sovereign. Their support came largely from the commercial classes and the dissenting religious sects. Queen Anne, although she owed her crown to the Whigs, was really a Tory at heart, and exerted her influence wherever possible in favor⚫ of Tory measures. The feeling between the two parties was very bitter. Addison was, from beginning to end, a consistent Whig. He was never bitter, however. He practiced the preaching of this essay except in regard to non-partisanship.

Write a short argument advocating partisanship in politics to-day. Compare the treatment of party spirit in Washington's Farewell Address (paragraphs 20-25).

XVII. SIR ROGER AND THE GYPSIES. Does Sir Roger believe at all in the Gypsies? Indicate the humorous passages. Write in your own words the story of the boy stolen by the gypsies, and compare your account with Addison's. Notice the beauty and ease of Addison's sentences. If your own version seems awkward in comparison, examine carefully the sentence structure.

XVIII. WHY THE SPECTATOR LEAVES COVERLEY HALL. How does this essay fit into the series? Is paragraph 1 a suitable introduction? Why? Will Honeycomb's idea of the country was the prevailing idea in Addison's time. Addison himself seems to have been too thoroughly city bred to enjoy country life.

XIX. THE SPECTATOR'S EXPERIENCE IN A STAGE COACH. The Latin motto originally published at the head of this essay means, "He who does not see what the occasion demands, or who has no regard for his companions, is called impertinent." Addison is preaching etiquette through Ephraim.

XX. STREET CRIES OF LONDON. Test the paragraph unity by framing for each paragraph a single statement

expressing the complete thought of the paragraph. Do you note any sly thrusts of satire?

XXI. SIR ROGER IN TOWN. The motto of this essay is, "In our age a most rare thing is simplicity." Compare with this essay the Christmas stories in Irving's Sketch-Book.

XXII. SIR ROGER IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. A visit to Westminster Abbey is a test of a man's character and attainments: he sees just what he is qualified to see by experience and reading. Compare Addison's account in Spectator, No. 26, and Irving's "Westminster Abbey" in The SketchBook. Note by comparison what Sir Roger sees and what he does not see; his limitations will thus become clear.

XXIII. SIR ROGER AT THE THEATER. The charmingly ignorant and naïve way in which Sir Roger is made to expose himself shows Addison's humor at its best. Point out particularly noteworthy passages.

XXIV.

WILL HONEYCOMB'S LOVE-MAKING. Explain how the essential sincerity of Sir Roger's character is brought out by contrasting his love affair with the love affair of Will Honeycomb. Is Will's boasted knowledge of the "female world" consistent with his actual success in love-making?

XXVI. THE DEATH OF SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY. Sympathetic humor like Addison's is not far removed from pathos; indeed the two often blend. What in this essay is both humorous and pathetic?

TOPICS FOR ESSAYS AND REPORTS

1 The Character of Sir Roger de Coverley illustrated from the Essays.

2. London Life in the Time of Addison.

3. The London Coffee-houses.

4. The De Coverley Papers as "A Forerunner of the Novel of Real Life."

5. Peculiarities of Addison's Humor.

6. A Typical Character of Modern Life. 7. Sir Roger's Love Affairs.

THE SKETCH-BOOK

Irving's kinship to Addison is plain. At the very outset, the likeness between The Author's Account of Himself and The Spectator's Account of Himself shows Addison to have been Irving's model. The titles are alike; the method identical; the style similar. And this is not a unique illustration; examples abound. The Christmas series inevitably recalls the De Coverley set. The Squire, for instance, is only a variation of Sir Roger; Master Simon, of Will Wimble. Essays like The Wife repeat Addison's characteristic method of placing a simple story in a framework of moral reflections. Throughout the essay there is the same humorous moralizing point of view.

Yet Irving was not a slavish borrower. He wrote, to be sure, the same kind of discursive essay, he used the same rhetorical methods, he cultivated the same humorous, moralizing tone; but he had his own marked individuality, he looked upon life with his own personal likes and dislikes, and he developed a literary charm quite his own. In the first place, his interests were different. Addison was brought up in the artificial society of London, and his interests were largely confined to city life. Irving was brought up in a new civilization, largely free from city conventions and near to wild nature. He was fond of the country and wrote with sympathy on rural subjects. Then, too, the century which had elapsed since Addison's time had greatly changed general intellectual interests. The love of romance had revived. A new delight in medieval manners and customs had developed. Mystery and superstition had returned to charm