Supreme Being. Stmday clears away 1. " First, in obedience to the country's laws, worship the immortal gods." 2. Note the avoidance of the word Sabbath, which was introduced into the English language by the Puritans, whose religious obser- vances this essay, by implication, condemns. 3. i. e. A merely liumaii institution. 4. Re"viTite tbe expression ** cleanliest liabits," ^iviii^ the same thought in modern words. Write a sentence to illustrate the difference in our phraseology between <iscii.ss ttie question whether the statement of this last paragraph could, in any %^ay, be made to apply to conditions in an American community. Suggestion.— Show by a topical analysis that the manner in which this narrative is written is a luodel of literary excellence. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 63 X SIR ROGER'S ROMANCE "Mr. Spectator's" Views on the P'olly of Men in Love (Steele, in Spectator^ No. 113, July 10, 1711) Introductory Note, This essay describes Sir Roger's passion tor a ladj who compels his admiration while she holds him at a distance, and comments upon the effect of this passion upon the worthy baronet's character and understanding. " HcErent infixi pectore vultus.''^'^ Virgil, .^neid. Lib. IV. 4. In my first description of the company in which I pass most of my time, it may be remembered that I mentioned a great affliction which my friend Sir Roger had met with in his youth, which was no less than a disappointment in love. It happened this evening, that we fell into a very pleasing walk^ at a distance from his house: as soon as we came into it, "It is," quoth the good old man, looking round hiin with a smile, '' very hard that any part of my land should be settled upon^ one who has used me so ill as the perverse widow did ; and yet I am sure I could not see a sprig of any bough of this whole walk of trees, but I should reflect upon her and her se\'erity. She has certainly the finest hand 1. ♦' Her every look remains imprinted on liis breast." 2. Compare this ivitJi the Aiiiericau idioiu. 3. The widow might be regarded as the occupant of the hind, since the association of lier name with the spot prevented the owner from making any use of it. 64 SIR ROGER DE COVER LEY of any woman in the world. You are to know this was the place wherein I used to muse upon her ; and by that custom I can never come into it, but the same tender sentiments revive in my mind, as if I had actually walked with that beautiful creature under these shades. I have been fool enough to carve her name on the bark of several of these trees ; so unhappy is the condition of men in love, to attempt the removing'* of their passion by the methods which serve only to imprint it deeper. She has certainly the finest hand of any woman in the world." Here followed a profound silence ; and I was not dis- pleased to observe my friend falling so naturally into a discourse, which I had ever before taken notice he industriously avoided. After a very long pause he entered upon an account of this great circumstance in his life, with an air which 1 thought raised my idea of him above what I had ever had before ; and gave me the picture of that cheerful mind of his before it received that stroke which has ever since affected his words and actions. But he went on as follows. " I came to my estate in my twenty-second year, and resolved to follow the steps of the most worthy of my ancestors who have inhabited this spot of earth before me, in all the methods of hospitality and good neighbor- hood, for the sake of my fame ; and in country sports and recreations, for the sake of my health. In my twenty-third year I was obliged to serve as sheriff of the county ; and in my servants, officers and whole 4. Change to the tnodern idiom. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 65 equipage, indulged the pleasure of a young man (who did not think ill of his own person) in taking that pub- lic occasion of showing my figure and behavior to advantage. You may easily imagine to yourself what appearance I made, who am pretty tall, rid w^ell, and was very well dressed, at the head of a whole county,^ with music before me, a feather in my hat, and my horse well bitted. I can assure you I was not a little pleased with the kind looks and glances I had from all the balconies and windows as I rode to the hall where the assizes^ were held. But when I came there, a beau- tiful creature in a widow's habit sat in court to hear the event of a cause"^ concerning her dower. ^ This com- manding creature (who was born for the destruction of all who behold her) put on such a resignation in her coun- tenance, and bore the whispers of all around the court with such a pretty uneasiness, I warrant you, and then recovered herself from one eye to another, till she was perfectly confused by meeting something so wistful in all she encountered, that at last, with a murrain to her,^ she cast her bewitching eye upon me. I no sooner met it, but I bowed like a great surprised booby ; and know- ing her cause to be the first which came on, I cried, like a captivated calf as I was, 'Make way for the defend- 5. The posse comitatus or array of the military tenants of the Crown. 6. The periodical session of the superior court of common law. 7. i. e. Decision of a case. 8. Her widow's rights in her deceased husband's estate. 9. A mild and meaningless objurgation. An American might say, " Plague take her." 66 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY ant's witnesses. '^^ This sudden partiality made all the county iiTunediately see the sheriff also was become a slave to the fine widow. During the time her cause was upon trial, she behaved herself, I warrant you, with such a deep attention to her business, took oppor- tunities to have little billets handed to her counsel, then would be in such a pretty confusion, occasioned, you must know, by acting before so much compan}', that not only I but the whole court was prejudiced in her favor ;> and all that the next heir to her husband had to urge, was thought so groundless and frivolous, that when it came to her counsel to reply, there was not half so much said as every one besides in the court thought he could have urged to her advantage. You must understand, sir, this perverse woman is one of those unaccountable creatures, that secretly rejoice in the admiration of men, but indulge themselves in no further consequences. Hence it is that she has ever had a train of admirers, and she removes from lier slaves in town to those in the country, according to the seasons of the year. She is a reading lady, and far gone in the pleasures of friendship ; she is always accompanied by a confidante, w^ho is ^vitness to her daily protestations against our sex, and consequently a bar to her first steps towards love, upon the strength of her ow^n maxims and declarations. " However, I must needs say this accomplished mis- tress of mine has distinguished me above the rest, and has been known to declare Sir Roger de