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daily conversation, and free it from thorns and prickles, which tease the passer, though they do not wound him.

For this purpose nothing is so proper as the

and the paper stopped on January 2. He did not distinguish his pieces by any signature, and I know not whether his name was not kept secret till the papers were collected into volumes. To the "Tatler," in about two months, suc-frequent publication of short papers, which we ceeded the "Spectator;" a series of essays of read not as study but amusement. If the subthe same kind, but written with less levity, upon ject be slight, the treatise is short. The busy a more regular plan, and published daily. Such may find time, and the idle may find patience. an undertaking showed the writers not to dis- This mode of conveying cheap and easy trust their own copiousness of materials, or knowledge, began among us in the civil war,t facility of composition; and their performance when it was much the interest of either party to justified their confidence. They found, how-raise and fix the prejudices of the people. At ever, in their progress, many auxiliaries. To that time appeared "Merc arius Aulicus," "Merattempt a single paper was no terrifying labour; curius Rusticus," and "Mercurius Civicus." It many pieces were offered, and many were re-is said that when any title grew popular, it was ceived. stolen by the antagonist, who by this stratagem Addison had enough of the zeal of party, but conveyed his notions to those who would not Steele had at that time almost nothing else. have received him had he not worn the appearThe "Spectator," in one of the first papers, ance of a friend. The tumult of those unhappy showed the political tenets of its authors; but days left scarcely any man leisure to treasure a resolution was soon taken, of courting general up occasional compositions; and so much were approbation by general topics and subjects on they neglected, that a complete collection is no which faction had produced no diversity of sen- where to be found. timents, such as literature, morality, and fami- These Mercuries were succeeded by L'Esliar life. To this practice they adhered with few trange's "Observator;" and that by Lesley's deviations. The ardour of Steele once broke "Rehearsal," and perhaps by others; but hithout in praise of Marlborough; and when Dr. erto nothing had been conveyed to the people in Fleetwood prefixed to some sermons a preface this commodious manner but controversy relatoverflowing with whiggish opinions, that it mighting to the church or state; of which they taught be read by the Queen,* it was reprinted in the many to talk, whom they could not teach to "Spectator." judge.

To teach the minuter decencies and inferior It has been suggested, that the Royal Society duties, to regulate the practice of daily conver- was instituted soon after the Restoration, to disation, to correct those depravities which are vert the attention of the people from public disrather ridiculous than criminal, and remove those content. The "Tatler" and "Spectator" had grievances which, if they produce no lasting ca- the same tendency; they were published at a lamities, impress hourly vexation, was first at-time when two parties, loud, restless, and viotempted by Casa in his book of Manners, and Castiglione in his "Courtier;" two books yet celebrated in Italy for purity and elegance, and which, if they are now less read, are neglected only because they have effected that reformation which their authors intended, and their precepts now are no longer wanted. Their usefulness to the age in which they were written is sufficiently attested by the translations which almost all the nations of Europe were in haste to obtain.

This species of instruction was continued, and perhaps advanced, by the French; among whom La Bruyere's "Manners of the Age," though, as Boileau remarked, it is written without connexion, certainly deserves praise for liveliness of description and justness of obser

vation.

lent, each with plausible declarations, and each perhaps without any distinct termination of its views, were agitating the nation to minds heated with political contest they supplied cooler and more inoffensive reflections; and it is said by Addison, in a subsequent work, that they had a perceptible influence upon the conversa tion of that time, and taught the frolick some and the gay to unite merriment with decency; an effect which they can never wholly lose, while they continue to be among the first books by which both sexes are initiated in the elegancies of knowledge.

