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lie rcmaiks, that he pofTcflcd a more refinol, tlccent, judici- 

 i;us, and extenftve genius, than cither of the latter writers. 

 Swift, fays he, is a fir.gular wit. Pope a coneft poet, Addi- 

 fon a great author. AdJifon's crown was elcttivc ; he 

 reigned by the public voice : 



volentei 



Per populoi dill jitra, vmaijuc aJfeSal Olympo, 



ViRGM.. 



Addifon wrote little in vcrfe, much in fwect, elegant 

 Virgilian profe. His compofilions are built with the tineit 

 materials, in the taile of the ancients, and on truly claffic 

 grovnid ; and though they are the delight of the prefent 

 age, yet I am perluaded (continues this author) that they 

 will receive more juftice from poilerity. His admirers call 

 him an elegant writer. That elegance which fhines on the 

 furfacc of his compoiitions feems to dazzle their undcr- 

 ftanding, and renders it a little blind to the depth of fenti- 

 mcnt which lies beneath : thus (hard fale ! ) he lofes reputa- 

 tion with them, by doubling his title to it. On fubjects 

 the moll inlerelling and important, no author of his age has 

 written with greatei', I had almoft faid, with equal weight : 

 and they who commend him for his elegance, pay him lueh 

 a fort of compliment, as they would pay to Lucrctia, if 

 they fliould commend her only for her beauty. Young's 

 Works, vol. V. p. 130, &c. 



Truth and beauty of imageiy (fays Mr. Mehnoth) is the 

 charaeteriltical dillinttion of Mr. Addifon ; and the principal 

 point of eminence which raifes his ftyle above that of every 

 author in any language that has fallen within my notice. 

 He is evesy where highly figurative ; yet, at the fame time, he 

 is the moft eafy and perfpicuous writer I have ever perufed. 

 His images are felefted with the utmoft delicacy and judg- 

 ment, from the moft natural and famihar appearances. One 

 is particularly mentioned, taken out of a thoufand that 

 might be named, which appears to me, fays Mr. Melmoth, 

 the fineil and moft exprefiive that ever language conveyed. 

 It occurs in one of the inimitable papers upon Paradife 

 ioft, where Milton reprefents the fun in an eclipfe ; ai.d 

 at the fame time a bright cloud in the weftern regions of the 

 heavens, defcending with a band of angels. The whole 

 theatre of nature, fays Mr. Addifon, is darkened, that this 

 glorious machine may appear in all its luftre and magnifi- 

 cence. After other expreffions of high commendation, Mr. 

 Melmoth clofes. — " In a word, one may juftly apply to 

 him what Plato, in his allegorical language, fays of Arifto- 

 phanes, that the graces having fearched all the world for a 

 temple, wherein they might for ever dwell, fettled at laft in 

 thebreaft of Mr. Addifon." Fitzofbornc'sLetters,Let. xxiv. 

 p. 112, &:c. Let. xxix. p. 137. 



Dr. Johnfon, in delineating the literary charafter of Mr. 

 Addifon, obferves with Tickell, that he employed wit on 

 the fide of virtue and religion. He not only made the 

 proper ufe of wit himfelf, but taught it to others ; and 

 from his time it has been generally fubfervient to the caufe 

 of reafon and truth. He has diflipated the prejudice that 

 had long connefted gaiety with vice, and ealinefs of man- 

 ners with laxity of principles. He has reftored virtue to its 

 dignity, and taught innocence not to be alhamtd. This is 

 an elevation of hterary charafler " above all Greek, above 

 all Roman fame." No greater felicity can genius attain 

 than that of having purified intelleftual pleafure, feparated 

 mirth from indecency, and wit from Iicentioufnefs ; of hav- 

 ing taught a fuccedion of writers to bring elegance and 

 gaiety to the aid of goodnefs ; and, to ufe expreffions yet 

 more awful, of having " turned many to righteoufnefs." 