Coverley was 10. Instead of saying simply '• witnesses." SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 67 the tamest and most human of all the brutes in the country. I was told she said so, by one who thought he rallied me ; but upon the strength of this slender encouragement, of being thought least detestable, I made new liveries, new-paired my coach horses, sent them all to town to be bitted, ^^ and taught to throw their legs well, and move all together, before I pre- tended^^ to cross the country and w^ait upon her. As soon as 1 thought my retinue suitable to the character of my fortune and youth, I set out from hence to make my addresses. The particular skill of this lady hc^^s ever been to inflame your wishes, and yet command respect. To make her mistress of this art, she has a greater share of knowledge, wit, and good sense, than is usual even among men of merit. Then she is beau- tiful beyond the race of women. If you won't let her go on with a certain artifice with her eyes, and the skill of beauty, she will arm herself with her real charms, ^''^ and strike you with admiration instead of desire. It is certain that if you were to behold the whole woman, there is that dignity in her aspect, that composure in her motion, that complacency in her manner, that if her form makes you hope, her merit makes you fear. But then again, she is such a desperate scholar, ^^ th:it no country gentleman can approach her without being a jest. As I was going to tell you, when I came to her 11. Accustomed to fashionable harnesses and methods of driving. 12. i. e. Before I was pretentious enough. IVIint ^voiilo wt> use the word in just this senge? 13. Thomas Spratt, Bishop of Rochester. 14. This expression occurs in Cowley's •• Essay of Greatness " :— " Hence, ye profane, I hate ye all, Both the great vulgar and the small." 76 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY to be eternally bewildered in prospects of future gain, and putting on unnecessary armor against improbable blows of fortune, is a mechanic being which has not good sense for its direction, but is carried on by a sort of acquired instiiict towards things below^ our considera- tion and unworthy our esteem. ^^ It is possible that the tranquillity I now enjoy at Sir Roger's may have created in me this way of thinking, wdiich is so abstracted from the common relish of the world .-i^ but as I am now^ in a pleasing arbor surrounded with a beautiful landscape, I find no inclination so strong as to continue in these mansions, so remote from the ostentatious scenes of life ; and am at this present writing philosopher enough to conclude wath Mr. Cowley ; " If e'er ambition did mj fancy cheat, With any wish so mean as to be great ; Continue, Heav'n, still from me to remove The humble blessings of that life I love." R. 15. How far do you tHink tliat ctiaiige of coiiditiong since Addison's time lias made ttiis advice inapplicable to tlie pres- ent generation? 16. ** Which is . . . world." Put this clause into modern plira- seolog^. SIR ROGER DE COVER LEY 77 XII THE COVERLEY HUNT "Mr. Spectator's" Views on the Value of Labor and Exercise Combined with Study and Contemplation (Addison, Spectator, No. 115, July 12, 1711) hitroductory Note. This Paper is an essay on the necessity of labor as a means of keeping the human machine in good working order, and on the value, in this connection, of athletic sports to those whose circumstances might suggest a sedentary life. The form of athletics most popular with English country gentlemen, in the l8th century, was hunting wild animals, on horseback. " In early times it had been regarded as the duty of the well-armed and mounted warrior landholders to protect their dependants against dangerous wild animals. Later, as wars became fewer and the landlords found time heavy on their hands, the duty of the chase became the jealously guarded privi- lege of the well-born, and this principle was embodied in the English game laws. All the larger wild animals had been exter- minated in England at an early period. In the i8th century, the beasts of the chase, other than deer which were practically tame and were bred in parks, were foxes that robbed the farmers' hen roosts ; hares, destructive to growing crops ; and otters that destroyed fish. These animals might easily have been extermi- nated or kept in check, but they were preserved, by the laws, for the sport of the landowners, vmder the rules of the hunting field. The game birds (parti idge, pheasants, etc.') were so pro- tected by these strict laws that their flocks filled every covert, and could, in the season, be slaughtered by the hundi'ed. " Ut sit mens sa?ia in corpore satio.^^ i Juvenal, Sat. x. 356. 1. *• That there may be a sound mind in a sound body." 78 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY Bodily labor is of two kinds, either that which a man submits to for his livelihood, or that which he under- goes for his pleasure. The latter of them generally changes the name of labor for that of exercise, but differs only from ordinary labor as it rises from another motive. A country life abounds in both these kinds of labor, and for that reason gives a man a greater stock of health, and consequently a more perfect enjoyment of hniiself, than any other w^ay of life. I consider the body as a system of tubes and glands, or to use a more rustic phrase, a bundle of pipes and strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a manner as to make a proper engine for the soul to work with. This descrip- tion does not only comprehend the bowels, bones, tendons, veins, nerves and arteries, but every muscle and every ligature, which is a composition of fibers, that are so many imperceptible tubes or pipes inter- woven on all sides with invisible glands or strainers. This general idea of a human body, without consider- ing it in its niceties of anatomy, lets us see how abso- lutely necessary labor is for the right preservation of it. There must be frequent motions and agitations, to mix, digest, and separate the juices contained in it, as well as to clear and cleanse that infinitude of pipes and strainers of which it is composed, and to give their solid parts a more firm and lasting tone. Labor or exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps Nature in those secret distributions, without w^hich the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 79 I might here mention the effects which this has upon all the faculties of the mind, by keeping, the understand- ing clear, the imagination untroubled, and refining those spirits that are necessary for the proper exertion of our intellectual faculties, during the present laws of union between soul and body. It is to a neglect in this partic- ular that we must ascribe the spleen, ^ which is so fre- quent in men of studious and sedentary tempers, as well as the vapors^ to which those of the other sex are so often subject. Had not exercise been absolutely necessary for our well-being. Nature would not have made the body so proper for it, by giving such an activity to the limbs, and such a pliancy to every part as necessarily produce those compressions, extensions, contortions, dilatations, and all other kinds of motions that are necessary for the preservation of such a system of tubes and glands as has been before mentioned. And that we might not want inducements to engage us in such an exercise of the body as is proper for its welfare, it is so ordered that nothing valuable can be procured without it. Not to mention riches and honor, even food and raiment are not to be come at without the toil of the hands and sweat of the brows. Providence furnishes materials, but expects that we should work them up ourselves. The earth must be labored before it gives its increase, and when it is forced into its several products, how many hands must they pass through before they are fit for use? Manufactures, trade, and agriculture, natu- 2. Nervous irritability. 