It was a good idea for those wishing to join in discussions with colleagues and friends in the Dutch Republic of the eighteenth century to consult a Spectatorial weekly on a regular basis. As opinion papers before the term even existed, these partly literary, partly well-argued texts were representative of a substantial part of the public debate as this was conducted in the Netherlands in the days of the Enlightenment. People in the eighteenth century struggled with very much the same problems as we are faced with today: the relationship between men and women, the relationship between those in authority and subordinates, the rift between various nations, the essential balance between body and mind. Even then, public opinion was divided, and the spectatorial authors liked to take advantage of this division. They used their flowing style to employ all kinds of genres to shape the behaviour and mentality of their fellow citizens: fictive readers' letters, ethical discourse, psychological profiles, popular-scientific arguments, moralising poetry, sentimental histories and allegorical dream narratives - they took advantage of every available possibility. It is up to the modern-day reader to decide whether the moral powers of persuasion of these authors has withstood the test of time, whether elements of the discussion are still familiar or whether one is primarily surprised by the standpoint taken during the discussions. However, one thing is certain. The pleasure elicited by reading these culture-critical texts has definitely remained in tact.