Steele had contributed the first sketch of Sir Roger de Coverley to the Spectator (No. 2). But Addison so developed the sketch that he must he looked upon as the real creator of that immortal character.
"The figure of Sir Roger," says Professor Courthope, "though it belongs to a bygone stage of society, is as durable as human nature itself, and while the language lasts the exquisite beauty of the colours in which it is preserved will excite the same kind of pleasure."