80 S/J^ ROGER BE COVERLEY rally employ more than nineteen parts of the species in twenty ; and as for those who are not obliged to labor, by the condition in which they are born, they are more miserable than the rest of mankind, unless they indulge themselves in that voluntary labor which goes by the name of exercise.*^ My friend Sir Roger has been an indefatigable man in business of this kind, and has hung several parts of his house with the trophies of his former labors. The walls of his great hall are covered with the horns of several kinds of deer that he has killed in the chase, which he thinks the most valuable furniture of his house, as they afford him frequent topics of discourse, and show that he has not been idle. At the lower end of the hall, is a large otter's skin stuffed with hay, which his mother ordered to be hung up in that manner, and the knight looks upon with great satisfaction, because it seems he was but nine years old when his dog killed him. A little room adjoining to the hall is a kind of arsenal filled with guns of several sizes and inventions, with which the knight has made great havoc in the woods, and destroyed many thousands of pheasants, partridges and woodcocks. His stable doors are patched with noses that belonged to foxes of the knight's own hunting down. Sir Roger showed me one of them that for distinction sake has a brass nail struck through it, which cost him about fifteen hours' riding, carried him, through half a dozen counties, killed him a brace of 3. Reproduce tlie argument of tliis paragrapli. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 81 geldings,^ and lost above half his dogs. This the knight looks upon as one of the greatest exploits of his life. The perverse widow, whom I have given some account of, was the death of several foxes ; for Sir Roger has told me that in the course of his amours he patched the western door of his stable. Whenever the widow was cruel, the foxes were sure to pay for it. In proportion as his passion for the widow abated and old age came on, he left off fox-hunting; but a hare is not yet safe that sits within ten miles of his house. There is no kind of exercise which I would so recom- mend to my readers of both sexes as this of riding, as there is none which so much conduces to health, and is every w^ay accommodated to the body, according to the idea which I have given of it. Dr. Sydenham^ is very lavish in its praises ; and if the English reader will see the mechanical effects of it described at length, he may find them in a book published not many years since, under the title of '' Medicina Gymnastica."^ For my own part, when I am in town, for want of these oppor- tunities, I exercise myself an hour every morning upon a dumb-beir that is placed in a corner of my room, and pleases me the more because it does everything I require of it in the most profound silence. My landlady and her daughters are so well acquainted with my hours of 4. Two hunting horses. 5. A famous English physician of the 17th century. His works are . written in Latin. 6. Published in 1704. The title means '* Bodily Exercise as a Medicine." 7. Evidently not the dumb-bell of modern nse, but a machine in frame work. 82 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY exercise, that they never come into my room to disturb me whilst I am ringing. When I was some years younger than I am at present, I used to employ myself in a more laborious diversion, which I learned from a Latin treatise of exercises that is written w4th great erudition : it is there called the a/.ioaayia?' or the fighting with a man's own shadow, and consists in the brandishing of two short sticks grasped in each hand, and loaded with plugs of lead at either end. This opens the chest, exercises the limbs, and gives a man all the pleasure of boxing, Avithout the blows. I could wish that several learned men would lay out that time which they employ in controversies and disputes about nothing, in this method of fighting with their own shadows. It might conduce very much to evaporate the spleen, w^hich makes them uneasy to the public as w^ell as to themselves. ^ To conclude, as 1 am a compound of soul and body, I consider myself as obliged to a double scheme of duties I and I think I have not fulfilled the business of the day when I do not thus employ the one in labor and exercise, as well as the other in study and contemplation.!^ L. S. The skiomacliia is the modern exercise of swinging Indian clubs. 9. explain tlifs sentence. Comment upon it. 10. Point out tlie tiumorous touches in tliis essay. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 83 XIII SIR ROGER AS A HUNTSMAN (Budgell, in Spectator^ No. ii6, July 13, 171 1) Introductory Note. This Paper continues the theme of No. 115- " Vocat inge7itt clamore CithoBroji^ Taygetiqu e canes.'''' ^ Virgil, Georgics, iii. Those who have searched into human nature observe that nothing so much show^s the nobleness of the soul, as that its felicity consists in action. Every man has such an active principle in him, that he will find out something to employ himself upon in whatever place or state of life he is posted. I have heard of a gentle- man who was under close confinement in the Bastile^ seven years ; during which time he amused himself in scattering a few small pins about his chamber, gather- ing them up again, and placing them in different figures on the arm of a great chair. He often told his friends afterwards, that unless he had found out this piece of exercise, he verily believed he should have lost his senses.^ After what has been said, I need not inform my readers, that Sir Roger, with whose character I hope they are at present pretty well acquainted, has in his 1. •' Here is Cithaeron calling us with wild halloo, and the hounds of Taygete." 2. The famous state prison of the French kings in Paris. 