The "Tatler" and "Spectator" adjusted, like Casa, the unsettled practice of daily intercourse by propriety and politeness; and, like La Bruyere, exhibited the Characters and ManBefore the "Tatler" and "Spectator," if the ners of the Age. The personages introduced in writers for the theatre are excepted, England these papers were not merely ideal; they were had no masters of common life. No writers had then known, and conspicuous in various stayet undertaken to reform either the savageness tions. Of the "Tatler" this is told by Steele in of neglect or the impertinence of civility; to his last paper; and of the "Spectator" by Budshow when to speak or to be silent; how to re-gell in the preface to "Theophrastus," a book fuse or how to comply. We had many books to teach us our more important duties, and to settle opinions in philosophy or politics; but an Arbiter Elegantiarum, a judge of propriety, was yet wanting, who should survey the track of

This particular number of the "Spectator," it is said, was not published till twelve o'clock, that it might come out precisely at the hour of her Majesty's breakfast, and that no time might be left for deliberating about serving it up with that meal, as usual. See the edition of the "Tatler," with notes, vol. vi. No. 271, note p. 452, &c.-N.

which Addison has recommended, and which he was suspected to have revised, if he did not write it. Of those portraits, which may be supposed to be sometimes embellished and some

+ Newspapers appear to have had an earlier date than here assigned. Cleiveland, in his character of a London diurnal, says, "The original sinner of this kind was Dutch; Gallo-Belgicus, the Protoplas, and the modern Mercuries but Hans en Kelders." Some intelligence given by Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus is mentioned in Carew's

Survey of Cornwall," p. 126, originally published in 1602. These vehicles of information are often mentioned in the plays of James and Charles the First.-R.

1

2

ADDISON.

times aggravated, the originals are now partly known and partly forgotten.

But to say that they united the plans of two or three eminent writers is to give them but a small part of their due praise; they superadded literature and criticism, and sometimes towered far above their predecessors, and taught, with great justness of argument and dignity of language, the most important duties and sublime truths.

All these topics were happily varied with elegant fictions and refined allegories, and illuminated with different changes of style and felicities of invention.

whom a merchant has little acquaintance, and
whom he commonly considers with little kind-
ness.

Of essays thus elegant, thus instructive, and
thus commodiously distributed, it is natural to
suppose the approbation general, and the sale
numerous. I once heard it observed, that the
sale may be calculated by the product of the
tax, related in the last number to produce more
than twenty pounds a week, and therefore
stated at one and twenty pounds, or three
pounds ten shillings a day: this, at a halfpenny
a paper, will give sixteen hundred and eightyt
for the daily number.

This sale is not great; yet this, if Swift be It is recorded by Budgell, that, of the characters feigned or exhibited in the "Spectator," the credited, was likely to grow less; for he defavourite of Addison was Sir Roger de Cover-clares that the "Spectator," whom he ridicules ley, of whom he had formed a very delicate and for his endless mention of the fair sex, had bediscriminate idea,* which he would not suffer to fore his recess wearied his readers. be violated; and, therefore, when Steele had shown him innocently picking up a girl in the Temple and taking her to a tavern, he drew upon himself so much of his friend's indignation, that he was forced to appease him by a promise of forbearing Sir Roger for the time to

come.

The reason which induced Cervantes to bring his hero to the grave, para mi sola nacio Don Quixote, yo para el, made Addison declare, with undue vehemence of expression, that he would kill Sir Roger; being of opinion that they were born for one another, and that any other hand would do him wrong.

It may be doubted whether Addison ever filled up his original delineation. He describes his Knight as having his imagination somewhat warped; but of this perversion he has made very little use. The irregularities in Sir Roger's conduct seem not so much the effects of a mind deviating from the beaten track of life, by the perpetual pressure of some overwhelming idea, as of habitual rusticity, and that negligence which solitary grandeur naturally generates.

The variable weather of the mind, the flying vapours of incipient madness, which from time to time cloud reason, without eclipsing it, it requires so much nicety to exhibit, that Addison seems to have been deterred from prosecuting his own design.

To Sir Roger, who, as a country gentleman, appears to be a tory, or, as it is gently expressed, an adherent to the landed interest, is opposed Sir Andrew Freeport, a new man, a wealthy merchant, zealous for the moneyed interest, and a whig. Of this contrariety of opinions, it is probable more consequences were at first intended than could be produced, when the resolution was taken to exclude party from the Sir Andrew does but little, and that paper. little seems not to have pleased Addison, who, when he dismissed him from the club, changed his opinions. Steele had made him, in the true spirit of unfeeling commerce, declare that he "would not build a hospital for idle people;" but at last he buys land, settles in the country, and builds, not a manufactory, but a hospital for twelve old husbandmen; for men, with

The errors in this account are explained at considerable length in the preface to the "Spectator" prefixed to the edition in the British Essayists." The original delineation of Sir Roger undoubtedly belongs to Steele.-C.

