it, he gives "the histories and characters of all our periodical
papers, whether monthly, weekly or diurnal," and it is, therefore, of
value to the student of the early days of English journalism. He
claimed to write without political bias: "I shall only promise that,
as you know, I never cared one farthing either for Whig or Tory, so I
shall consider our writers purely as they are such, without any
respect to which party they belong." In "The Present State of Wit"
most of the better-known periodical writers are introduced. Dr.
William King is mentioned, not he who was the Archbishop of Dublin,
nor he who was the Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, but he of whom
it was said that he "could write verses in a tavern three hours after
he could not speak," who was the author of the "Art of Cookery" and
the "Art of Love," and who in 1709 had fluttered the scientific
dovecotes by parodying the "Philosophical Transactions" in the _Useful
Transactions in Philosophy and Other Sorts of Learning_, of which,
however, only three numbers were issued. John Ozell was pilloried as
the author of the _Monthly Amusement_, which was not, as the title
suggests, a periodical, but was merely a title invented to summarise
his frequent appearances in print. "It is generally some French novel
or play, indifferently translated, it is more or less taken notice of,
as the original piece is more or less agreeable." Defoe takes his
place in the gallery as the editor and principal contributor to the
weekly _Poor Review_, that is, the _Weekly Review_ (which was
published weekly from February 19th, 1704, until 1712) which, says
Gay, "is quite exhausted and grown so very contemptible, that though
he has provoked all his brothers of the quill round, none of them will
enter into a controversy with him."

The periodical publications of the day are passed under review: the
_Observer_, founded in 1702 by John Tutchin, and after his death five