APPENDIX I. On Coffee-Houses

APPENDIX II. On the Spectator's Acquaintance

APPENDIX III. On the Death of Sir Roger

APPENDIX IV. On the Spectator's Popularity

INDEX




INTRODUCTION


It is necessary to study the work of Joseph Addison in close relation
to the time in which he lived, for he was a true child of his century,
and even in his most distinguishing qualities he was not so much in
opposition to its ideas as in advance of them. The early part of the
eighteenth century was a very middle-aged period: the dreamers of the
seventeenth century had grown into practical men; the enthusiasts of the
century before had sobered down into reasonable beings. We no longer
have the wealth of detail, the love of stories, the delight in the
concrete for its own sake of the Chaucerian and Elizabethan children;
these men seek for what is typical instead of enjoying what is detailed,
argue and illustrate instead of telling stories, observe instead of
romancing. Captain Sentry 'behaved himself with great gallantry in
several sieges' [Footnote: _Spectator_ 2.] but the Spectator does