The next year (1713) in which "Cato" came upon the stage, was the grand climacteric of Addison's reputation. Upon the death of Cato, he had, as is said, planned a tragedy in the time of his travels, and had for several years the first four acts finished, which were shown to such as were likely to spread their admiration. They were seen by Pope, and by Cibber, who relates that Steele, when he took back the copy, told him, in the despicable cant of literary modesty, that, whatever spirit his friend had shown in the composition, he doubted whether he would have courage sufficient to expose it to the censure of a British audience.

The time however was now come, when those who affected to think liberty in danger, affected likewise to think that a stage play might preserve it; and Addison was importuned, in the name of the tutelary deities of Britain, to show his courage and his zeal by finishing his design.

To resume his work he seemed perversely and unaccountably unwilling; and by a request which perhaps he wished to be denied, desired Mr. Hughes to add a fifth act. Hughes supposed him serious; and, undertaking the supplement, brought in a few days some scenes for his examination: but he had in the mean time gone to work himself, and produced half an act, which he afterwards completed, but with brevity irregularly disproportionate to the foregoing parts; like a task, performed with reluctance, and hurried to its conclusion.

It may yet be doubted whether "Cato" was made public by any change of the Author's purpose; for Dennis charged him with raising prejudices in his own favour, by false positions Spectator" the of preparatory criticism, and with poisoning the town by contradicting in the " established rule of poetical justice, because his own hero, with all his virtues, was to fall before a tyrant. The fact is certain; the motives we must guess.

Addison was, I believe, sufficiently disposed to bar all avenues against all danger. When Pope brought him the prologue, which is properly accommodated to the play, there were these words: "Britons, arise! be worth like this approved," meaning nothing more than Britons, erect and exalt yourselves to the ap

That this calculation is not exaggerated, that it is even much below the real number, see the notes on the "Tatler," ed. 1786, vol. vi. p. 452.-N.

probation of public virtue; Addison was frighted, | the insult; and that whenever he should think lest he should be thought a promoter of insur- fit to answer his remarks he would do it in a rection, and the line was liquidated to "Britons, manner to which nothing could be objected. attend."

Now "heavily in clouds came on the day, the great, the important day," when Addison was to stand the hazard of the theatre. That there might, however, be left as little hazard as was possible, on the first night, Steele, as himself relates, undertook to pack an audience. This, says Pope,* had been tried for the first time in favour of the "Distrest Mother;" and was now, with more efficacy, practised for "Cato."

The danger was soon over. The whole nation was at that time on fire with faction. The whigs applauded every line in which liberty was mentioned, as a satire on the tories; and the tories echoed every clap, to show that the satire was unfelt. The story of Bolingbroke is well known. He called Booth to his box, and gave him fifty guineas for defending the cause of liberty so well against a perpetual dictator. The whigs, says Pope, design a second present, when they can accompany it with as good a

sentence.

The play, supported thus by the emulation of factious praise, was acted night after night for a longer time than, I believe, the public had allowed to any drama before; and the author, as Mrs. Porter long afterwards related, wandered through the whole exhibition behind the scenes with restless and unappeasable solicitude.

When it was printed, notice was given that the Queen would be pleased if it was dedicated to her; "but, as he had designed that compliment elsewhere, he found himself obliged," says Tickell, "by his duty on the one hand, and his honour on the other, to send it into the world without any dedication."

Human happiness has always its abatements; the brightest sunshine of success is not without a cloud. No sooner was "Cato" offered to the reader, than it was attacked by the acute malignity of Dennis, with all the violence of angry criticism. Dennis, though equally zealous, and probably by his temper more furious, than Addison, for what they called liberty, and though a flatterer of the whig ministry, could not sit quiet at a successful play; but was eager to tell friends and enemies that they had misplaced their admirations. The world was. too stubborn for instruction; with the fate of the censurer of Corneille's Cid, his animadversions showed his anger without effect, and "Cato" continued to be praised.

