A different side of The Spectator: issue 565, Friday July 9, 1714
Earlier in this course, when we examined the issue of The Spectator of Monday, August 11, 1712, the image of The Spectator magazine was one that deals with daily, social issues, with a healthy dash of sarcasm and a generous touch of irony. However, as the issue 565 can attest, The Spectator was more complex and varied than it may appear, and it dealt with a somewhat wider range of topics than just the daily life and experiences in London. This issue deals with philosophy, regarding the position of people in the divine world, and does not mention London at all.
From the issue's beginning, the epigraph of Dryden that evokes the divine might, it contrasts sharply to The Spectators issues we examined earlier. Those issues were secular; they were urban, witty and sarcastic. In addition, they were solely concentrated within London, or some other British city or town. If you read the issue 454, it may create an impression that there is nothing worthwhile outside London: London is 'The City', and 'The City' is 'The World'.
Not so the topic of the issue 565. Here, nothing is said of London; instead the author talks about "the blueness of the Aether", and "the Galaxy", and the Moon's "clouded majesty which Milton took notice of", and so on. This clearly lies in direct opposition to what we have seen and read in The Spectator before. The sights of "the Moon" and "the Galaxy" are noticeably anti-London as well, for London described by the authors of the eighteenth century is often dirty, and grimy, and polluted: it may be fun and exciting to live in the big city, but it is certainly not very healthy. The issue's main point, however, is the extent of the divine power, how everything was made by Him and how He is the ultimate power.
If the main culture of the eighteenth century's Britain was interested only in city life, then to write an issue to the contrary of the public tastes would result, perhaps, in just public scorn or disapproval - but it would still cause a reaction among the magazine's readers. Can this issue mean, then, that the author was sort of a rebel against the mainstream culture? This issue is well written by modern standards; odds are that it was considered well written back then as well.
Therefore, was the author expecting some sort of a reaction to his issue? Probably yes, since this is what controversial issues, published in modern magazines, do. Such exceptions as issue 565 aside, the contents of The Spectator and the similar magazines of that time are not too different from the modern magazine and newspaper columns written by columnists and similar specialists, and such issues aim to stir up discussion and provoke responses from the paper's audience; odds are that the author of the issue 565 was aiming at that same result. Perhaps that is why the issue is anonymous, unsigned - perhaps just as a precaution if some unflattering and personal responses should come the author's way. He had certainly provoked a reaction in the form of this mini-discussion now, and back then the response would be much more intense.
As it was seen, The Spectator was a magazine that was aimed at bringing its audience the news of the day, the flavour of the week, and the like. However, it was also a magazine easily accessed by anyone, and a magazine that could publish issues that did not quite fit into the mould as issue 565 did not. Therefore it may be important to treat it as such, and not just relegate it to the ancestor of the modern glamour magazines.
Bibliography
The spectator. ... Vol. Volume 8. London, [1788]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. 1 Oct. 2011