3. What is the point oftliis paragrapli 7 84 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY youth gone through the whole course of those rural diversions ^vhich the country abounds in ; and which seem to be extremely well suited to that laborious indus- try a man may observe here in a far greater degree than in towns and cities. I have before hinted at some of my friend's exploits : he has in his youthful days taken forty coveys of partridges in a season ; and tired many a salmon with a line consisting but of a single hair.^ The constant thanks and good wishes of the neighbor- hood always attended him, on account of his remark- able enmity towards foxes ; having destroyed more of those vermin in one year, than it was thought the w^iole country could have produced. Indeed, the knight does not scruple to own among his most intimate friends that in order to establish his reputation this way, he has secretly sent for great numbers of them out of other counties, which he used to turn loose about the country by night, that he might the better signalize himself in their destruction the next day. His hunting horses were the finest and best managed in all these parts : his tenants are still full of the praises of a gray stone-horse that unhappily staked^ himself several years since, and was buried with great solemnity in the orchard. Sir Roger, being at present too old for fox-hunting, to keep himself in action, has disposed of his beagles,^ 4. Fishing lines were coinnaonlj' made of twisted hair and fastened to the lip of the rod. The lines were heaviest at tlie rod's end and lightest at the hook, where, according to the usual custom, only two hairs were twisted, and where, sometimes, only a single hair was used. 5. Became impaled on a stake in leaping a hedge. 6. Fox hounds are evidently meant. SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 85 and got a pack of stop-hounds.'^ What these want in speed, he endeavors to make amends for by the deep- ness of their mouths and the variety of their notes, which are suited in such manner to each other, that the whole cry makes up a complete consort. He is so nice^ in this particular that a gentleman having made him a present of a very fine hound the other day, the knight returned it by the servant with a great many expres- sions of civility ; but desired him to tell his master, that the dog he had sent was indeed a most excellent bass, but that at present he only wanted a counter-tenor. Could I believe my friend had ever read Shakespeare, I should certainly conclude he had taken the hint from Theseus in the " Midsummer Night's Dream.'' " Mj hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind; So flcw'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew; Crook-kneed, and dew-lapp'd like ThessaHan bulls ; Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, Each under each. A cry more tunable Was never halloo'd to, nor cheer'd with horn." Act. IV. sc. I. Sir Roger is so keen at this sport that he has been out almost every day since I came down ; and upon the chaplain's offering to lend me his easy pad,^ I was pre- vailed on yesterday morning to make one of the com- pany. I was extremely pleased, as we rid along, to 7. Bogs that could bo stopped or called off the set nt at the hunts- man's pleasure. These were the true beagles as is shown bj^ reference to their tuneful voices in cry. 8. Exacting. 9. Riding horse. 86 SIJ^ ROGER DE COVERLEY observe the general benevolence^^ of all the neighbor- hood tow^ards my friend. The farmers' sons thought themselves happy if they could open a gate for the good old knight as he passed by ; which he generally requited with a nod or a smile, and a kind inquiry after their fathers and uncles. After we had rid about a mile from home, we came upon a large heath, and the sportsmen began to beat. They had done so for some time, when, as I was at a little distance from the rest of the company, I saw a hare pop out from a small furze-brake almost under my horse's feet. I marked the way she took, which I endeavored to make the company sensible of by extend- ing my arm ; but to no purpose, till Sir Roger, who knows that none of my extraordinary motions are insig- nificant, rode up to me, and asked me if puss^^ was gone that way? Upon my answering " Yes," he imme- diately called in the dogs, and put them upon the scent. As they were going off, I heard one of the country fellows muttering to his companion, that it was a won- der they had not lost all their sport, for want of the silent gentleman's crying " Stole away." This, with my aversion to leaping hedges, made me withdraw to a rising ground, from w^hence I could have the picture of the whole chase, without the fatigue of keeping in with the hounds. The hare immediately threw them above a mile behind her ; but I w^as pleased to find, that instead of running straight forwards, or in 10. I>o \vc use tlie -word in just tliis sense 1 11. A hare. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 87 hunter's language, '' flying the country/' as I was afraid she might have done, she wheeled about, and described a sort of circle round the hill where I had taken my station, in such manner as gave me a very distinct view of the sport. I could see her first pass by, and the dogs some time afterwards unraveling the whole track she had made, and following her through all her doubles. I was at the same time delighted in observing that defer- ence which the rest of the pack paid to each particular hound, according to the character he • had acquired amongst them : if they were at fault, ^^ and an old hound o_f reputation opened but once, he was immediately followed by the whole cry ; while a raw dog or one who was a noted liar, might have yelped his heart out, without being taken notice of. The hare now, after having squatted two or three times, and been put up again as often, came still nearer lo the place where she was at first started. The dogs pursued her, and these were followed by the jolly knight, who rode upon a white gelding, encompassed by his tenants and servants, and cheering his hounds with all the gayety of five and twenty. One of the sportsmen rode up to me, and told me, that he was sure the chase was almost at an end, because the old dogs, which had hitherto lain behind, now headed the pack. The fellow was in the right. Our hare took a large field just under us, followed by the full cry in view. I must confess the brightness of the weather, the cheer- fulness of everything around me, the chiding of the 12. i. €. Had lost the scent. 88 SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY hounds, which was returned upon us in a double echo, from two neighboring hills, with the hallooing of the sportsmen, and the sounding of the horn, lifted my spirits into a most lively pleasure, which I freely in- dulged because I was sure it was innocent. If I was under any concern, it was on the account of the poor hare, that was now quite spent, and almost within the reach of her enemies ; when the huntsman^^ getting forward threw down his pole before the dogs. They were now within eight yards of that game which they had been pursuing for almost as many hours ; yet on the signal before mentioned they all made a sudden stand, and though they continued opening!