The Tatler, Volume 3

316

The conclusion of Pasquin's letter alludes to the following allegorical piece, the publication of which was just then recent: "The History of Hannibal and Hanno, &c., collected from the best authors, by A. M., Esq." It is reprinted in "The Life and Posthumous Writings" of Arthur Maynwaring, 1715. See No. 190.

317

See No. 65.

318

See No. 179.

319

Virgil, "Georg." ii. 488 ("In vallibus Hæmi").

320

"Othello," act iii. sc. 4.

321

"Othello," act iii. sc. 3.

322

See Nos. , 71, 157, 167.

323

See No. 134.

324

See No. .

325

See No. .

326

See No. 185.

327

It has been suggested that the latter part of this paper may refer to Dr. Gilbert Budgell and his son Eustace, Addison's cousin. (See "Grand Magazine," i. 391, seq.; and Cibber's "Lives of the Poets," vol. v.) On the death of his father in 1711, Eustace Budgell came into possession of an estate of £950 a year.

328

Swift may have been among those who protested at the introduction of politics into the Tatler (see No. 187), and Nichols thought that he was the writer of the letter signed "Aminadab" in this number. In June 1710, the fall of the Whigs was rapidly approaching.

329

Pasquin. See Nos. 129, 130, 187.

330

2 Sam. xvi. 13.

331

1 Kings ii. 36.

332

"The Tories happen now to have other work upon their hands, and are not at leisure to return the civilities that are paid them; however, having had the honour of a letter from the King of France … they have sent in their answer to me, and desire me to forward it; but I am at a loss how to do this, unless my brother the Tatler will convey it under his cover, for I protest I know no man in England but him that holds a correspondence with his Christian Majesty" (Examiner, No. 2, August 10, 1710).

333

In reply to this suggestion that the character of Polypragmon was meant for Harley, Steele said, in the Guardian, No. 53: "I drew it as the most odious image I could paint of ambition.... Whoever seeks employment for his own private interest, vanity, or pride, and not for the good of his prince and country, has his share in the picture of Polypragmon; and let this be the rule in examining that description, and I believe the Examiner will find others to whom he would rather give a part of it, than to the person on whom I believe he bestows it, because he thinks he is the most capable of having his vengeance on me.... I have not, like him, fixed odious images on persons, but on vices." To this the Examiner (vol. iv. No. 2) replied: "He would insinuate, that Timon and Polypragmon are general characters, and stand for a whole species, or, as he quaintly words it, for Knights of the Shire. If this be true, why did he not before now silence the industrious clamours of his party, who both in print and public conversation applied those characters to persons of the first rank, though without any regard to the rules of resemblance?" The writer of "Annotations on the Tatler," 1710, in the preface to the second part, regretted that Steele had become a politician, and said, in allusion to Steele's experiments in alchemy: "Turning statesman and drudging for the Philosopher's Stone, are toils not altogether unlike each other; buffeting with fire, labouring in smoke, wearing out of lungs, and tiring oneself with expectation, are misfortunes common to both these projects; 'tis converting real gold to dross, out of a prospect of converting dross into real gold."

334

A burlesque of Lee's "Rival Queens; or, the Death of Alexander the Great," by Gibber, called "The Rival Queans; or, the Humours of Alexander the Great," was acted at Drury Lane in 1710, but not printed until 1729.

335

An adaptation of Beaumont and Fletcher's comedy, by the Duke of Buckingham, 1682.

336

The authorship of the greater part of this paper is uncertain; see note on next page.

337

"Reddere" (Horace).

338

See No. .

339

See Nos. 120, 122. In the continuation of the Tatler which Swift and Harrison conducted (No. 28, March 24, 1710-11) there is this passage: "The person produced as mine in the playhouse, last winter, did in no wise appertain to me. It was such a one, however, as agreed well with the impression my writings had made, and served the purpose I intended it for: which was to continue the awe and reverence due to the character I was vested with, and at the same time to let my enemies see how much I was the delight and favourite of this town," &c.

340

This letter, in ridicule of Harley's newly formed Ministry, has been attributed to the joint authorship of Anthony Henley (see No. ) and Temple Stanyan. Harley is supposed to be the gentleman referred to in the letter, and Downes, it has been suggested, is Thomas Osborne, first Duke of Leeds. Steele expressly disavowed responsibility for the letter from Downes the prompter. In No. 53 of the Guardian he wrote: "Old Downes is a fine piece of raillery, of which I wish I had been author. All I had to do in it, was to strike out what related to a gentlewoman about the Queen, whom I thought a woman free from ambition, and I did it out of regard to innocence." And in the Preface to the Tatler, he said that this letter was by an unknown correspondent. A writer in the Examiner (vol. iv. No. 2) mentions Old Downes among the sufferers of figure under our author's satire. The same writer, or another in the same paper, expresses himself in the following words: "Steele broke his own maxim for trifles in which his country had no manner of concern; and by entering into party disputes, violated the most solemn repeated promises and that perfect neutrality he had engaged to maintain. As a proof that I did not wrong him, he now openly takes upon himself Downes' letter, by wishing the raillery (as he calls it) were his own." In the "Essays Divine, Moral, and Political" (1714), p. 42, Swift is made to say, "I advised him [Steele] to the publishing that letter from Downes the prompter, which was the beginning of his ruin, though I here declare I did not write it." Forster ("Biographical Essays," 3rd ed.) concludes that this fictitious letter was certainly by Mainwaring himself. In the "Journal to Stella" (Oct. 22, 1710), Swift wrote: "He [Steele] has lost his place of Gazetteer, three hundred pounds a year, for writing a Tatler, some months ago, against Mr. Harley, who gave it him at first, and raised the salary from sixty to three hundred pounds." See also Swift's "The Importance of the Guardian considered."

341

John Downes was prompter to "The Duke's Servants" until 1706. In 1708 he published his valuable "Roscius Anglicanus, or an Historical Review of the Stage."

342

Christopher Rich, who began life as an attorney. See Nos. , 99.

343

A farce by Nahum Tate, 1685.

344

See No. .

345

The theatre built by Betterton and his friends in 1695, in Portugal Row, Lincoln's Inn Fields, was pulled down and rebuilt by Christopher Rich in 1714. The Roman Catholic Church here referred to was in Duke (now Sardinia) Street, on the west side of the square.