The Sir Roger de Coverley PapersSteele, Richard, Sir
General
The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers
Steele, Richard, Sir
English essays
=90=: 19. =Yeomen of the guard.= The bodyguard of the sovereign,
numbering one hundred, who attend him at banquets and other state
occasions. They are popularly called "beefeaters," and still wear the
uniform here described. The wardens of the Tower of London wear a
uniform differing but slightly from that of the yeomen of the guard.
=90=: 28. =The Tilt-yard= occupied not only a part of the "common
street," now called Whitehall, but the greater part of the "parade
ground" in St. James's Park, just behind the Horse Guards building.
=91=: 14. =The coffee-house.= Jenny Man's coffee-house, one of the
best known in London, stood on the spot now occupied by the paymaster
general's office.
=91=: 24. =New-fashioned petticoat.= The hooped petticoat has made its
appearance, in various forms, at various times, throughout the history
of British female attire. Sir Roger's grandmother apparently wore what
was called the "wheel farthingale," a drum-shaped petticoat worn in the
late sixteenth century. The form in vogue in Addison's time--it came in
about 1707--was bell shaped, and of most liberal dimensions. For some
admirable fooling upon it, see _Spectator_, No. 127, and _Tatler_, No.
116, both by Addison.
=92=: 4. =White-pot.= Made of cream, rice, sugar, and cinnamon, etc. It
was a favourite Devonshire dish, as the famous "clotted cream" of Devon
is now.
=93=: 9. =Sir Andrew Freeport has said.= Sir Andrew characteristically
stands up for the citizens and the moneyed interest. Later on he
reminds Sir Roger of the obligation of his family to trade. See
_Spectator_, No. 174, XXVII of this volume.
=93=: 15. =Turned my face.= Note the delicate courtesy of the Spectator.
=94=: 20. =The battle of Worcester=, September 3, 1651, in which
Cromwell defeated the Scots, supporters of Charles II.
X. THE COVERLEY GHOST
=Motto.= "All things are full of horror and affright,
And dreadful e'en the silence of the night."
--Virgil, _Æneid_, ii. 755. Dryden's tr.
=95=: 9. =Psalms=, cxlvii. 9.
=96=: 20. =Mr. Locke, in his chapter.= _Essay on the Human
Understanding_, Bk. ii, Chap. xxxiii.
=98=: 12. =The relations of particular persons who are now living.=
Addison's opinion as to the reality of ghosts and apparitions was
shared by most people of his time, the thoughtful and educated as well
as the ignorant.
=98=: 17. =Lucretius.= A Roman poet of the century before Christ,
whose one work, _De Rerum Natura_, is a philosophic poem, showing much
subtlety of thought. The "notion" referred to in the text is found in
the early part of the Fourth Book of the _De Rerum Natura_.
=99=: 4. =Josephus= (37-95 A.D.). The Jewish historian. The passage is
found in his _Antiquities of the Jews_, Bk. xvii, Chap. xiii.
XI. SUNDAY WITH SIR ROGER
=Motto.= "First honour the immortal gods, as it is commanded by
law."--Pythagoras, _Fragments_.
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