The 37. THE UNIVERSAL SPECTATOR. essays which form this work, and which were afterwards collected into four volumes 12mo, were originally prefixed to a weekly journal under this title; and on the top of the paper, which was printed in single sheets, it was said to be conducted " by Henry Stonecastle, of Northumberland, Esq." One of the real publishers and authors, however, was the industrious antiquary William Oldys; but who succeeded him in this office, for he continued in it no great length of time, I am unable to ascertain. Oldys was born in the year 1687, and was the son of William Oldys, LL. D. chancellor of Lincoln. Having early in life consumed his patrimony by extravagance, he was condemned for the greater part of the residue of his days to work for the Booksellers. He enjoyed the post, however, of Norroy king at arms, and was for some years librarian to the Earl of Oxford; upon whose death, he was employed by Osborne the Bookseller, who had purchased the Earl's books for thirteen thousand pounds, to form a catalogue, or rather a Bibliotheque Raisonné, of that valuable collection. He executed but two volumes of the five which compose the catalogue, owing probably to the difficulties under which, about this period, he had the misfortune to labour, being a resident in the Fleet. Dr. Johnson completed the undertaking. Biography and Literary History have been much indebted to the researches of Oldys; he was the author of "The British Librarian, exhibiting a compendious review of all unpublished and valuable books in all sciences," 8vo. 1737; of "The Life of Sir Walter Raleigh;" of those articles in the Biographia Britannica to which is affixed the signature G; of several articles in the General Historical Dictionary; of the "Life of Mr. Richard Carew;" of an "Introduction to Hayward's British Muse;" of the "Scarborough Miscellany," 1732, 1734; and of the "Life and Writings of Thomas Moffett, M.D." He assisted in many other works; and his manuscripts, which were numerous and valuable, were purchased by the booksellers for the new edition of the Biographia Britannica. In his manners and mode of living, Oldys was vulgar and irregular, and his death, it has been said, was hastened by his excesses; he attained, however, the age of 74, and died in 1761. The following curious anagram on his name was found among his manuscripts. In word and WILL I AM a friend to you, And one friend OLD IS worth an hundred new. The first number of The Universal Spectator. was published on October 12th, 1728, and it continued to appear weekly until the latter end of the year 1742. In the year 1736, a selection from these papers was first printed in two volumes 12mo; a second edition appeared in 1747, in four volumes 12mo, containing two hundred and twenty-six numbers; and a third issued from the press in 1756. Of these impressions the second and third are in my possession, and to the first is prefixed a preface, in which the editor declares that most of them " were written by a gentleman not long since dead, and whose name alone, if we were at liberty to mention it, would give them a sufficient passport into the world." The person thus alluded to, cannot, of course, be Oldys; and to whom we are indebted, therefore, for the majority of these essays, cannot now probably be ascertained; John Kelly, however, the dramatic poet, and Sir John Hawkins, are said to have been contributors." The selection appears to have been made with judgment, and to verify the assertion of the publisher, that much caution had been used to purge it of all immorality and indecency, of all party spirit and private scandal;† and the author observes in N° 3, " that he did not give his paper the title of Spectator, in order to put it upon a comparison with those most excellent 4 * Vide Biographical Dictionary, article Hawkins. essays which bear that name, but as it is a prosecution of the same design with them, viz. to correct vice, to ridicule folly, and reprove impertinence; to represent virtue all bright and lovely as it is; to calm the rougher passions, and to encourage those that are more soft and amiable; to point out the mistakes of life, and regulate the conduct of mankind."* The work is certainly, as a whole, very much inferior to its original; yet it contains some instructive and entertaining sketches, exhibits no mean knowledge of mankind, and has occasional flashes of wit and humour. It abounds also in tales, visions, allegories, and delineations of characters; and were the four volumes, by omitting all the trifling matter, condensed into one, this second selection might stand a chance of escaping the oblivion which now threatens the larger work. 38. THE HYP-DOCTOR. This foolish paper, as we have already mentioned,† was the production of John Henley. It appeared in 1731, and was written in defence of Sir Robert Walpole's administration. It is very strongly and very deservedly censured in the Memoirs of the Society of Grub-street; and it is, indeed, extraordinary that any minister would submit to the degradation of such support. The periodical papers for and * Vol. 1, p. 15. + Essays, vol. 3, p. 304. against government at this period are thus enumerated in the Memoirs just noticed. "I mention only two weekly papers, because I know but of two that can with any justice be ascribed to the discontented party, viz. The Craftsman and Fog's Journal-But then, on the side of the ministry, besides the London Journal and Read's Journal, the Free-Briton, Weekly Register, and Hyp-Doctor, there appear two or three ministerial papers every week in the Daily Courants: so that, generally speaking, eight or nine papers are published every week in defence of the ministry."* The Hyp-Doctor was continued for some years, and was only exceeded in virulence and folly by its predecessor The High German Doctor. 39. THE TEMPLAR. Of these pa 40. THE CORRESPONDENT. pers I have not been able to obtain copies; but with the first I am partially acquainted through the medium of the Gentleman's Magazine. They both made their appearance in the year 1731; the Templar in London, who assumes the honour of being nephew to the Spectator's Templar; and the Correspondent, in Dublin. 41. THE COMEDIAN, OR PHILOSOPHICAL ENQUIRER. The author of this work, which came out monthly in 1732, was Mr. Thomas * Vol. 2, No. 34, p. 109, 110. |