PERIODICAL LITERATURE 229 This publication was not merely political in its scope, but included news items, articles suggested by them, and occasional essays. There was one department conducted under the head of The Scandalous Club; and SCENE IN A TYPICAL ENGLISH COFFEE-HOUSE this feature of Defoe's Review, together with the es says on themes of popular interest, undoubtedly supplied the hint which brought the Tatler, the Spectator, and numerous similar publications into the field. At the date when Steele brought out his Tatler there were at least a dozen newspapers, so-called, appearing in London regularly on post days, which were Tues days, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and half that number published on the alternate days of the week. There was another feature in the social life of this The Coffee- period as intimately related to the essay Houses. writing of Steele and Addison as was the existence of this periodical literature; this was the institution of the London coffee-honse. In 1652 coffee was first introduced into England as a beverage of common use, and houses of public entertainment where coffee was dispensed became the common places of resort for masculine society. According to one authority there were three thousand coffee-houses in England in 1708, when Steele was beginning to plan for the issue of his little paper. Some of these resorts filled the place of the modern club. In London, men of affairs thronged the coffee-houses daily, so that these became the common exchanges of news, and also of ideas. Among those oftenest mentioned were Garraway's, where tea was first retailed; the Jerusalem, one of the earliest of all the news rooms; Jonathan's, the resort of the brokers in 'Change Alley; Lloyds', the precursor of the noted exchange for marine intelligence, and headquarters for marine insurance at the present day; Tom's, in Cornhill; Dick's, and Will's. At this last-named house it was customary for men of literary tastes and professional men to gather; here John Dryden had occupied the seat of honor in his day, having his chair placed on the balcony in summer, and in winter occupying the warmest nook in the room. Pope was brought thither when a child, that he might at least look on the great man and hear him speak. Swift and Addison, as well as Steele, were frequent guests. Current gossip of the bookshops and the theatres circulated among its stalls. Students from the universities, clergymen in gown and cassock, scribblers of many THE COFFEE-HOUSES 231 It was in ranks, thronged the rooms, blue with tobacco smoke, where they chatted and listened by turns. this very atmosphere that the Tatler was born; the tone of easy familiarity, the vivacious wit, the ready omniscience of the coffee-house oracle- all were pleasantly infused by Steele into the pages of his genial Tatler, and by both writers into the Spectator afterward. Both papers abound in allusions to these resorts. Steele's first number, in outlining the plan of the new periodical, states that "all accounts of gallantry, pleasure, and entertainment shall be under the article of White's chocolate-house; poetry under that of Will's coffee-house; learning under the title of Grecian [so named because first managed by a Greek]; foreign and domestic news, you will have from St. James's coffeehouse [headquarters for the Whigs]; and whatever else I have to offer on any subject shall be dated from my own apartment." This programme was for some time adhered to in the arrangement of the paper. In his character of the Spectator, Addison has this to say in the first issue of that periodical: "There is no place of general resort wherin I do not often make my appearance; sometimes I am seen thrusting my head into a round of politicians at Will's and listening with great attention to the narratives that are made in these little circular audiences. Sometimes I smoke a pipe at Childs', and while I seem attentive to nothing but The Postman,1 overhear the conversation of every table in the room. I appear on Tuesday night at St. James's coffee-house, and sometimes join the little committee of politics in the inner room, as one who comes to hear and improve. My face is likewise very well known at the Grecian, the Cocoa-tree, and in the theatres both of Drury Lane and the Haymarket. I 1 Title of a newspaper. Compare Thackeray on these periodicals in his English Humourists. have been taken for a merchant upon the Exchange for above these two years; and sometimes pass for a Jew in the assembly of stock-jobbers at Jonathan's." Tatler. Having reviewed thus the conditions so favorable to The the new experiment, it is easy to see how the conception of that famous little sheet, the Tatler, developed in the sanguine mind of Richard Steele. Humor was an element which had not yet appeared-intentionally—in the publications then current; but Dick Steele was a humorist of genuine and happy type. In the first issue of his paper the spirit of his genial, lively nature found prompt expression, and to the pervasive presence of this agreeable quality must we assign in part the immediate popularity of his enterprise. Something of a serious purpose is also avowed by the author in the dedication of the first completed volume: "The general purpose of this Paper is to expose the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning vanity and affectation, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behavior." The Tatler appeared on post days, three times a week; the sheet was small, and sold for a penny; the first number was issued April 12, 1709, the last, January 2, 1711. Contributions were accepted from various writers, some of whom were not identified until the publication of the final volume. Addison, who detected the personality of Steele on reading the sixth number, contributed forty-one of the papers, and, in conjunction with his friend, wrote thirty-four others; but of the 271 Tatlers 188 were written by Steele. Two months after the cessation of the Tatler Steele was ready with a new venture, and March 1, 1711, he issued the first Spectator. In this publication Joseph THE SPECTATOR tator. 233 Addison soon became the dominant spirit, and with the essays published in this most famous of The Specthe literary periodicals his fame as an English writer is most closely connected. He wrote 274 of the 555 numbers which composed the first series, and twenty-four of the second series, which appeared in 1714. Of the 635 numbers included in both the first and second Spectator, Steele produced 240. ; The famous "Club," which forms the most impor tant feature of the periodical, was originated by Steele but Addison so elaborated and appropriated the characters of its members, particularly that of Sir Roger de Coverley, the amiable country squire, that this portion of the work is justly attributed to him. The success of the Spectator surpassed that of its predecessor. There was no attempt to furnish the news; each number contained a finished essay. In the tenth number the Spectator declares, in his own character: "The mind that lies fallow but a single day sprouts up in follies that are only to be killed by a constant and assiduous culture. It was said of Socrates that he brought Philosophy down from heaven to inhabit among men; and I shall be ambitious to have it said of me that I have brought Philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and in coffee-houses." That the hopes of the essayist were not disappointed may be inferred from the following letter, printed in Number 92 of the periodical : "MR. SPECTATOR, Your paper is a part of my teaequipage; and my servant knows my humor so well that, in calling for my breakfast this morning (it being past my usual hour), she answered the Spectator was not yet come in, but the tea-kettle boiled, and she expected it every moment." 1 1 This was a genuine communication from a Miss Shepherd. |