]
and the charming account of the married happiness of an old friend, with
the pathetic picture of the death of the wife, and the grief of husband
and children.[31] In the last number Steele said, "It has been a most
exquisite pleasure to me to frame characters of domestic life"; and we
know from his letters that when he wrote of children he was only
expressing the deep affection which he felt for his own. Equally in
advance of his time was his respect for women, one of whom--Lady
Elizabeth Hastings--he has immortalised in the words, "To love her is a
liberal education."[32] In the same number he wrote, "As charity is
esteemed a conjunction of the good qualities necessary to a virtuous
man, so love is the happy composition of all the accomplishments that
make a fine gentleman." In a time of much laxity he constantly dwelt on
the happiness of marriage; "wife is the most amiable term in human
life."[33] But good nature must be cultivated if the married life is to
be happy,[34] and all unnecessary provocations avoided. "Dear Jenny,"
says Bickerstaff to his sister, "remember me, and avoid
Snap-Dragon."[35] Women must be rightly educated before they can expect
to be treated by, and to influence men as they should.[36] The make of
the mind greatly contributes to the ornament of the body; "there is so
immediate a relation between our thoughts and gestures that a woman must
think well to look well."[37] The habit of scandal-mongering and other
weaknesses are the result of an improper training of the mind.[38] "All
women especially," says Thackeray, "are bound to be grateful to Steele,
as he was the first of our writers who really seemed to admire and
respect them." His pity extended to the hunted deer: "I have more than
once rode off at the death," he says; "to be apt to shed tears is a sign
of a great as well as a little spirit."[39]

Steele's teaching on morals and right living enters intimately into his
literary criticism. His love for Shakespeare was real and intelligent;
there is no formal discussion of the rules of the drama, but throughout
the _Tatler_ there are references which show the keenest appreciation
of Shakespeare's powers as poet and philosopher. "The vitiated tastes of
the audience at the theatre could only be amended," says Steele, "by
encouraging the representation of the noble characters drawn by
Shakespeare and others, from whence it is impossible to return without
strong impressions of honour and humanity