^ as much as before, durst not once attempt to pass beyond the pole. At the same time Sir Roger rode forward, and alighting, took up the hare in his arms ; which he soon delivered up to one of his servants with an order, if she could be kept ali\'e, to let her go in his great orchard ; where it seems he has several of these prisoners of war, w^ho live together in a very comfortable captivity. I was highly pleased to see the discipline of the pack, and the good nature of the knight, who could not find in his heart to murder a creature that had given him so much diversion. As we were returning home, I remembered that Monsieur PaschaU^ in his most excellent discourse on the misery of man, tells us, that all our endea\'ors after 13. The dog keeper who directed the movements of the pack in the field. He was on foot and carried a long pole to assist him in leaping ditches. 14. Baying. 15. A famous French theologian of the 17th century. SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY 89 greatness proceed from nothing but a desire of being surrounded by a multitude *of persons and affairs that may hinder us from looking into ourselves, which is a view we cannot bear. He afterwards goes on to show that our love of sports comes from the same reason, and is particularly severe upon hunting. '' What," says he, ''unless it be to drown thought, can make men throw away so much time and pains upon a silly animal, which they might buy cheaper in the market ? " The foregoing reflection is certainly just, when a man suffers his whole mind to be drawn into his sports, and alto- gether loses himself in the woods ; but does not affect those who propose a far more laudable end from this exercise, I mean, the preservation of health, and keep- ing all the organs of the soul in a condition to execute her orders. Had that incomparable person, whom 1 last quoted, been a little more indulgent to himself in this point, the world might probably have enjoyed him much longer ; whereas through too great an application to his studies in his youth, he contracted that ill habit of body, which, after a tedious sickness, carried him off in the fortieth year of his age ; and the whole history we have of his life till that time, is but one continued account of the behavior of a noble soul struggling under innumerable pains and distempers. ^^ For my own part 1 intend to hunt twice a week dur- ing my stay with Sir Roger ; and shall prescribe the moderate use of this exercise to all my country friends, 16. IVtiat point does Mr. Spectator make in this parafirapli \ 90 SIR ROGER BE COVERLEY as the best kind of physic for mending a bad constitu- tion, and preserving a good one. I cannot do this better, than in the following lines out of Mr. Dryden.i'' " The first physicians by debauch were made ; Excess began, and Sloth sustains the trade. By chase our long-Hv'd fathers earn'd their food; Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood; But Ave their sons, a painper'd race of men, Ai'e dwindled down to threescore years and ten. Better to hunt in fields for health unbought. Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught. The wise for cure on exercise depend : God never made his work for man to mend." X. 17. Identify. Suggestion.— Define the following technical words : beat, unrav- eling, doubles, cry, put up again, cliiding, spent. Point out some passages in which Mr. Budgell's style lacks the smoothness of that of Addison or Steele. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 91 XIV THE COVERLEY WITCH "Mr. Spectator's" Views on Witchcraft (Addison, in Spectator ^^o. 117, July 14, 171 1) hitroductory Note, The theme of Paper No. 117 is the belief in witchcraft as affecting rural life. A witch was a woman, usually old and decrepit, who was be- lieved to have made a bargain with Satan to perform certain devil's work, which required mortal agency, in return for the privilege of employing inferior evil spirits in malevolent schemes of her own. Belief in the existence of these mysterious and mischievous persons was a curious delusion which survived in civilization through a mistaken connection with religious ideas. The witch panic of 1688-1692, the darkest blot on the early history of New England, is a familiar example of the terrible effects which this delusion was capable of producing in highly civilized and intelli- gent communities. Down to the middle of the 19th century, learned men, who valued a reputation for religious orthodoxy, did not venture to deny the existence of witchcraft, but contented themselves with disputing the evidence in individual cases. ' ' Ipsi sibi somttta fingunt. ' ' ^ Virgil, Eclogues, viii. 109. There are some opinions in which a man should stand neuter, without engaging his assent to one side or the other. Such a hovering faith as this, which refuses to settle upon any determination, is absolutely necessary to a mind that is careful to avoid errors and preposses- 1. " They make their own dreams." State tlie application of this title verse. 92 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY sions. When the arguments press equally on both sides in matters that are indifferent to us, the safest method is to give up ourselves to neither. I,t is with this temper of mind that I consider the subject of witchcraft. When I hear the relations'^ that are made from all parts of the world, not only from Norway and Lapland,^ from the East and West Indies, but from every particular nation in Europe, 1 cannot forbear thinking that there is such an intercourse and commerce with evil spirits, as that which we express by the name of witchcraft. But when I consider that the ignorant and credulous parts of the world abound most in these relations, and that the persons among us, who are supposed to engage in such an infernal com- merce, are people of a weak understanding and a crazed imagination, and at the same time reflect upon the many impostures and delusions of this nature that have been detected in all ages, I endeavor to suspend my belief till I hear more certain accounts than any which have yet come to my knowledge. In short, when I consider the question, whether there are such persons in the world as those we call witches, my mind is divided between the two opposite opinions ; or rather (to speak my thoughts freely) I believe in general that there is, and has been such a thing as witchcraft ; but at the same time can give no credit to any particular instance of it.^ 2. What word ^rould you use in tliis connection 1 3. The Lapps and Finns have always been credited by their neigh- bors with maintaining regular communication with all kinds of evil spirits. 