“The great aim of these my speculations is to banish vice and ignorance out of the territories of Great Britain.”

The periodical claimed as a civic instrument of manners · The Spectator

• England
• Morality
• Purpose

“I shall endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.”

The stated aim of his essays as public moral conversation · The Spectator, No. 10, 11 March 1711

• Morality
• Wit
• Writing