 As a defcriber of life and manners, he muft be allowed to 

 Hand perJiaps the Ijril of the firft rank. His humour, which 



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as Steele obferves, is peculiar to himfelf, is fo inppily dif- 

 fufid as to give the grace of novelty to domeftic ictnes and 

 daily occurrences. He never " outlleps the modelly of 

 nature," nor raifes merriment or wonder by the violation 

 of truth. His figures neither divert by diftortion, nor 

 amaze by aggiavation. He copies life with fo much 

 fidelity, that lie can hardly be faid to invent ; yet his ex- 

 hibitions have an air fo much original, that it is difiicult 

 to fuppofe tliem not merely the produft of imagination. 

 As a teacher of wifdom he may be confidently followed. 

 His religion has nothing in it enthufiaftic or fuperftitious : 

 he appears neither Wi.akly credidous, nor wantonly fceptical: 

 his morality is neither dangeroufly lax nor inipraflicably 

 rigid. All the enchantment of fancy, and all the cogency 

 of argument, are employed to recommend to the reader his 

 real intereft, the care of pleafing the author of his being. 

 Truth is fiiewn fometimes as the phantom of a vifion, fome- 

 times appears half-veiled in an allegoiy; fometimes attracts 

 regard in the robes of fancy, and fometimes fteps forth in 

 the confidence of reafon : fhe wears a thoufand dreflfes, and 

 in all is pleafing. Johnfon's Poets. 



Among ourlelves, fays an anonymous writer, in the iCth 

 number of the World, no writer has made fo happy and 

 judicious a mixture of plain and figurative terms as Addifon, 

 who was the firll that banilhed from the Enghih, as Boileau 

 from the French, ev^ry fpecies of bad eloc|uence and falfe 

 wit, and opened the gates of the temple of tade to his fel- 

 low-citizens. 



Dr. Blair obfen-es, that of the higheft, moft coiTeft, and 

 ornamented degree of the iimple ilyle, Mr. Addifon is, be- 

 yond doubt, the moll perteA example ; and therefore, 

 though not wilh.out fonie faults, he is, on the whole, the 

 fafeft model for imitation, and the freell from confiderable 

 defects, which the language affords. Perfpicuous and pure 

 he is in the higheft degree : his precifion, indeed, is not 

 very great, vet nearly as great as the fubjcCls which he treats 

 of require : the conftruftion of his fentences, eafy, agree- 

 able, and commonly very mufic'al, carrying a chava£ter of 

 fmoothnefs more than of ftrength. In figurative language 

 he is rich, particularly in fimilies and metaphors, which are 

 fo employed as to render his ftyle fplendid, without being 

 gaudy. There is not the leaft affectation in his manner ; 

 we fee no marks of labour, nothing furced or conftrained ; 

 but great elegance joined with great cafe and fimplicity. He 

 is, in particular, diftinguifhed by a charafter of niodefty 

 and of politenefs, v/hich appear in all his writings. No 

 author has a more popular and infinuating manner ; and the 

 great regard which he every where fiiews for virtue ar.d reli- 

 gion recommend him highly. If he fails in any thing, it 

 is in want of ftrength and precifion, which renders his man- 

 ner, though perfectly fuited to fdch cffays as he writes in the 

 Speftator, not altogether a proper model for any of the 

 higher or more elaborate kinds of compofition. Though 

 the public have ever done much juftice to his merit, yet the 

 nature of his merit has not always been feen in its true 

 light ; for, though his poetry be elegant, he certainly bears 

 a higher rank among the profe writers, than he is entitled 

 to among the poets ; and, in profe, his humour is of a 

 much higher and more original ftrain than his philofophy. 

 The character of his Roger de Coverley difcovers more 

 genius than the critique on Milton. Blair's Leftures, vol. ii. 

 p. 41, &;c. 



Mr. Addifon's character, as a m.an of probity and reli- 

 gious virtue, ftands in high eftimation. His attachment 

 to his principles and his friends was invariable, and afforded 

 the moft convincing evidence, in times of political difcord, 

 of his inflexible integrity. It was, neverthelefs, blended 



with 