4. What point is made in tliis paragraph 1 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 93 I am engaged in this speculation, by some occurrences that I met with yesterday, which I shall give my reader an account of at large. As I was walking with my friend Sir Roger by the side of one of his woods, an old woman applied herself to me for my charity. Her dress and figure put me in mind of the following descrip- tion in Otway.^ "In a close lane as I pursu'd my journey, I spv'd a wrinkled hag, with age grown double, Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself. Her eyes with scalding rheum were gall'd and red. Cold palsy shook her head; her hands seem'd wither'd ; And on her crooked shoulders had she wrapp'd The tatter'd remnants of an old striped hanging, Which served to keep her carcass from the cold : So there was nothing of a piece about her, Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patch 'd With diff'rent-color'd rags, black, red, w^hite, yellow, And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness." As I was musing on this description, and comparing it with the object before me, the knight told me, that this very old woman had the reputation of a witch^ all over the country, that her lips were observed to be always in motion, and that there was not a switch 5. The lines are from "The Orphan" ;i tragedy by Thomas Otway (1680). 6. According to popular superstition, the witch could ride through the air on a broom or a bundle of sticks; could assume, or cause her attendant spirits to assume, the form of any animal; and could fill the bodirs of human beings with pins and needles causing intense^ agony. The words and symbols of the rites of the Christian religion were a bar to the operations of witches; but, to counteract the effect of prayer, the witches, while others were praying, repeated the same prayer backward. 94 SIJ^ ROGER DE COVERLEY about her house which her neighbors did not believe had carried her several hundreds of miles. If she chanced to stumble, they always found sticks or straws that lay in the figure of a cross before her. If she made any mistake at church, and cried ''Amen" in a wrong place, they never failed to conclude that she was saying her prayers backwards. There was not a maid in the parish that would take a pin of her, though she would offer a bag of money with it. She goes by the name of Moll White, and has made the country ring with several imaginary exploits which are palmed upon her. If the dairy-maid does not make her butter come so soon as she should have it, Moll White is at the bottom of the churn. If a horse sweats in the stable, Moll White has been upon his back. If a hare makes an unexpected escape from the hounds, the huntsman curses Moll White. Nay (says Sir Roger), I have known the master of the pack, upon such an occasion, send one of his servants to see if Moll White had been out that morning. This account raised my curiosity so far, that I begged my friend Sir Roger to go w^th me into her hovel, w^hich stood in a solitary corner under the side of the wood. Upon our first entering Sir Roger winked to me, and pointed at something that stood behind the door, which, upon looking that way, I found to be an old broom-staff. At the same time he whispered me in the ear to take notice of a tabby cat that sat in the chimney-corner, vs^hich, as the old knight told me, lay under as bad a report as Moll White herself ; for be- SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY ^^ sides that Moll is said often to accompany her in the same shape, the cat is reported to have spoken twice or thrice in her life, and to have played several pranks above the capacity of an ordinary cat. I was secretly concerned to see human nature in so much wretchedness and disgrace, but at the same time could not forbear smiling to hear Sir Roger, w^ho is a little puzzled about the old woman, advising her as a justice of peace to avoid all communication wdth the Devil, and never to hurt any oE her neighbor's cattle. We concluded our visit with a bounty, which w^as very acceptable. In our return home. Sir Roger told me, that old Moll had been often brought before him for making, children spit pins, and giving maids the nightmare ; and that the country people would be tossing her into a pond''' and trying experiments with her every day, if it was not for him and his chaplain. I have since found upon inquiry, that Sir Roger was several times staggered with the reports that had been brought him concerning this old woman, and would frequently have bound her over to the county sessions, had not his chaplain with much ado persuaded him to the contrary. I have been the more particular in this account, be- cause I hear there is scarce a village in England that has not a Moll White in it. When an old woman begins to dote, and grow chargeable to a parish, she is generally turned into a witch, and fills the whole country 7. If she were a witch, she would float on the water. 96 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY with extravagant fancies, imaginary distempers and ter- rifying dreams. In the mean time, the poor Avretch that is the innocent occasion of so many evils begins to be frighted at herself, and sometimes confesses secret commerce and familiarities that her imagination forms in a delirious old age. This frequently cuts off charity from the greatest objects of compassion, and inspires people with a malevolence towards those poor decrepit pafrts of our species, in whom human nature is defaced by infirmity and dotage. L. SIR ROGER DE COVER LEY 97 XV ROMANCE AT COVERLEY Sir Roger's Views on Confidantes and Coquetry (Steele, in Spectator ^ No. iiS, July i6, 171 1) Introductory Note. This essay is a mild burlesque on the love episodes in the popular romances of the day. It is possible that Sir Roger's remarks on. the subject of " con- fidantes " are intended as a veiled criticism of the conduct of Queen Anne, then a v^idow, whose private and public action was wholly controlled by feminine advisers. The ruling favorite at the time this essay was written (Mrs. Masham) was lending the influence of the Crown to a reactionary policy in public affairs, at variance with the political views of Addison. " HcEret later i let kalis arundo,^'' ^ Virgil, ^Eneid, Lib. IV. 73. This agreeable seat is surrounded with so many pleas- ing walks, which are struck out of a wood,^ in the midst of which the house stands, that one can hardly ever be weary of rambling from one labyrinth of delight to another. To one used to live^ in a city the charms of the country are so exquisite, that the mind is lost in a certain transport which raises us above ordinary life, and is yet not strong enough to be inconsistent with tranquillity. This state of mind was I in, ravished with the murmur of waters, the whisper of breezes, the sing- ing of birds ; and whether I looked up to the heavens, 1. " The deadly dart still slicks in her side." State the applica- tion of tliis title verse. 2. Explain. 