1. Difficulty of the first address.
Practice of the epick poets.
Convenience of periodical performances. 1
2. The necessity and danger of looking into futurity.
Writers naturally sanguine.
Their hopes liable to disappointment. 6
3. An allegory on criticism. 11
4. The modern form of romances preferable to the ancient.
The necessity of characters morally good. 15
5. A meditation on the Spring. 20
6. Happiness not local. 25
7. Retirement natural to a great mind. Its religious use. 30
8. The thoughts to be brought under regulation; as they
respect the past, present, and future. 35
9. The fondness of every man for his profession.
The gradual improvement of manufactures. 40
10. Four billets, with their answers.
Remarks on masquerades. 44
11. The folly of anger. The misery of a peevish old age. 50
12. The history of a young woman that came to London for
a service. 55
13. The duty of secrecy.
The invalidity of all excuses for betraying secrets. 61
14. The difference between an author's writings and his
conversation. 66
15. The folly of cards.
A letter from a lady that has lost her money. 72
16. The dangers and miseries of a literary eminence. 78
17. The frequent contemplation of death necessary to moderate
the passions. 83
18. The unhappiness of marriage caused by irregular motives
of choice. 87
19. The danger of ranging from one study to another.
The importance of the early choice of a profession. 93
20. The folly and inconvenience of affectation. 99
21. The anxieties of literature not less than those of
publick stations. The inequality of authors' writings. 104
22. An allegory on wit and learning. 109
23. The contrariety of criticism. The vanity of objection.
An author obliged to depend upon his own judgment. 113
24. The necessity of attending to the duties of common life.
The natural character not to be forsaken. 117
25. Rashness preferable to cowardice.
Enterprize not to be repressed. 122
26. The mischief of extravagance, and misery of dependence. 127
27. An author's treatment from six patrons. 132
28. The various arts of self-delusion. 136
29. The folly of anticipating misfortunes. 142
30. The observance of Sunday recommended; an allegory. 146
31. The defence of a known mistake highly culpable. 150
32. The vanity of stoicism. The necessity of patience. 156
33. An allegorical history of Rest and Labour. 161
34. The uneasiness and disgust of female cowardice. 165
35. A marriage of prudence without affection. 171
36. The reasons why pastorals delight. 176
37. The true principles of pastoral poetry. 180
38. The advantages of mediocrity; an eastern fable. 185
39. The unhappiness of women whether single or married. 190
40. The difficulty of giving advice without offending. 194
41. The advantages of memory. 199
42. The misery of a modish lady in solitude. 204
43. The inconveniences of precipitation and confidence. 208
44. Religion and Superstition; a vision. 213
45. The causes of disagreement in marriage. 218
46. The mischiefs of rural faction. 222
47. The proper means of regulating sorrow. 227
48. The miseries of an infirm constitution. 231
49. A disquisition upon the value of fame. 235
50. A virtuous old age always reverenced. 240
51. The employments of a housewife in the country. 244
52. The contemplation of the calamities of others,
a remedy for grief. 250
53. The folly and misery of a spendthrift. 254
54. A death-bed the true school of wisdom.
The effects of death upon the survivors. 258
55. The gay widow's impatience of the growth of her daughter.
The history of Miss May-pole. 263
56. The necessity of complaisance.
The Rambler's grief for offending his correspondents. 268
57. Sententious rules of frugality. 273
58. The desire of wealth moderated by philosophy. 277
59. An account of Suspirius, the human screech-owl. 281
60. The dignity and usefulness of biography. 285
61. A Londoner's visit to the country. 290
62. A young lady's impatience to see London. 295
63. Inconstancy not always a weakness. 300
64. The requisites to true friendship. 304
65. Obidah and the hermit; an eastern story. 309
66. Passion not to be eradicated.
The views of women ill directed. 313
67. The garden of Hope; a dream. 317
68. Every man chiefly happy or miserable at home.
The opinion of servants not to be despised. 322
69. The miseries and prejudice of old age. 326
70. Different men virtuous in different degrees.
The vicious not always abandoned. 330
71. No man believes that his own life will be short. 334
72. The necessity of good humour. 338
73. The lingering expectation of an heir. 342
74. Peevishness equally wretched and offensive.
The character of Tetrica. 347
75. The world never known but by a change of fortune.
The history of Melissa. 352
76. The arts by which bad men are reconciled to themselves. 357
77. The learned seldom despised but when they deserve
contempt. 361
78. The power of novelty.
Mortality too familiar to raise apprehensions. 366
79. A suspicious man justly suspected. 370
80. Variety necessary to happiness; a winter scene. 375
81. The great rule of action. Debts of justice to be
distinguished from debts of charity. 369
82. The virtuoso's account of his rarities. 383
83. The virtuoso's curiosity justified. 388
84. A young lady's impatience of controul. 393
85. The mischiefs of total idleness. 398
86. The danger of succeeding a great author: an introduction
to a criticism on Milton's versification. 402
87. The reasons why advice is generally ineffectual. 408
88. A criticism on Milton's versification.
Elisions dangerous in English poetry. 412
89. The luxury of vain imagination. 417
90. The pauses in English poetry adjusted. 421
91. The conduct of Patronage; an allegory. 426
92. The accommodation of sound to the sense, often chimerical. 431
93. The prejudices and caprices of criticism. 438
94. An inquiry how far Milton has accommodated the sound to
the sense. 442
95. The history of Pertinax the sceptick. 449
96. Truth, Falsehood, and Fiction; an allegory. 453
97. Advice to unmarried ladies. 458
98. The necessity of cultivating politeness. 464
99. The pleasures of private friendship.
The necessity of similar dispositions. 468
100. Modish pleasures. 472
101. A proper audience necessary to a wit. 476
102. The voyage of life. 481
103. The prevalence of curiosity. The character of Nugaculus. 486
104. The original of flattery. The meanness of venal praise. 491
105. The universal register; a dream. 495