ADDISOX, JOSEPH. 



ADDISON, JOSEPH. 



40 



Usato 



ram, MM! he MM Ml * on tour to 1 



of going into the church. 

 ofMOCayearfroBthe 

 Here be remained till 



UM death of Ktaf WHOM*, hi UM *prif ofl7, <Uprrred him of hi* 



i^^ Md 2^1 H Wl to hb MDMtallMI oflMiBf ppebUd to 



a ptac* MS* the parm of MM* aUjiii, then commending the 



ta Italy. Meanwhile be had addreesed from that 

 cMir; U. wctTkaowa |>oUtkal iMter' to l^ord Halifax, which WM 

 greatly I .fairs* both in tf>ari and Italy, and WM translated into 

 Tube. bytWAbbeteSeMBJ; Greek profer at rlorenoe. Boon after 

 hi. N*4 IMM k at p^>U4Md Ct-TnT^,' which b* dedicated 

 to Lord BosMra. Hb Msade being ovtcrf power, be now remained for 



i being ovt of power, he now remained for 

 tent; bat at length the victory of Blen- 

 td a wish in the tuinisten to find some 

 celebrate iU glories; and the Treasurer 

 A the matter to Lord Halifax, the latter 

 on M UM Attest person to execute the 

 plied to, and UM consequence WM the 



The 



rear. " Oodolohin, npWseeing it when' little 



.WM so much pleased with the performance 

 the author a Commissions of Appeals. In 

 UM following year' Addiaon accompanied Lord Halifax to Hanover; 

 and in IT'* b. became aoder-aecretary to Sir Charle. Hodges, on the 

 appotetSMt of UM latter M secretary of state. He continued to hold 

 the MUM DIM* odor UM Earl of SonderUnd, by whom Sir Charle. 

 WM in a few nsah. aoestail But although he had thus fairly 

 on a political career, be did not desert literature. Hi* next 

 was nil English opera, entitled ' Kosamond ;' and he also 



ted hi. Moad Stesle Us pky of UM Tender Husband,' not only 

 a proloyn* to UM piece, but with several of its most effective 



. In 1707 an able anonymous pamphlet appeared under the 

 'The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an 

 L' which ha* since been printed among Mr. 

 o' work*, and WM no doubt the production of hi* pen. In 

 1709 ho went over to I rats nil M secretary to the new Lord Lieutenant, 

 UM Maraoi. of Wbarton; the Queen also bestowed upon him the 

 Ace of Keeper of UM Records in that kingdom, with an increased 

 alary of SON. He WM in Ireland when the first number of ' The 

 Tatter' appeared on the 12th of April (OA) in that year-the happy 

 Idea of Steak, whose connection with the publication Addison U said 

 to have Jrteetid from an observation on Virgil which he had himself 

 ecnmunioated to his friend. The active part which he immediately 

 took in the conduct of this periodical work i* well known. The change 

 of ministry in 1710, by relsering him from hi* official duties, and 

 allowing him to retain to England, enabled him to make his contri- 

 butions still more frequent. In UM course of this and the following 

 year ho is alao undentood to have contributed several papen to the 

 political work, ' The Whig Examiner,' which WM started about this 

 SSM hi opposition to UM famous Tory print, ' The Examiner,' in 

 which Swift excreiMd hi* powerful pen. These papen, which are five 

 in all. are printed among his collected work*. The Taller' terminated 

 a UM tad of January, 1711 ; but on the 1st of March following 

 appeared its stfll more celebrated successor, The Spectator,' which 

 WM mihiJ tin UM 0th of December, 1712, and of which during 

 UM whole of that time Addison WM undoubtedly the chief support 

 ' The Hpeetetor' WM followed by ' Th* Guardian,' of which the fint 

 Mtber WM published on the lth of March, and the 175th and last 

 on UM let of October, 1718; and in this also bis pen WM actively 

 Jill /ill. A* anonymous pamphlet directed against the commercial 

 Mia* of UM inkiry, and bearing UM title of The late Trial and 

 Convwtion of Count Tariff/ which appeared this year, is likewise 

 believed to be AddisocTt, and bss been printed among his work*. 

 Th. MUM year he aeqnind still greater fame than any of bis former 

 prodisstion. bed brought him by hit celebrated tragedy of ' Cato,' which 

 WM ftawMil with extraordinary appUoee, both on the stage and when 

 ft hMMd tram UM prtea. It WM played thirty-fir* night* in ucceaaion 

 ns of popularity for which it WM doubtless In part indebted to 

 Mspobtioala* well M to ite poetical merits; and it WM also translated 

 soon after fatto French, Italian, Latin, and Oerman. On the 18th of 

 J*a, 1714, sppeared UM ftnt number of a continuation of 'The 



periodical publication in support 

 UUe of The Freeholder,' which be con- 

 st the rate of two papers a week, till the 

 the following yr. He had nowlndeed for some time 

 IB pobLe attain, having on the death of Queen 

 C.T.ppointed thS? Mortar, by the Lord. 

 g over of UM new king, having again cone 

 tol.io^Ltonant, Se^^uM^ 

 th made a Urd 



IU. 



!!!'" 1 '!*' WiCowjUM of Warwick, 

 tatyr he WM nominated one of hi. Majert/. 