3. IVtiat is our idioml 98 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY down on the earth, or turned to the prospects around me, still struck ^vith new sense of pleasure ; when I found by the voice of my friend, who walked by me, that we had insensibly strolled into the grove sacred to the widow. '' This woman," says he, ''is of all others the most unintelligible : she either designs to marry, or she does not. What is the most perplexing of all, is, that she doth not either say to her lovers she has any resolution against that condition of life in general, or that she banishes them ; but conscious of her own merit, she permits their addresses, vs^ithout fear of any ill con- sequence, or want of respect, from their rage or despair. She has that in her aspect, against which it is impossible to offend. A man whose thoughts are constantly bent upon so agreeable an object, must be excused if the ordinary occurrences in conversation are below his at- tention. I call her indeed perverse, but, alas ! w4iy do I call her so? Because her superior merit is such, that I cannot approach her without awe, that my heart is checked by too much esteem : I am angry that her charms are not more accessible, that I am more inclined to worship than salute her : how often have I wished her unhappy that I might have an opportunity of serving her? and how often troubled in that very imagination, at giving her the pain of being obliged? Well, I have led a miserable life in secret upon her account ; but fancy she would have condescended to have some regard for me, if it had not been for that watchful animal her confidante. " Of all persons under the sun" (continued he, calling SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 99 me by my name) ''be sure to set a mark upon confi- dantes :^ they are of all people the most impertinent. What is most pleasant to observe in them, is, that they assume to themselves the merit of the persons w^hom they have in their custody. Orestilla^ is a great fortune, and in wonderful danger of surprises, therefore full of suspi- cions of the least indifferent thing, particularly careful of new^ acquaintance, and of growing too familiar with the old. Themista,^ her favorite woman, is every whit as careful of whom she speaks to, and what she says. Let the ward be a beauty, her confidante shall treat you with an air of distance ; let her be a fortune, and she assumes the suspicious behavior of her friend and patroness. Thus it is that very many of our unmarried women of distinction, are to all intents and purposes married, except the consideration of different sexes. They are directly under the conduct of their whisperer ; and think they are in a state of freedom, while they can prate Avith one of these attendants of aP men in general, and still avoid the man they most like. You do not see one heiress in a hundred whose fate does not turn upon this circumstance of choosing a confidante. Thus it is that the lady is addressed to, presented and flattered, only by proxy, in her woman. In my case, how is it possible that" — Sir Roger was proceeding in his harangue, when we heard the voice of one speaking very importunately, and repeating these words, " What, not one smile ? " We followed the sound till we came 4. Confidential attendant. See Introductory Note. 5. "Mountain nymph." 6. "Propriety." 100 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY to a close thicket, on the other side of which we saw a young woman sitting as it were in a personated sullen- ness just over a transparent fountain. Opposite to her stood Mr. William, Sir Roger's master of the game. The knight whispered me, '' Hist, -these are lovers." The huntsman looked earnestly at the shadow of the young maiden in the stream, " O thou dear picture, if thou couldst remain there in the absence of that fair creature whom you represent in the water, how will- ingly could I stand here satisfied forever, without troub- ling my dear Betty herself with any mention of her unfortunate William, whom she is angry with : but alas ! when she pleases to be gone, thou wilt also vanish — Yet let me talk to thee while thou dost stay. Tell my dearest Betty thou dost not more depend upon her, than does her William ? Her absence will make away with me as well as thee. If she offers to remove thee, I'll jump into these waves to lay hold on thee ; herself, her own dear person, I must never embrace again — Still do you hear me without one smile — It is too much to bear" — He had no sooner spoke these v^^ords, but he made an offer of throwing himself into the water : at which his mistress started up, and at the next instant he jumped across the fountain and met her in an embrace. She half recovering from her fright, said in the most charming voice imaginable, and with a tone of com- plaint, " I thought how wxll you would drown yourself. No, no, you won't drown yourself till you have taken your leave of Susan Holliday." The huntsman, with a tenderness that spoke the most passionate love, and with SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 101 his cheek close to hers, whispered the softest vows of fidelity in her ear, and cried ''Don't, my dear, believe a word Kate Willow says ; she is spiteful and makes stories, because she loves to hear me talk to herself for your sake." — '' Look you there," quoth Sir Roger, '' do you see there, all mischief comes from confidantes ! But let us not interrupt them ; the maid is honest, and the man dares not be otherwise, for he knows I loved her father : I will interpose in this matter, and hasten the wedding. Kate Willow is a witty mischievous wench in the neighborhood, who was a beauty ; and makes me hope I shall see the perverse widow in her condition. She was so flippant with her answers to all the honest fellows that came near her, and so very vain of her beauty, that she has valued herself upon her charms till they are ceased. She therefore now makes it her business to prevent other young women from being more discreet than she was herself : however, the saucy thing said the other day well enough, ' Sir Roger and I must make a match, for we are both despised by those we loved : ' the hussy has a great deal of power wher- ever she comes, and has her share of cunning. "However, when I reflect upon this woman, I do not know whether in the main I am the worse for hav- ing loved her : whenever she is recalled to my imagina- tion my youth returns, and I feel a forgotten warmth in my veins. This affliction in my life has streaked all my conduct with a softness, of which I should otherwise have been incapable. It is, perhaps, to this dear image in my heart owing, that I am apt to relent, that I easily 102 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY forgive, and that many desirable things are grown into my temper, which I should not have arrived at by better motives than the thought of being one day hers. I am pretty well satisfied such a passion as I have had is never well cured ; and between you and me, I am often apt to imagine it has had some wdiimsical effect upon my brain : for I frequently find, that in my most serious discourse I let fall some comical familiarity of speech or odd phrase that makes the company laugh ; however, I can- not but allow she is a most excellent woman. When she is in the country I warrant she does not run into dairies, but reads upon the nature of plants ; but has a glass hive, and comes into the garden out of books to see them w^ork, and observe the policies of their commonwealth. She understands everything. I'd give ten pounds to hear her argue with my friend Sir Andrew Freeport about trade. No, no, for all she looks so innocent, as it were, take my w^ord for it she is no fool." T. Suggestion.