JOSEPH ADDISON, the second of the six children of Dr. Launcelot Addison and Jane Gulstone, was born May 1, 1672, at Milston in Wiltshire. The feebleness of his infancy seems to have impaired his spirit as a boy; for, in the General Dictionary, Dr. Birch relates, that when at school in the country, he was so afraid of punishment as to have absconded, lodging in a hollow tree in the fields, till a hue and cry restored him to his parents. At the Charter-House was formed that friendship between him and Sir Richard Steele, which led to their close alliance in a new kind of literary undertaking. Addison could not but feel his own superiority; and Spence intimates, that the one was too fond of displaying, and the other too servile in acknowledging it. Steele occasionally availed himself not only of his friend's pen, but of his purse. Johnson has given currency to the story, that Addison enforced the repayment of 1007. by an execution, and the fact is said to have been related by Steele himself, with tears in his eyes. Hooke, the Roman historian, professed to have received it from Pope. The biographer sarcastically remarks, that the borrower probably had not much purpose of repayment; but the lender, who "seems to have had other notions of 100%., grew impatient of delay." Now no date is assigned to this anecdote; and Addison's finances were so low during the greater part of his life, that he might have suffered greatly by the disappointment; nor does it detract from the character of a man in narrow circumstances, that he entertains serious notions of 100%.

In 1687 Addison was entered at Queen's College, Oxford, where he took the degree of M.A., February 14, 1693. One of his early

poetical attempts was An Account of the greatest English Poets, inscribed to H. S.;' initials which have been currently assigned to Dr. Henry Sacheverell, who is indebted, for no enviable place in history, to his trial and its consequences. But a college friend of Addison has left it on record, that the initials were the property of a gentleman bearing the same name, who died young, after having shown some promise in writing a history of the Isle of Man, and who bequeathed his papers to Addison, containing, among other things, the plan of a tragedy on the death of Socrates, which the legatee had some thoughts of working up himself. In this poem the writer tells his friend that Spenser can no longer charm an understanding age. Now the judgment of the present age disclaims this confident decision; nor would it be worth recording, but for Spence's assertion, that the critic had never read the Faery Queene,' when he drew its character. In after life he spoke of his own poem as a "poor thing;" but his general level as a versifier was not high. The Campaign' is his masterpiece in rhyme.

He was indebted to Congreve for his introduction to Montague, then Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson says, that "he was then learning the trade of a courtier, and subjoined Montague as a poetical name to those of Cowley and of Dryden." In 1695 he wrote a poem to King William, with an introduction addressed to Lord Somers, who is said by Tickell to have sent a message to the author to desire his acquaintance.

In 1699, he obtained an annual pension of 3007. to enable him to travel. He passed the first year in preparation at Blois, and then departed for Italy. That he was duly qualified to appreciate the attractions of "classic ground,"-his own phrase, sneered at for affectation by contemporary critics, but since sanctioned by general adoption, -appears by his 'Travels,' and by the letter from Italy to Lord Halifax. His Dialogues on Medals were composed at this time. On the death of King William, in March, 1702, he became distressed for money by the stoppage of his persion. This compelled him to become tutor to a travelling squire. The engagement seems to have been for one year only, for he was at Rotterdam in June, 1703. In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for November, 1835, may be found three very curious, because characteristic, letters, from the Duke of Somerset, surnamed by his contemporaries the Proud, to old Jacob Tonson, forwarding a proposal to Addison to undertake the office of tutor to his son, then going abroad. We transcribe a passage from the second letter, as a sample of the proud Duke's liberality. "I desire he may

be more on the account of a companion in my son's travels, than as a governor, and as such shall account him; my meaning is that neither lodging, travelling, nor diet, shall cost him sixpence, and over and above that, my son shall present him at the year's end with a hundred guineas, as long as he is pleased to continue in that service to my son, by taking great care of him, by his personal attendance and advice, in what he finds necessary during his time of travelling." It appears from the Duke's quotation of the answer, in the third letter to Tonson, that Addison had "other notions" of this offer than the proposer entertained. "I will set down his own words, which are these:-' As for the recompense that is proposed to me, I must confess I can by no means see my account in it,' &c." A hundred guineas and maintenance was, even in those days, a mean appointment from a Duke to a gentleman.

Addison returned to England at the latter end of 1703. In 1704, at the request of Lord Godolphin, to whom he was introduced by the Earl of Halifax, he undertook to celebrate the victory of Blenheim, and composed the first portion of his poem called the 'Campaign.' This proved his introduction into office. After filling some inferior appointments, he became, in 1706, Under-Secretary of State. About the same time, he wrote the comic opera of Rosamond,' which was neglected by the public, has been overpraised by Johnson, and is now deservedly forgotten.

.

Thomas Earl of Wharton was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, December 4, 1708, and proceeded to his destination April 10, 1709, accompanied by Addison as his Secretary. Addison therefore left London two days before the commencement of the 'Tatler,' the first number of which came out April 12; and his own first contribution appeared May 26. His last was No. 267, and the work ended with No. 271, January 2, 1710-11. In No. 93 is an article on a 'Letter from Switzerland, with Remarks on Travelling,' and a sly hint that Fools ought not to be exported,' in Addison's happiest style of playful satire. The praise of original design clearly belongs to the projector of the Tatler.' Tickell however was justified in saying, that Addison's aid "did not a little contribute to advance its reputation ;" and Steele candidly allows, that his coadjutor not only assisted but improved his original scheme. In his dedication of the comedy of the 'Drummer,' he says, "It was advanced indeed, for it was raised to a greater thing than I intended it; for the elegance, purity, and correctness, which appeared in his writings, were not so much to my