Pope had now an opportunity of courting the friendship of Addison, by vilifying his old enemy, and could give resentment its full play, without appearing to revenge himself. He therefore published "A Narrative of the Madness of John Dennis;" a performance which left the objections to the play in their full force, and therefore discovered more desire of vexing the critic than of defending the poet.

Addison, who was no stranger to the world, probably saw the selfishness of Pope's friendship; and, resolving that he should have the consequences of his officiousness to himself, informed Dennis by Steele, that he was sorry for

* Spence.

The greatest weakness of the play is in the scenes of love, which are said by Popet to have been added to the original plan upon a subsequent review, in compliance with the popular practice of the stage. Such an authority it is hard to reject; yet the love is so intimately mingled with the whole action that it cannot easily be thought extrinsic and adventitious; for, if it were taken away, what would be left? or how were the four acts filled in the first draught?

At the publication the wits seemed proud to pay their attendance with encomiastic verses. The best are from an unknown hand, which will perhaps lose somewhat of their praise when the author is known to be Jeffreys.

"Cato" had yet other honours. It was censured as a party-play by a scholar of Oxford, and defended in a favourable examination by Dr. Sewel. It was translated by Salvini into Italian, and acted at Florence; and by the Jesuits of St. Omer's into Latin, and played by their pupils. Of this version a copy was sent to Mr. Addison: it is to be wished that it could be found, for the sake of comparing their version of the soliloquy with that of Bland.

A tragedy was written on the same subject by Des Champs, a French poet, which was translated with a criticism on the English play. But the translator and the critic are now forgotten.

Dennis lived on unanswered, and therefore little read. Addison knew the policy of literature too well to make his enemy important by drawing the attention of the public upon a critícism which, though sometimes intemperate, was often irrefragable.

While "Cato" was upon the stage, another daily paper, called "the Guardian," was published by Steele. To this Addison gave great assistance, whether occasionally or by previous engagement is not known.

The character of Guardian was too narrow and too serious: it might properly enough admit both the duties and decencies of life, but seemed not to include literary speculations, and was in some degree violated by merriment and burlesque. What had the guardian of the lizards to do with clubs of tall or of little men, with nests of ants, or with Strada's prolusions?

Of this paper nothing is necessary to be said, but that it found many contributors, and that it was a continuation of the "Spectator" with the same elegance and the same variety, till some unlucky sparkle from a tory paper set Steele's politics on fire, and wit at once blazed into faction. He was soon too hot for neutral topics, and quitted the "Guardian" to write the "Englishman."

The papers of Addison are marked in the "Spectator" by one of the letters in the name of Clio, and in the "Guardian" by a hand, whether it was, as Tickell pretends to think, that he was unwilling to usurp the praise of others, or, as Steele, with far greater likelihood, insinuates, that he could not without discontent impart to others any of his own. I have heard that his avidity did not satisfy itself with the

f Ibid.

air of renown, but that with great eagerness he | part, and the other contributors are by no means laid hold on his proportion of the profits.

Many of these papers were written with powers truly comic, with nice discrimination of characters, and accurate observation of natural or accidental deviation from propriety; but it was not supposed that he had tried a comedy on the stage, till Steele after his death declared him the author of the "Drummer." This however Steele did not know to be true by any direct testimony; for, when Addison put the play into his hands, he only told him, it was the work of a "Gentleman in the company;" and, when it was received, as is confessed, with cold disapprobation, he was probably less willing to claim it. Tickell omitted it in his collection; but the testimony of Steele, and the total silence of any other claimant, has determined the public to assign it to Addison, and it is now printed with his other poetry. Steele carried the "Drummer" to the play-house, and afterwards to the press, and sold the copy for fifty guineas.

To the opinion of Steele may be added the proof supplied by the play itself, of which the characters are such as Addison would have delineated, and the tendency such as Addison would have promoted. That it should have been ill received would raise wonder, did we not daily see the capricious distribution of theatrical praise.

unworthy of appearing as his associates. The time that had passed during the suspension of the "Spectator," though it had not lessened his power of humour, seems to have increased his disposition to seriousness: the proportion of his religious to his comic papers is greater than in the former series.

