No, I dare not think so meanly of that wise and honourable body; but promise myself that in this Parliament, where matters of trade seem to be the most important affairs that will be the subject of its debates, the greatest and most trading city in the universe will be represented by traders, that is, merchants; for no others properly deserve that appellation, or can be esteemed proper representatives of the port of London.

While these things are duly considered, and the subjects of England maintain their property and wealth, under a sovereign that is their darling and benefactor, our neighbours in nakedness and penury may tell us as long as they please of the magnificence and grandeur of their mighty monarch and the gorgeous attire of his domestic vassals, without raising our envy or admiration.

From The Englishman, No. 3.

A

JOSEPH ADDISON (1672-1719)

LTHOUGH Addison's father desired him to study for his

own profession, that of a clergyman, Lord Halifax felt that the boy's writing during his Oxford years indicated qualities which could be put to the service of government. .Therefore Lord Halifax obtained for him a pension of £300, permitting him to travel and to study statesmanship. After four years of travel, principally in France and Italy, Addison returned just in time to gain recognition by his poem, The Campaign, in which he celebrated the victory of Marlborough at Blenheim. He was appointed Commissioner of Appeal in the Excise, and in 1706 an under secretary of state. Later he was Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, where he met Swift and Budgell, the contributors of some of the papers in the Spectator.

After the fall of the Whig ministry Addison turned to journalism. His first venture was the Whig Examiner, which ran for only five numbers. He soon recognized that Steele was the author of the Tatler and offered his services. Forty-two of the Tatler papers came from Addison's pen. Together these journalists founded the Spectator, a paper to establish a rational standard of conduct in morals, manners, art, and literature. Of the 635 papers Addison wrote 247. The Spectator became popular immediately with a circulation of 10,000 copies. Accounts of the interesting personalities of the various members of the club and of their experiences were interspersed among the critical essays and the discussion of current events. The Spectator prepared the way for modern fiction by presenting Sir Roger de Coverley, Will Honeycomb, Sir Andrew Freeport, Captain Sentry, and the Spectator himself. Several of the papers discuss commercial subjects, for Sir Andrew was the representative of the merchant class. The numbers included here are typical of Addison's keen analysis of the abuses of his day. The first advertisement, that of an Italian surgeon, appeared in the twenty-second number. There

after advertisements of various services offered to the public were occasionally published.

Addison's last paper was the Freeholder, written in 1715 to support the new king, George I, and to urge the English nation to be loyal to him. His own loyalty was rewarded by an appointment to the position of Secretary of State. He held this position only a year because of his poor health. Addison's great service to English literature was the creation of a reading public. His easy, clear style and his gentle ridicule of society make his essays enjoyable reading. Every class of reader found a personal message, for Addison knew how to adapt his style to his readers. Dr. Johnson paid the greatest tribute to this style when he wrote in his Life of Addison, "Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison."

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

There is no Place in the Town which I so much love to frequent as the Royal Exchange.1 It gives me a secret Satisfaction, and, in some measure, gratifies my Vanity, as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an Assembly of Countrymen and Foreigners consulting together upon the private Business of Mankind, and making this Metropolis a kind of Emporium for the whole Earth. I must confess I look upon High-Change to be a great Council, in which all considerable Nations have their Representatives. Factors in the Trading World are what Ambassadors are in the Politick World; they negotiate Affairs, conclude Treaties, and maintain a good Correspondence between those wealthy Societies of Men that are divided from one another by Seas and Oceans, or live on the different Extremities of a Continent. I have often been pleased to hear Disputes adjusted between an Inhabitant of Japan and an Alderman of London, or to see a Subject of the Great Mogul entering into a League with one of the Czar of Muscovy. I am infinitely

delighted in mixing with these several Ministers of Commerce, as they are distinguished by their different Walks and different Languages; Sometimes I am jostled among a Body of Armenians; Sometimes I am lost in a Crowd of Jews; and sometimes make one in a Groupe of Dutch-men. I am a Dane, Swede, or Frenchman at different times, or rather fancy my self like the old Philosopher, who upon being asked what Country-man he was, replied, That he was a Citizen of the World.

Though I very frequently visit this busy Multitude of People, I am known to no Body there but my Friend Sir Andrew, who often smiles upon me as he sees me bustling in the Crowd, but at the same time connives at my Presence without taking any further Notice of me. There is indeed a Merchant of Egypt, who just knows me by sight, having formerly remitted me some Money to Grand Cairo; but as I am not versed in the Modern Coptick, our Conferences go no further than a Bow and a Grimace.

This grand Scene of Business gives me an infinite Variety of solid and substantial Entertainments. As I am a great Lover of Mankind, my Heart naturally overflows with Pleasure at the sight of a prosperous and happy Multitude, insomuch that at many publick Solemnities I cannot forbear expressing my Joy with Tears that have stolen down my Cheeks. For this Reason I am wonderfully delighted to see such a Body of Men thriving in their own private Fortunes, and at the same time promoting the Publick Stock; or in other Words, raising Estates for their own Families, by bringing into their Country whatever is wanting, and carrying out of it whatever is superfluous.

Nature seems to have taken a particular Care to disseminate her Blessings among the different Regions of the World, with an Eye to this mutual Intercourse and Traf

fick among Mankind, that the Natives of the several Parts of the Globe might have a kind of Dependence upon one another, and be united together by their common Interest. Almost every Degree produces something peculiar to it. The Food often grows in one Country, and the Sauce in another The Fruits of Portugal are corrected by the Products of Barbadoes: The Infusion of a China Plant sweetened with the Pith of an Indian Cane. The Philippick Islands give a Flavour to our European Bowls. The single Dress of a Woman of Quality is often the Product of an Hundred Climates. The Muff and the Fan come together from the different Ends of the Earth. The Scarf is sent from the Torrid Zone, and the Tippet from beneath the Pole. The Brocade Petticoat rises out of the Mines of Peru, and the Diamond Necklace out of the Bowels of Indostan.

If we consider our own Country in its natural Prospect, without any of the Benefits and Advantages of Commerce, what a barren uncomfortable Spot of Earth falls to our Share! Natural Historians tell us, that no Fruit grows originally among us, besides Hips and Haws,2 Acorns and Pig-Nutts, with other Delicacies of the like Nature; That our Climate of it self, and without the Assistances of Art, can make no further Advances toward a Plum than to a Sloe, and carries an Apple to no greater a Perfection than a Crab; That our Melons, our Peaches, our Figs, our Apricots, and Cherries, are Strangers among us, imported in different Ages, and naturalized in our English Gardens; and that they would all degenerate and fall away into the Trash of our own Country, if they were wholly neglected by the Planter, and left to the Mercy of our Sun and Soil. Nor has Traffick more enriched our Vegetable World, than it has improved the whole Face of Nature among us. Our