 Mate. if* OOQ howjT<r fomxl it n**owu.*rv tn 



ill health, but in reality, M DM been generally undentood, in conse- 

 quence of hi* entire inaptitude both for debate in parliament and for 

 the ordinary business of hi. office. Hi. health however had also beeu 

 for some time impaired by attacks of asthma, the effect* of which were 

 probably in no alight degree aggravated by a habit of over-indulgence 

 in wine. He left office in March, 1718. It wa* hoped at fint that hi* 

 release from bushiest would have brought about his restoration, and 

 for some time the expected effect seemed to follow. In the course of 

 the year 1719 he WM so far recovered a* to be able to engage in a 

 somewhat acrimonious controversy with his old friend Steele on the 

 subject of the bill for the limitation of the peerage, then under din- 

 eoasion in parliament, which Steele had attacked in a paper called 

 ' The Plebeian.' Addison's defence of the measure appeared in two 

 suooeative anonymous pamphlets, bearing the title of ' The Old Whig.' 

 They are not printed among his collected works, but are undoubtedly 

 his. He again however fell ill, and after lingering for some time, at 

 hut expired at Holland House, Kensington, on the 17th of June, 1711', 

 when just commencing his forty-eighth year. He left a daughter by 

 the Countess of Warwick. 



Soon after Addison's death hit works were collected and published 

 in four volumes quarto by his friend Mr. Tickell, upon whom he had 

 expressly devolved that duty. Beside* the compositions already men- 

 tioned, and some translations from Ovid and other poetical pieces, 

 this edition contain* a ' Treatise on Ancient Medals,' in the form of 

 dialogues, which i* undentood to have been prepared by the author 

 many yean before his death ; and a portion of a work which he had 

 commenced in defence of the Christian religion, being that which is 

 commonly known by the name of hi* ' Evidences.' The comedy of 

 ' The Drummer, or the Haunted House,' which bad been published 

 anonymously in his lifetime, with a preface by Sir Richard Steele, was 

 soon after reprinted by Sir Kichard, and declared to be Addison's. 



Addison however has been charged with having been the author of 

 a poetical translation of the fint book of the ' Iliad,' which was pub- 

 lished in 1715 by Mr. Tickell, then his private secretary ; and by which 

 it has been said he intended to aim a covert blow at the popularity 

 and success of Pope'* ' Iliad,' the first volume of which had then just 

 issued from the press. The celebrated character of Atticus, now 

 inserted in the ' Epistle to Ur. Arbuthnot,' i* said to have been com- 

 posed by Pope after this, and sent by him to his former friend. Tho 

 clearest examination which this story has received will bo found in a 

 long and elaborate note in Dr. Kippia's edition of the ' Biographia 

 Britannic*,' (voL i. p. 86, 4c.) which is known to have been contributed 

 by Sir William Blackntone. The learned judge has undoubtedly suffi- 

 ciently refuted many points in the common statement ; but still it is 

 certain that a coolness did arise between Addiaon and Pope not long 

 after the appearance of Tickell's book, and there is also reason to 

 believe that their separation was not unconnected with that somewhat 

 injudicious and ill-timed publication. As for the authorship of the 

 translation however, it was probably Tickell's own. 



Anecdotes of Addison'* private life, and trait* of hi* habit* and 

 character, have been handed down in great abundance by Spenoe and 

 other*. The strongest testimony has been borne by those who knew 

 him intimately to the charm* of hi* conversation when he felt himself 

 free from all restraint. " He was," says Steele, " above all men in 

 that talent called humour, and enjoyed it in such perfection that I 

 have often reflected, after a night spent with him apart from all the 

 world, that I had had the pleasure of convening with an intimate 

 acquaintance of Terence and Catullus, who had all their wit and 

 nature, heightened with humour more exquisite and delightful than 

 any other man ever possessed." {Preface to The Drummer.') Lady 

 Mary Wortley Montague told Speuce that " Addison was the best 

 company in the world." ('Anecdote*,' p. 232.) Dr. Young's account 

 waa, that, though he was rather mute in society on some occasions, 

 ^ when he began to be company, he was full of vivacity, and went on 

 in a noble stream of thought and language, so a* to chain the attention 

 of every one to him." (p. 836.). " Addison," said Pope, " wo* perfect 

 good company with intimates; and had something more charming in 

 hi* conversation than 1 ever knew in any other man." (p. 50.) But 

 this was only when there was no one by of whom he was afraid. 

 " With any mixture of strangers," Pope added, "and sometimes only 

 with one, he seemed to preserve his dignity much, with a stiff sort of 

 silence." Young admitted that " be wa* not free with his superiors." 

 Johnson quote* Lord Chesterfield as somewhere affirming that "Addition 

 was the most timorous and awkward man that ho ever knew." Coarser 

 mind*, again, from the formality and stiffness of manner in which ho 

 wrapped himself up from their inspection, were led to set him down 

 for a mere piece of hypocrisy and cant. Mandeville, the author of the 

 1 Fable of the Bee*,' after an evening's conversation with him, charac- 

 terised him a* " a panton in a tye-wig;" and Tonson, who hated panons 

 in any kind of wigs as much as Mandeville, and who, besides, had 

 quarrelled with Addiaon, and did not like him, used to say of him 

 after he had quitted his secretaryship, " One day or other you'll sco 

 that man a bishop I I'm sure he looks that way ; and, indeed, I ever 

 thought him a priest in his heart." (Spence, p. 200.) It must be 

 acknowledged that this caution and cowardice spoiled Addisou's charac- 

 ter in some points of great importance ; he was not a man on whom 

 his friend, could rely ; and the way in which he lost or offended more 

 than one of them was not to his credit. In his conduct both to Pope 