— In what respects is this essay important in the Spectator's character sketch of Sir Roger? SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 103 XVI THE COVERLEY CODE OF MANNERS "Mr. Spectator's" Views on Natural and Artificial Politeness (Addison, in Spectator^ No. 119, July 17, 1711) Introductory Note. In this Paper, Addison shows how cer- tain social conventionalities, adopted in the country in imitation of the higher refinement of city life, continue to be observed among country people long after they have become unfashion- able in the towns where they originated. Hence, the living fashions of the peasantry are often a distant, but genuine, reflection of the extinct fashions of courts. " Urgent quant dicu7it Romam, Meliboee^ futavi Stultus ego huic 7iostrce similem.'*' 1 Virgil, Eclogues, i. 20. The first and most obvious reflections which arise in a man who changes the city for the country, are upon the different manners of the people whom he meets with in those two different scenes of life. By manners I do not mean morals, but behavior and good breeding, as they show themselves in the town and in the country. And here, in the first place, I must observe a very great revolution that has happened in this article of good breeding. Several obliging deferences,^ conde- scensions and submissions, with many outward forms and ceremonies that accompany them, were first of all 1. "The city which they call Rome, O Melibceus, I imagined, in my simplicity, to be like this country village of ours." 2. Give tlie meaning. 104 Sm ROGER DE COVERLEY brought up among the politer part of mankind, who lived in courts and cities, and distinguished themselves from the rustic part of the species (who on all occa- sions acted bluntly and naturally) by such a mutual complaisance and intercourse of civilities. These forms of conversation by degrees multiplied and gre^v trouble- some ; the modish world found too great a constraint in them, and have therefore thrown most of them aside. Conversation, . . . was so encumbered with show and ceremony, that it stood in need of a reformation to re- trench its superfluities, and restore it to its natural good sense and beauty. At present therefore an unconstrained carriage, and a certain openness of behavior, are the height of good breeding. The fashionable world is grown free and easy ; our manners sit more loose upon us : nothing is so modish as an agreeable negligence. In a w^ord, good breeding shows itself most, where to an ordinary eye it appears the least. ^ If after this we look on the people of mode in the country, we find in them the manners of the last age. They have no sooner fetched themselves up to the fash- ions of the polite world, but the town has dropped them, and are nearer to the first state of nature than to those refinements which formerly reigned in the court, and still prevail in the country. One may now know^ a man that never conversed in the world, by his excess of good breeding. A polite country squire shall make you as manv bows in half an hour, as would serve a courtier 3. Has tliis fiiiidameiital principle cliaii§;ed since Addison's dayl I SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 105 for a week. There is infinitely more to-do about place and precedency in a meeting of justices' wives, than in an assembly of duchesses.^ This rural politeness is very troublesome to a man of my temper, who generally take the chair that is next me, and walk first or last, in the front or in the rear, as chance directs. I have known my friend Sir Roger's dinner almost cold before the company could adjust the ceremonial, and be prevailed upon to sit doys^n ; and have heartily pitied my old friend, when I have seen him forced to pick and cull his guests, as they sat at the several parts of his table, that he might drink their healths according to their respective ranks and qualities. Honest Will Wimble, w^ho I should have thought had been altogether uninfected with ceremony, gives me abundance of trouble in this particular. Though he has been fishing all the morning, he will not help him- self at dinner till I am served. When we are going out of the hall, he runs behind me ; and last night, as we were walking in the fields, stopped short at a stile till I came up to it, and upon my making signs to him to get over, told me, with a serious smile, that sure I believed they had no manners in the country. There has happened another revolution in the point of good breeding, which relates to the conversation among men of mode, and which I cannot but look upon as very extraordinary. It was certainly one of the first distinctions of a well-bred man, to express 4. Reproduce ttie paraj^raph in your o\tii vrords. Fiud in ike dictionary th© expression << to-do." 106 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY everything that had the most remote appearance of being obscene, in modest terms and distant phrases ; whilst the clown, who had no such delicacy of concep- tion and expression, clothed his ideas in those plain homely terms that are the most obvious and natural. This kind of good manners was perhaps carried to an excess, so as to make conversation too stiff, formal and precise ; for which reason (as hypocrisy in one age is generally succeeded by atheism in another) conversa- tion is in a great measure relapsed into the first extreme ; so that at present several of our men of the town, and particularly those who have been polished in France, make use of the most coarse uncivilized words in our language, and utter themselves often in such a manner as a clown would blush to hear. This infamous piece of good breeding, which reigns among the coxcombs of the town, has not yet made its way into the country ; and as it is impossible for such an irrational way of conversation to last long among a people that make any profession of religion, or show^ of modesty, if the country gentlemen get into it they will certainly be left in the lurch. ^ Their good breeding will come too late to them, and they vs^ill be thought a parcel of lewd clowns, while they fancy themselves talking together like men of wit and pleasure. As the two points of good breeding, which I have hitherto insisted upon, regard behavior and conversa- tion, there is a third which turns upon dress. In this 5. It is interesting to note that in America this is still a common Idiom. Find the word <