Earl of Halifax--is eloquent testimony to the immense interest aroused
by their two papers in the London of 1709-12. There is no need to review
here the particulars of Gay's eulogy, but one or two points may be
noted. In the first place, Gay's remarks are not extravagant when
compared with other contemporary testimony. Many of these tributes were
brought together by Aitken in his monumental biography of Steele, and
since 1889 other contemporary sources have been published which give
corroborating support. Hearne first mentions the _Spectator_ on April
22, 1711, in a comment on No. 43, and even this crusty Tory and Jacobite
notes in his diary: "But Men that are indifferent commend it highly, as
it deserves" (_Remarks and Collections_, ed. Doble, III, Oxford, 1895,
p. 154). The published reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission,
too, contain many contemporary references (see, e.g., _Manuscripts of
the Hon. Frederick Lindley Wood_ (1913), p. 247; _Manuscripts of the
Marquess of Downshire_, I (1924, 889)). It is interesting to observe,
further, that Gay makes no reference to the political prejudices of the
_Spectator_ though it was not without criticism at the time for its
meddling in politics. _The Plain Dealer_ of May 24, 1712, for example,
objected to the publication of No. 384 (the reprinting of the Bishop of
St. Asaph's Introduction to his _Sermons_) and hinted at a "Mercenary
Consideration" behind this sorry attempt to "propagate ill Principles."
Gay's attitude on this point would, be another reason for Swift's
dislike of the pamphlet.

The "continuations" of the _Tatler_ are given due attention by Gay, as
well as three of its imitators: _The Grouler_ (6 numbers, 1711), _The
Whisperer_ (one number, 1709), and _The Tell Tale_, which may be _The
Tatling Harlot_ (3 numbers, 1709), or, as Churton Collins conjectured,
_The Female Tatler_ (1709-10). Gay's postscript makes an agreeable
reference to _The British Apollo_ (1708-11), which has "of late,
retreated out of this end of the town into the country," where "it still
recommends itself by deciding wagers at cards, and giving good advice to
shopkeepers and their apprentices," an interesting comment in view of
Gay's own possible connection with this journal (cf. Irving, pp. 40-56).
It is these casual remarks, as well as the more extensive critical
comments on the present state of "wit," which give Gay's pamphlet a
permanent interest.

The typescript copy of the _P