The "Spectator," from its recommencement, was published only three times a week; and no discriminative remarks were added to the papers. To Addison, Tickell has ascribed twentythree.†

The "Spectator," had many contributors; and Steele, whose negligence kept him always in a hurry, when it was his turn to furnish a paper, called loudly for the letters, of which Addison, whose materials were more, made little use; having recourse to sketches and hints, the product of his former studies, which he now reviewed and completed: among these are named by Tickell the Essays on Wit, those on the Pleasures of the Imagination, and the Criticism on Milton.

Lords, who could not wait for the niceties of criticism, called Mr. Southwell, a clerk in the House, and ordered him to despatch the message. Southwell readily told what was necessary in the common style of business, and valued himself upon having done what was too hard for Addison.

When the House of Hanover took possession of the throne, it was reasonable to expect that the zeal of Addison would be suitably rewarded. Before the arrival of King George, he was made secretary to the regency, and was required by his office to send notice to Hanover, that the He was not all this time an indifferent spec- Queen was dead, and that the throne was vatator of public affairs. He wrote, as different cant. To do this would not have been difficult exigencies required, (in 1707,) "The present to any man but Addison, who was so overState of the War, and the necessity of an Aug-whelmed with the greatness of the event, and mentation;" which, however judicious, being so distracted by choice of expression, that the written on temporary topics, and exhibiting no peculiar powers, laid hold on no attention, and has naturally sunk by its own weight into neglect. This cannot be said of the few papers entitled "The Whig Examiner," in which is employed all the force of gay malevolence and humorous satire. Of this paper, which just appeared and expired, Swift remarks, with exultation, that "it is now down among the dead men." He might well rejoice at the death of that which he could not have killed. Every reader of every party, since personal malice is past and the papers which once inflamed the nation are read only as effusions of wit, must wish for more of the Whig Examiners; for on no occasion was the genius of Addison more vigorously exerted, and on none did the superiority of his powers more evidently appear. His "Trial of Count Tariff," written to expose the treaty of commerce with France, lived no longer than the question that produced it.

Not long afterwards, an attempt was made to revive the "Spectator," at a time indeed by no means favourable to literature, when the succession of a new family to the throne filled the nation with anxiety, discord, and confusion: and either the turbulence of the times or the satiety of the readers put a stop to the publication, after an experiment of eighty numbers, which were afterwards collected into an eighth volume, perhaps more valuable than any of those that went before it. Addison produced more than a fourth

From a tory song in vogue at the time, the burden whereof is

And he that will this health deny,

Down among the dead men let him lie.-H.

He was better qualified for the "Freeholder," a paper which he published twice a week, from Dec. 23, 1715, to the middle of the next year. This was undertaken in defence of the established government, sometimes with argument and sometimes with mirth. In argument he had many equals; but his humour was singular and matchless. Bigotry itself must be delighted with the tory fox-hunter.

There are however some strokes less elegant and less decent; such as the Pretender's Journal, in which one topic of ridicule is his poverty. This mode of abuse had been employed by Milton against King Charles II.

-Jacobœi

Centum, exulantis viscera marsupii regis." And Oldmixon delights to tell of some alderman of London, that he had more money than the exiled princes; but that which might be expected from Milton's savageness or Oldmixon's meanness was not suitable to the delicacy of Addison.

Steele thought the humour of the "Freeholder" too nice and gentle for such noisy times; and is reported to have said, that the ministry made

Numb. 556, 557, 558, 559. 561, 562. 565. 567, 569, 569. 571. 574, 575. 579, 680. 582, 583, 584, 585, 590, 692. 598.600.

use of a lute, when they should have called for a | orders, and obtain a bishopric; "for," said he, trumpet.

"I always thought him a priest in his heart."
That Pope should have thought this conjec
ture of Tonson worth remembrance, is a proof,
but indeed, so far as I have found, the only
proof, that he retained some malignity from their
ancient rivalry. Tonson pretended but to guess

might have reflected, that a man who had been
secretary of state in the ministry of Sunderland
knew a nearer way to a bishopric than by de-
fending religion or translating the "Psalms."
It is related that he had once a design to make
an English Dictionary, and that he considered
Dr. Tillotson as the writer of highest authority.
There was formerly sent to me by Mr. Locker,
clerk of the Leathersellers' Company, who was
eminent for curiosity and literature, a collection
of examples collected from Tillotson's works,
as Locker said, by Addison. It came too late
to be of use, so I inspected it but slightly, and
remember it indistinctly. I thought the passages
too short.

