I 10 
ADD 
was abruptly difcontinued in order to write the English¬ 
man. 
The papers of Addifon are marked in the Spectator by 
one of the letters in the name of Clio, and in the Guardian 
by a hand. Many of thefe papers were written with pow¬ 
ers truly comic, with nice difcrimination of characters, 
and accurate obfervation of natural or accidental devia¬ 
tions from propriety : but it was not fuppofed that he had 
tried a comedy on the Stage, till Steele, after his death, 
declared him the author of “ The Drummer,” This, 
however, he did not know to be true by any cogent tefti- 
mony: for, when Addifon put the play into his hands, he 
only told him it was the work of a gentleman in the com¬ 
pany; and when it was received, as is confelfed, with cold 
disapprobation, he was probably lefs willing to claim it. 
Tickell omitted it in his collection; but the teftimony of 
Steele, and the total Silence of any other claimant, has de¬ 
termined the public to aflign it to Addifon, and it is now 
printed with his other poetry. Steele carried “ The 
Drummer” to the playhoufe, and afterwards to the prefs, 
and fold the copy for fifty guineas. To Steele’s opinion 
may be added the proof fupplied by the play itfelf, of 
which the charafters are fuch as Addifon would have de¬ 
lineated, and the tendency fuch as Addifon would have 
promoted. 
It is Said that Mr. Addifon intended to have compofed 
an Englilh dictionary upon the plan of the Italian (Della 
Crufca); but, upon the death of the queen, being ap¬ 
pointed Secretary to the lords juftices, he had not leifure 
to carry on fuch a work. When the earl of Sunderland 
w'as appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, Mr. Addifon 
was again made Secretary for the affairs of that kingdom ; 
and, upon the earl’s being removed from the lieutenancy, 
he was chofen one of the lords of trade. 
Not long afterwards an attempt was made to revive the 
Spectator, at a time indeed by no means favourable to li¬ 
terature, when the fucceffion of a new family to the throne 
filled the nation with anxiety, difeord, and confufion; and 
either the turbulence of the times or the fatiety of read¬ 
ers put a flop to the publication, after an experiment of 
eighty numbers, which were afterwards collected into an 
eighth volume, perhaps more valuable than any of thofe 
that went before it: Addifon produced more than a fourth 
part. 
In 1715, he began the Freeholder, a political paper, 
which w'as much admired, and proved of great ufeat that 
juncture. He publifhed alfo, about this time, verfes to 
Sir Godfrey Kneller upon the king’s picture, and fome to 
the Princefs of Wales, with the tragedy of Cato. 
Before the arrival of king George he w'as made Secre¬ 
tary to the regency, and was required by his office to fend 
notice to Hanover that the queen was dead, and that the 
throne was vacant. To do this would not have been diffi¬ 
cult to any man but Addifon, who was fo overwhelmed 
with the greatnefs of the event, and fo diffraCted by choice 
of expreffion, that the lords, who could not wait for the 
niceties of criticifm, called Mr. Southwell, a clerk in the 
houfe, and ordered him to difpatch the meffage. South- 
W'ell readily told what was neceflary, in the common ftile 
of bufinefs, and valued himfelf upon having done what was 
too hard for Addifon. 
In 1716, he married the countefs dowager of Warwick, 
whom he had folicited by a very long and anxious court- 
fhip. He is faid to have firft known her by becoming tu¬ 
tor to her fon. The marriage, if uncontradiCIed report 
can be credited, made no addition to his happinefs; it nei¬ 
ther found them nor made them equal. She always re¬ 
membered her own rank, and thought herfelf intitled to 
treat with'tlery little ceremony the tutor of her fon. It 
is certain that Addifon has left behind him no encourage¬ 
ment for ambitious love. The year after, 1717, he rofe to 
his higheft elevation, being made fecretaryof (late; but is 
reprefented as having proved unequal to the duties of his 
place. In the houfe of commons he could not fpeak, and 
tiierefore was ufelefs to the defence of the government. In 
ADD 
the office he could not iffue an order without lofing his time 
in quell of fine expreffions. At laft, finding by experience 
his own inability for publi: bufinefs, he w'as forced to fo- 
licit his difmiffion, with a penfion of i50ol.ayear. Such 
was the account of thofe who were inclined to detract 
from his abilities ; but by others his relinquiihment was at¬ 
tributed to declining health, and the neceffity of recefs 
and quiet. 
