he same spirit as one would say his prayers, is sometimes the
most practical and helpful thing in the world.

RICHARD STEELE (1672-1729). Steele was in almost every respect the
antithesis of his friend and fellow-worker,--a rollicking, good-hearted,
emotional, lovable Irishman. At the Charterhouse School and at Oxford he
shared everything with Addison, asking nothing but love in return. Unlike
Addison, he studied but little, and left the university to enter the Horse
Guards. He was in turn soldier, captain, poet, playwright, essayist, member
of Parliament, manager of a theater, publisher of a newspaper, and twenty
other things,--all of which he began joyously and then abandoned, sometimes
against his will, as when he was expelled from Parliament, and again
because some other interest of the moment had more attraction. His poems
and plays are now little known; but the reader who searches them out will
find one or two suggestive things about Steele himself. For instance, he
loves children; and he is one of the few writers of his time who show a
sincere and unswerving respect for womanhood. Even more than Addison he
ridicules vice and makes virtue lovely. He is the originator of the
_Tatler_, and joins with Addison in creating the _Spectator_,--the two
periodicals which, in the short space of less than four years, did more to
influence subsequent literature than all other magazines of the century
combined. Moreover, he is the original genius of Sir Roger, and of many
other characters and essays for which Addison usually receives the whole
credit. It is often impossible in the _Tatler_ essays to separate the work
of the two men; but the majority of critics hold that the more original
parts, the characters, the thought, the overflowing kindliness, are largely
Steele's creation; while to Addison fell the work of polishing and
perfecting the essays, and of adding that touch of humor which made them
the most welcome literary visitors that England had ever received.

THE TATLER AND THE SPECTATOR. On account of his talent in writing political
pamphlets, Steele was awarded the position of official gazetteer. While in
this position, and writing for several small newspapers, the idea occurred
to Steele to publish a paper which should contain not only the political
news, but also the gossip of the clubs and coffeehouses, with some light
essays on the life and manners of the age. The immediate result--for Steele
never let an idea remai