The Spectator and The Royal Exchange by Addison

Janika Mohan
Section 1H

Posting right before the final, sorry. So, there were two chaps named Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele ,their journal was called The Spectator ,a daily occurrence during 1711-1712 on many a breakfast table next to the Earl Grey, Elderberry scones and mincemeat /kidney /liver /intestine pies and most likely some other mysterious English meat pastries .Addison was a reserved and prudent fellow, he won a fellowship from Oxford and dominated most of the writing in The Spectator . Ol’ Richie Steele was a bit more impulsive, a rakish and dashing Whig who kept the ladies on their toes by wounding people in duels ( Addison resorted to speaking fancy Latin verse to charm their bloomers off). Apart from their differences these mates worked together quite well.
We read “The Royal Exchange under the theme of Country and City, Race and Empire and Criticism. The journal lends to our understanding of daily English life on many levels. It is an all inclusive account of “ good manners, daily happenings in London, going to church, shopping, investing, trade and commerce, proper gender roles and relations, high and low entertainment, literature, philosophical and scientific speculations( Norton C 2469).” The Spectator infused education with entertainment and scholarly specifics with cultural and societal commentary
Prof. Makdisi’s final lecture concerned the shift from a collective, group mentality to a focus on the individual and distinctive self. When speaking of The Spectator the Norton Intro states “all were shown to be elements of a single, vast agreeable world.” This collective “unifying spirit” is seen explicitly in Addison’s “ The Royal Exchange” and can be viewed in this “collective” theme of the earlier period.
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE Sat , May,19th, 1711

” It gives me secret satisfaction , and in some measure gratifies my vanity as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an assembly of countrymen and foreigners consulting together upon the private business of mankind…making this metropolis a kind of emporium for the whole earth.”.
…I rather fancy myself like…a citizen of the world “
I am wonderfully delighted to see such a body of men thriving in their own private fortunes and at the same time promoting the publick stock; …raising estates for their own families by bringing into their country whatever is wanting and carrying out of it whatever is superfluous.”
“” Nature seems to have taken particular care to disseminate her blessings among the different regions of the world with an eye to his mutual intercourse…
“our own country in its natural prospect without any of the benefits and advantages of commerce, what a barren uncomfortable spot of earth falls to our share”
“Nor has traffic more enriched our vegetable world than it has improved the whole face of nature among us.”
“our morning’s draught comes to us from the remotest corners of the earth…My friend sir Andrew calls the vineyards of France our gardens…, the Persians our silk weavers, and the Chinese our potters. Nature indeed furnishes us with the bare necessities of life but traffic gives us great variety of what is useful, and at the same time supplies is everything that is convenient and ornamental
“ without enlarging the Bristish territories it has given us a kind of additional empire. It has multiplied the number of the rich.”

-This and other articles such as Inkle and Yarico and Aims of the Spectator helped develop the essay as a great literary form.
-The Royal exchange describes the new power of the London stock market in order to draw power away from the Dutch. The English basically wanted to appear more rich and diverse
-The “Food from one country and sauce from another” line shows us how England wanted to be at once English and universal at the same time. The entire world comes to you when you are a Londoner.
-These passages show how tightly knit economy and politics were during this time, also the present love for imperialism and colonialism.
-This an essay with a purpose inspiring national pride and propagandistic intentions, it tried to stimulate commerce and trade
-Addison places value on the collective “richness” and diversity experienced in London’s city hub , glorifying consumerism and trade. England is described as being entitled to all. He describes a kind of collective consciousness , of all countries and peoples, also of material goods, working to complete each other , imparting value.
-The use of rich here could mean diverse, as he notes a mixture of many cultures melding together. The men are affluent in god but also rich as in productive and fruitful, this kind of richness is what holds the ultimate value in Addison’s eyes, the ability of commerce and trade to reap in the fruits