In his retirement, he applied himfelf to a religious 
work, which he had begun long before; part of which, 
fcarcely finifhed, has been printed in his works. He intend¬ 
ed alfo to have given an Engliffi paraphrafe of fome of Da¬ 
vid’s Pfalms. But his ailments increafed, and cut Ihort 
his deligns. He had for fome time been oppreffed by an 
afthmatic diforder, which was now aggravated by adropfy, 
and he prepared to die conformably to his precepts and 
profeffions. He feijt, as Pope relates, a meffage by the 
earl of Warwick to Mr. Gay, deliring to fee him : Gay, 
who had not vifited him for fome time before, obeyed the 
fummons, and found himfelf received with great kindnefs. 
The purpofe for which the interview had been folicited 
was then difeovered : Addifon told him that he had inju¬ 
red him; but that, if he recovered, he would recompence 
him. What the injury was he did not explain, nor did 
Gay ever know ; but fuppofed that fome preferment de- 
ligned for him had by Addifon’s intervention been with¬ 
held. Another death-bed interview, of a more folemn 
nature, is recorded: Lord Warwick was a young man of 
very irregular life, and perhaps of loofe opinions. Addi¬ 
fon, for whom he did not want refpeCt, had very diligent¬ 
ly endeavoured to reclaim him; but his arguments and 
expoftulations had no effeCt : one experiment, however, 
remained to be tried. When he found his life near its 
end, he directed the young lord to be, called: and when 
he defired, with great tendernefs, to hear his laft injunc¬ 
tions, told him, “ I have lent for you that y'ou may fee 
how a Chriftian can die.” What effect this awful feene 
had on the earl’s behaviour is not known : he died him¬ 
felf in a ffiort time. Having given directions to Mr. 
Tickell for the publication of his works, and dedicated 
them on his death-bed to his friend Mr. Craggs, he died 
June 17, 1719, at Holland-houfe. 
Addifon’s courfe of life before his marriage has been 
detailed by Pope. He had in the houfe with him Bud- 
gell, and perhaps Philips. His chief companions were 
Steele, Budgell, Philips, Carey, Davenant, and Colonel 
Brett. With one or other of thefe he always breakfaft- 
ed. He ftudied all the morning; then dined at a tavern, 
and went afterwards to Button’s. From the coftee-houfe 
he went again to the tavern, where he often fat late, and 
drank too much wine. 
Dr. Johnfon, in delineating the charaCIer of 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 lias diffipated the prejudice that had long con¬ 
nected gaiety with vice, and ealinefsof manners with lax¬ 
ity of principles. He has reftored virtue to its dignity, 
and taught innocence not to be alhamed. This is an ele¬ 
vation of literary charaCter, “ above all Greek above all 
Roman fame.” No greater felicity can genius attain than 
that of having purified intellectual pleafure, feparated 
mirth from indecency, and wit from licentioufnefs; of 
having taught a fucceffion 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 deferiber of life and manners, he mult be allowed to 
ftand perhaps the firft of the firft rank. His humour, 
which, as Steele obferves, is peculiar to himfelf, is fo 
happily diffufed as to give the grace of novelty todomef- 
tic feenes and daily occurrences. He never “ outftepsfhe 
modefty of nature,” nor raifes merriment or wonder, by 
the violation of truth. His figures neither divert by dif- 
tortion, nor amaze by aggravation. He copies life with fo 
much 
