taken of himself.

"One, and by much the ablest

of the many continuators of the Tatler," observes Mr. Nichols," speaking of this fine character of Sophronius, says, 'One would think that Steele sat here to his own picture, or at least that he complimented another with his own features.' A character thus illustrative of an accomplishment in which our author was pre-eminently gifted, and presenting at the same time a proof of his skill with regard to the subject of this essay, I shall, without hesitation, introduce at length.

"The most necessary talent in a man of conversation," he remarks, which is what we ordinarily intend by a fine gentleman, is a good judgment. He that has this in perfection, is master of his companion, without letting him see it, and has the same advantage over men of any other qualifications whatsoever, as one that can see would have over a blind man of ten times his strength.

"This is what makes Sophronius the darling of all who converse with him, and the most powerful with his acquaintance of any man in town. By the light of this faculty he acts with great ease and freedom among the men of pleasure, and acquits himself with skill and dispatch among the men of business. All which he

Tatler, Nichols' edition, vol i. p. 184.

performs with such success, that, with as much discretion in life as any man ever had, he neither is, nor appears, cunning. But as he does a good office, if ever he does it, with readiness and alacrity; so he denies what he does not care to engage in, in a manner that convinces you that you ought not to have asked it. His judgment is so good and unerring, and accompanied with so cheerful a spirit, that his conversation is a continual feast, at which he helps some, and is helped by others, in such a manner, that the equality of society is perfectly kept up, and every man obliges as much as he is obliged for it is the greatest and justest skill in a man of superior understanding, to know how to be on a level with his companions. This sweet disposition runs through all the actions of Sophronius, and makes his company desired by women, without being envied by men. Sophronius would be as just as he is, if there were no law; and would be as discreet as he is, if there were no such thing as calumny."

Of numerous other delineations with which the pen of Steele has adorned the Tatler, we may mention the fine contrasts between the portraits of Paulo and Avaro, two eminent merchants; the one generous and noble, the other

crafty and avaricious. In the persons of Osmyn and Elmira,† he has given a highly finished description of that disguised hatred, that polite indifference, which too frequently renders the conjugal state, more especially in the elevated ranks of life, one continued scene of hypocrisy and disgust. Their mutual agreement to retire to an estate in the Hundreds of Essex, in order that some kind damp might acellerate a separation, is a curious expedient, but much too dilatory for the present day, when a divorce on the evidence of crim. con. is as soon arranged and carried into execution as almost any other domestic event. Duumvir, the husband and keeper, is another character touched with much spirit and fidelity, and but too common, I apprehend, in what is falsely termed polished society; a man who dislikes his wife, merely because she holds that title, and adores another woman, her inferior in every respect, merely because she is his mistress. It would seem that gallantry in the days of Steele, if it cannot enter into competition with that of our illuminated age, had at least attained a considerable portion of perfection, as it is mentioned as a mark of abstinence in Duumvir, and a symptom of reformation, that “Laura his

* No. 25.

+ No. 53.

No. 54.

wife, and Phillis his mistress, are all with whom he has had, for some months, the least amorous commerce."

The description of an easy friend, one who, possessing no brilliant parts, is, to a certain degree, above great imperfections, and gifted with a most accommodating temper, exhibits an intimate knowledge of the world. "Such a one," observes Steele, never contradicts you; but gains upon you, not by a fulsome way of commending you in broad terms, but liking whatever you propose to utter; at the same time is ready to beg your pardon, and gainsay you, if you chance to speak ill of yourself.---I have one," he continues, "who smokes with me often, but his parts are so low, that all the incense he does me is to fill his pipe with me, and to be out at just as many whiffs as I take. This is all the praise or assent that he is capable of; yet there are more hours when I would rather be in his company, than in that of the brightest man I know."

The foibles, the vanities, the virtues, and the vices of the female sex, have furnished Sir Richard with an inexhaustible mine of observation and description. He has studied the female character in all its mutations, as influenced by *Tatler, No. 208.

passion, fashion, or caprice; and there is scarcely a deviation from propriety or decorum as they existed in his days, but what has been noticed and corrected in some parts of his works. Swift complains of his minute attention to the fair, to their dress, their manners, and diversions; and seems to think that the authors of the Tatler and Spectator had rendered their productions frivolous, by dedicating so much of their time and paper to these subjects. He who shall consider, however, the vast influence of the female character on society as now established in Europe; that necessarily the virtues and the frailties of women must immediately affect the whole species, and that man, moulded beneath their direction, indebted to them for his earliest and most vivid impressions, and for that polish and civilization which adorn and distinguish the modern world, must become virtuous or vicious, brutalized or humane, according to the exaltation or depression, the dignity and purity of female manners ;---he who shall consider these consequences must allow, that whatever contributes to render the sex more amiable and deserving, better mothers, wives, and sisters, must essentially promote the comforts and the interests of man. That this was the aim, and the result too, of the numerous animadversions on the fair