successfully, that it is not easy to determine any one paper to be his. Of these which have been attributed to him, upon conjecture, he had no reason to be ashamed; yet it frequently happens that men in advanced and serious life do not look upon their juvenile productions with complacency. If this apology is unsatisfactory, let it be supposed, on the other hand, that he became vain, and thought them beneath him*. It may not be unentertaining now to take a cursory view of the principal periodical papers which accompanied or succeeded those on which the opinion of the public have bestowed classical fame. A complete enumeration would be difficult: many of them attracted so little notice, as to fall still-born from the press; others acquired temporary fame, and are now forgotten; and a few are yet occasionally read or consulted by those who are curious to trace the opinions or manners of the times.

In this sketch, we shall first follow those writers whose success in the TATLER, &c. seemed to justify their subsequent attempts to guide public opinion in literature, manners, or politics.

Mr. HUGHES, after communicating to ADDISON the conclusion of the GUARDIAN by STEELE, which we have already quoted from his letter, goes on in the same to inform ADDISON, that he had sketched the plan of a new paper. In this he supposes a society of learned men, of various characters, who meet together to carry on a conversation on all kinds of subjects, and who empower their Secretary to draw up any of their discourses, or publish any of their writings, under the title of REGISTER. "By this means," he adds, "I think the town might be sometimes entertained with dialogue, which will be a new way of writing,

"We have not been able to learn what family he left, if any; his widow, we have heard, was living not many years ago. RICHARD TICKELL, Esq. a (late) Commissioner of the Stamps, and author of the humorous pamphlet, called 'Anticipation,' as well as of several ingenious poetical productions, is certainly of our poet's family; but there is some reason to think he is a descendant of his brother, RICHARD TICKELL, Esq. who married in Whitehaven." HUTCHINSON, ubi supra. Subsequent information assures me that the late RICHARD TICKELL was the son of THOMAS TICKELL.

either related or set down in form, under the names of different speakers; and sometimes with essays, or with discourses in the person of the writer of the paper."-ADDISON, in his answer, after acknowledging that he had read the specimen with pleasure, and approved the title of REGISTER, says, "To tell you truly, I have been so taken up with thoughts of that nature for these two or three years last past, that I must now take some time pour me delasser, and lay in fewel for a future work. In the mean time I should be glad if you would set such a project on foot, for I know nobody else capable of succeeding in it, and turning it to the good of mankind, since my friend has laid it down. I am in a thousand troubles for poor DICK, and wish that his zeal for the public may not be ruinous to himself; but he has sent me word, that he is determined to go on, and that any advice I can give him, in this particular, will have no weight with him*.

In this ADDISON proved a true prophet: Poor Dick did go on with the ENGLISHMAN, until he was expelled the House of Commonst, where he then had a seat for Stockbridge, for some libellous paragraphs in that paper, and in a pamphlet entitled "The Crisis." This event produced his "Apology," a very masterly composition, and altogether, perhaps, superior to any of his writings. It is necessary, however, to refer the reader to what has been advanced in the Preface to the TATLER, respecting his share inThe Crisis," which, there is now reason to think, was sketched if not entirely written by Mr. WILLIAM MOORE, a lawyer, and a coadjutor in the ENGLISHMAN.

This scheme between HUGHES and ADDISON was not carried into execution. STEELE Continued the ENGLISHMAN until it reached the fifty-sixth number. He then published a paper, or rather pamphlet, entitled "The Englishman; being the close of a paper

* DUNCOMBE'S Letters, vol. 1. pp. 78. 79. 80. 81. edit. 1772.

Sir ROBERT WALPOLE, let it be remembered, made an able speech in defence of STEELE on this occasion. See CoxE's Memoirs of Sir R. WALPOLE, p. 43. vol. 1. 4to.

so called, with an epistle concerning the Whigs, Tories, and new Converts. By Richard Steele, Esq. The whole were then reprinted in a handsome volume octavo, which does not appear to have had more than a temporary sale.

To the ENGLISHMAN, the LOVER immediately succeeded, in which STEELE returns again to domestic life and manners. The first paper appeared Feb. 25, 1714, and the last May 27, of the same year, making in all forty papers. Two of these, Nos. 10. and 39. were written by ADDISON, and reprinted accordingly in his works. No. 10. on an extravagant fondness for china-ware, is not inferior in richness of humour to the best of his SPECTATORS. The quotation from Epictetus is a masterly stroke. No. 39. is intended as a recommendation of BUDGELL's translation of Theophrastus.

