The reign of Anne has been characterized as one of corruption in high
places and of brutality in low, but in literature it takes rank next
to that of Elizabeth (S393). There was indeed no great central
luminary like Shakespeare, but a constellation of lesser ones,--such
as Addison, Defoe, and Pope. They shone with a splendor of their
own. The lurid brilliancy of the half-mad satirist Dean Swift was
beginning to command attention; on the other hand, the calm, clear
light of the philosopher John Locke was near its setting.
Aside from these great names in letters, it was an age generally of
contented dullness, well represented in the good-natured mediocrity of
Queen Anne herself. During her reign the first daily newspaper
(SS422, 443) appeared in England,--the Daily Courant (1703); it was a
dingy, badly printed little sheet, not much bigger than a man's hand.
The publisher said he made it so small "to save the Publick at least
one half the Impertinences of Ordinary News-Papers."
Perhaps it was well this journal set up no greater pretensions, for it
had to compete with swarms of abusive political pamphlets, such as
Swift wrote for the Tories and Defoe for the Whigs (S479). It had
also to compete with the gossip and scandal of the coffeehouses and
the clubs; for this reason the proprietor found it no easy matter
either to fill it or to sell it.
A few years later (1711) a periodical appeared, called the Spectator.
It was published daily, and Addison, its chief contributor, soon made
it famous. Each number consisted of an essay hitting off the follies
and foibles of the age, and it was regularly served at the breakfast
tables of people of fashion along with their tea and toast.
One of the greatest merits of the Spectator was its happy way of
showing that wit and virtue are after all better friends than wit and
vice. Neither this little magazine nor the newspapers of that time
dared to publish a single line of parliamentary debate. But they
marked the humble beginning of that vast organized power, represented
by the daily press of London, which discusses everything of interest
throughout the world.