The Englishman and the Debate over Succession

On Thursday, 1 October, Guardian, no. 175 recommended Rev. William Derham's Physico-Theology, a series of sermons on God and the physical universe. There was no indication that the series was coming to an end. On Tuesday 6 October, the Englishman published its first number. The fact that the periodical appeared thrice weekly rather than daily probably took some pressure off of Steele, although he had only written about half-a-dozen of the fifty or so Guardian papers that appeared in August and September. The motto of the first Englishman paper, Cato's famous imperative ‘Delenda est Carthago’, signals the sense of urgency that Steele imposes. The author of the Englishman claims to have purchased the writing equipment of Nestor Ironside, ‘who has thought fit to write no more himself’. Ironside encourages his successor:

He goes on to urge his successor to ‘Be an ENGLISHMAN’. The paper marks a clear shift away from the position articulated by the Tatler and Spectator that responsible readers should not concern themselves with political rumours but with moral and intellectual truths.

The change in persona is meant to underscore the urgency of the political context. As P. B. J. Hyland noted, in the eyes of Steele's contemporaries ‘the explicit party logic of the Englishman represented a decisive break with the traditions of Steele's work, for the image of an impartial and thoroughly agreeable persona could no longer be observed’. Nestor Ironside, the friend, companion and advisor of the Lizard family, could hardly serve as a spokesman against the calumnies of the Examiner or in defence of the Protestant Succession. He was created as a private figure rather than a public disputant.