in which there was anything new or strange to be seen; nay, to such a degree was my curiosity raised, that having read the controversies of some great men concerning the antiquities of Egypt, I made a voyage to Grand Cairo, on purpose to take the measure of a pyramid; and, as soon as I had set myself 55 right in that particular, returned to my native country with great satisfaction.

I have passed my latter years in this city, where I am frequently seen in most public places, though there are not above half a dozen of my select friends that know me; of whom 60 my next paper shall give a more particular account. There is no place of general resort wherein I do not often make my appearance; sometimes I am seen thrusting my head into a round of politicians at Will's,1 and listening with great attention to the narratives that are made in those little circular 65 audiences. Sometimes I smoke a pipe at Child's, and, while I seem attentive to nothing but the Postman,2 overhear the conversation of every table in the room. I appear on Sunday nights at St. James's coffee-house, and sometimes join the little committee of politics in the inner room, as one who 70 comes there 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 Hay Market. I have been taken for a merchant upon the Exchange for above these ten years, and sometimes pass for a Jew in the assembly of stock-jobbers 75 at Jonathan's. In short, wherever I see a cluster of people, I always mix with them, though I never open my lips but in my own club.®

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1 In Addison's day there were many coffee-houses in London, each having a particular set of visitors. Thus Wills' was the literary coffee-house (though Addison speaks of politicians), Childs' the ministers' and doctors', the Grecian the lawyers'; the St. James was political, used chiefly by the Whigs, as the Cocoa-tree was by the Tories. a penny paper of the time.

'Addison was on the Whig side in politics, and rose to be Secretary of State.

4 two famous theatres of the time.

the Royal Exchange or meeting place for merchants.

A club in Addison's day was a group which met, generally in the evening, at some tavern.

Thus I live in the world rather as a Spectator of mankind. 80 than as one of the species; by which means I have made myself a speculative statesman, soldier, merchant, and artisan, without ever meddling with any practical part in life. I am very well versed in the theory of an husband or a father, and can discern the errors in the economy, business, and diversion 85 of others, better than those who are engaged in them; as standers-by discover blots, which are apt to escape those who are in the game. I never espoused any party with violence, and am resolved to observe an exact neutrality between the Whigs and Tories,1 unless I shall be forced to declare myself 90 by the hostilities of either side. In short, I have acted in all the parts of my life as a looker-on, which is the character I intend to preserve in this paper.

I have given the reader just so much of my history and character, as to let him see I am not altogether unqualified 95 for the business I have undertaken. As for other particulars in my life and adventures, I shall insert them in following papers, as I shall see occasion. In the meantime, when I consider how much I have seen, read, and heard, I begin to blame my own taciturnity; and since I have neither time nor 100 inclination to communicate the fulness of my heart in speech,

I am resolved to do it in writing, and to print myself out, if possible, before I die. I have been often told by my friends, that it is pity so many useful discoveries which I have made should be in the possession of a silent man. For this reason, 105 therefore, I shall publish a sheet full of thoughts every morning, for the benefit of my contemporaries; and if I can any way contribute to the diversion or improvement of the country in which I live, I shall leave it when I am summoned out of it, with the secret satisfaction of thinking that I have not 110 lived in vain.

There are three very material points which I have not

1 The old party names in England, corresponding to the Liberals and Conservatives of the present. The names arose toward the end of the seventeenth century.

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 lodgings. I must confess I would gratify my reader in anything that is 115 reasonable; but as for these three particulars, 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 120 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 impossible but 125 I may make discoveries of both in the progress of the work I have undertaken.

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 130 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 me may direct their letters to The Spectator, at Mr. Buckley's in Little Britain. For 135 I must further acquaint the reader, that though our club meets only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have appointed. a committee to sit every night, for the inspection of all such papers as may contribute to the advancement of the public weal.

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THE first of our society is a gentleman of Worcestershire, of ancient descent, a baronet,1 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 5 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 singularities proceed from his good sense, and are contradictions to the manners of the world only as he thinks the world is in the wrong. However, this humor 10 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 who know him. When he is in town, he lives in Soho Square. It is said he keeps himself a bachelor by 15 reason he was crossed in love by a perverse beautiful widow 5 of the next county to him. Before this disappointment, Sir Roger was 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 Daw20 son in a public coffee-house for calling him "youngster." But being ill-used by the above mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper

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1 Baronet is the hereditary title of an order of hnighthood just below the nobility. 2 Cf. 1, 36.

modifies contradictions.

4 a fashionable part of London, laid out in the reign of Charles II.

6 Cf. No. 113.

an extravagant nobleman of the time of Charles II,

7 a dissipated dramatist,

being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards.1 He continues to wear a coat and doublet of the same cut that were in 25 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, cheerful, gay, and hearty; keeps a good house in both town and country; a great lover of mankind; but there is such a mirthful cast 30 in his behavior, that he is rather beloved than esteemed. His tenants grow rich, his servants look satisfied, all the young women profess love to him, and the young men are glad of his company: when he comes into the house he calls the servants by their names, and talks all the way upstairs to a 35 visit. I must not omit that Sir Roger is a justice of the quorum; that he fills the chair at a quarter-session with great abilities, and, three months ago, gained universal applause by explaining a passage in the Game Act.

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The gentleman next in esteem and authority among us is 40 another bachelor, who is a member of the Inner Temple, a man of great probity, wit, and understanding; 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 45 land, and is the most learned of any of the house in those of the stage. Aristotle and Longinus are much better understood by him than Littleton or Coke. The father sends up every post questions relating to marriage-articles, leases, and tenures, in the neighborhood; all which questions he 50

1 He used to be very well dressed: Cf. 113, 43.

2 thirty-three years before: 113, 37.

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the justices of the peace of any county, so-called from the first words of the commission appointing them.

of the magistrates of the county.

The Temple had long been the home of two of the great societies of the Law. fanciful: Cf. humor, 84.

of his brother lawyers.

8 two of the great literary critics of antiquity.

9 great authorities on the law.