Before the LOVER was finished, our indefatigable Essayist published The READER, in opposition to the EXAMINER. This reached only the ninth number. The LOVER and READER were frequently reprinted. His next attempt was entitled The TownTALK, in a series of letters to a Lady in the country: it consisted also of nine numbers, printed weekly, in quarto, and sold by R. BURLEIGH, in Amen Corner, at the price of threepence each number. It is conjectured that they were a series of genuine letters, written by STEELE to his lady, then in the country, and that they were afterwards altered and enlarged for public use. They are generally amusing, but the first is highly exceptionable on account of its indelicacy, a fault for which STEELE is not often to blame. POPE did him justice when he said, "he had a real love of virtue.' The first number of the TOWNTALK was published Dec. 17, 1715, and the last Feb. 13, 1715-16. Three papers, entitled The TEA-TABLE, were published by STEELE in February 1715-16, of which no further account has been transmitted. It

* This does not appear to have been printed in folio, as the other papers were, at least it is not in the folio copy obligingly lent to me by Mr, NICHOLS,

is evident that none of the last mentioned papers were eminently successful, although some of them have great merit, and amply deserve the handsome form in which they have lately been published *.

STEELE'S next appearance as an Essayist was in The PLEBEIAN, No. 1. March 14, 1718-19. Four numbers of this have been reprinted in Mr. NICHOLS' edition. The whole relate to the Peerage Bill, and deserve notice principally on account of the quarrel which they produced between ADDISON and STEele. Of this unfortunate affair Dr. JOHNSON, in his Life of ADDISON, has given the following particulars:

"In 1718-19, a controversy was agitated, with great vehemence, between those friends of long continuance, ADDISON and STEELE. It may be asked, in the language of Homer, what power or what cause could set them at variance? The subject of their dispute was of great importance. The Earl of SUNDERLAND proposed an Act, called the Peerage Bill, by which the number of Peers should be fixed, and the King restrained from any new creation of nobility, unless when an old family should be extinct. To this the lords would naturally agree; and the King, who was yet little acquainted with his own prerogative, and, as is now well known, almost indifferent to the possession of the crown, had been persuaded to consent. The only difficulty was found among the commons, who were not likely to approve the perpetual exclusion of themselves and their posterity. The bill, therefore, was eagerly opposed, and among others by Sir ROBERT WALPOLE, whose speech was published. The lords might think their dignity diminished by improper advancements, and particularly by the introduction of twelve new peers at once, to produce a majority of Tories in the last reign; an act of authority violent enough, yet certainly legal, and by no means to be compared with that contempt of national right, with which some time afterwards, by the instigation of

*By Mr. NICHOLS, in 1789, 2 vols. cr. octavo, enriched with valuable annotations, to which I have been much indebted, and with a very ingenious Preface to THE Lover.

Whigism, the commons, chosen by the people for three years, chose themselves for seven. But whatever might be the disposition of the lords, the people had no wish to increase their power. The tendency of the bill, as STEELE observed in a letter to the Earl of OXFORD, was to introduce an aristocracy, for a majority in the House of Lords, so limited, would have been despotic and irresistible. To prevent this subversion of the ancient establishment, STEELE, whose pen readily seconded his political passions, endeavoured to alarm the nation by a pamphlet, called The PLEBEIAN. To this an answer was published by ADDISON, under the title of The OLD WHIG, in which it is not discovered that STEELE was then known to be the advocate for the commons. STEELE replied by a second PLEBEIAN, and, whether by ignorance or by courtesy, confined himself to his question, without any personal notice of his opponent. Nothing hitherto was committed against the laws of friendship, or proprieties of decency; but controvertists cannot long retain their kindness for each other. The OLD WHIG answered the PLEBEIAN, and could not forbear some contempt of "Little Dicky, whose trade it was to write pamphlets." Dicky, however, did not lose his settled veneration for his friend; but contented himself with quoting some lines of Cato, which were at once detection and reproof. The bill was laid aside during that session; and ADDISON died before the next, in which its commitment was rejected by two hundred sixty-five to one hundred seventy-seven. Every reader surely must regret that these two illustrious friends, after so many years passed in confidence and endearment, in unity of interest, conformity of opinion, and fellowship of study, should finally part in acrimonious opposition. Such a controversy was Bellum plusquam civile, as Lucan expresses it. Why could not faction find other advocates? But, among the uncertainties of the human state, we are doomed to number the instability of friendship,"