This year (1716*) he married the Countess Dowager of Warwick, whom he had solicited by a very long and anxious courtship, perhaps with behaviour not very unlike that of Sir Roger to his disdainful widow; and who, I am afraid, diverted herself often by playing with his pas-it; no other mortal ever suspected it; and Pope sion. He is said to have first known her by becoming tutor to her son. "He formed," said Tonson, "the design of getting that lady from the time when he was first recommended into the family." In what part of his life he obtained the recommendation, or how long, and in what manner he lived in the family, I know not. His advances at first were certainly timorous, but grew bolder as his reputation and influence increased; till at last the lady was persuaded to marry him, on terms much like those on which a Turkish princess is espoused, to whom the Sultan is reported to pronounce, "Daughter, I give thee this man for thy slave." The marriage, if uncontradicted report can be credited, made no addition to his happiness; it neither found them nor made them equal. She always remembered her own rank, and thought herself entitled to treat with very little ceremony the tutor of her son. Rowe's ballad of the "Despairing Shepherd" is said to have been written, either before or after marriage, upon this memorable pair; and it is certain that Addison has left behind him no encouragement for ambitious love.

The year after (1717) he rose to his highest elevation, being made secretary of state. For this employment he might justly be supposed qualified by long practice of business, and by his regular ascent through other offices; but expectation is often disappointed; it is universally confessed that he was unequal to the duties of his place. In the House of Commons he could not speak, and therefore was useless to the defence of the government. In the office, says Pope, he could not issue an order without losing his time in quest of fine expressions. What he gained in rank he lost in credit; and, finding by experience, his own inability, was forced to solicit his dismission, with a pension of fifteen hundred pounds a year. His friends palliated this relinquishment, of which both friends and enemies knew the true reason, with an account of declining health, and the necessity of recess and quiet.

Addison, however, did not conclude his life in peaceful studies; but relapsed, when he was near his end, to a political dispute.

It so happened that (1718-19) a controversy was agitated with great vehemence between those friends of long continuance, Addison and Steele. It may be asked, in the language of Homer, what power or what cause should set them at variance. The subject of their dispute was of great importance. The Earl of Sunderland proposed an act called "the Peerage Bill;" by which the number of peers should be fixed, and the King restrained from any new creation of nobility, unless when an old family should be extinct. To this the lords would naturally agree; and the King, who was yet little acquainted with his own prerogative, and, as is now well known, almost indifferent to the possessions of the Crown, had been persuaded to consent. The only difficulty was found among the Commons, who were not likely to approve the perpetual exclusion of themselves and their posterity. The bill therefore was eagerly opposed, and among others by Sir Robert Walpole, whose speech was published.

The lords might think their dignity diminished by improper advancements, and particularly by the introduction of twelve new peers at once, to produce a majority of tories in the last reign; an act of authority violent enough, yet He now returned to his vocation, and began certainly legal, and by no means to be comto plan literary occupations for his future life. pared with that contempt of national right with He purposed a tragedy on the death of Socrates; which, some time afterwards, by the instigaa story of which, as Tickell remarks, the basis tion of whiggism, the Commons chosen by the is narrow, and to which I know not how love people for three years, chose themselves for could have been appended. There would how-seven. But whatever might be the disposition ever have been no want either of virtue in the sentiments or elegance in the language.

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of the lords, the people had no wish to increase their power. The tendency of the bill, as Steele observed in a letter to the Earl of Oxford, was to introduce an aristocracy: for a majority in the House of Lords, so limited, would have been despotic and irresistible.

To prevent this subversion of the ancient establishment, Steele, whose pen readily seconded his political passions, endeavoured to alarm the nation, by a pamphlet called "The Plebeian." To this an answer was published by Addison, under the title of "The Old Whig," in which it is not discovered that Steele was then known

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