THE SPECTATOR. WITH SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF THE AUTHORS, AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. IN EIGHT VOLUMES. VOL: I. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR BELL & BRADFUTE, PETER HILL & Co., DOIG & STIRLING, ROBERT SCHOLEY, LONDON. 1816. SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF THE AUTHORS. SIR RICHARD STEELE. As a writer of periodical essays, the name of Steele is entitled to the first place. Papers on a plan somewhat similar to the Spectator had indeed been attempted with considerable success in Italy, by Casa in his Book of Manners, by Castiglione in his Courtier; and in France, by La Bruyere in his Manners of the Age: But before ⚫ the Tatler and Spectator, if the writers for the theatre are excepted, (says Johnson), England had no masters of common life. No writers had yet un⚫dertaken to reform either the savageness of neglect, or the impertinence of civility, to teach when to speak, or to be silent; how to refuse, or how to com'ply. The Tatler and Spectator reduced, like Casa, ⚫ the unsettled practice of daily intercourse to propriety and politeness; and, like La Bruyere, exhi'bited the characters and manners of the age.' |