keeper of the great seal. To this flattering production he owed the friendship of that nobleman. A little before, he had dedicated his Latin poems to Mr. Montague, afterwards Lord Halifax. Halifax and Somers procured him, in 1699, a pension of £300 a year from the crown, that he might add to his stores of information by foreign travel; and we find him writing a "Letter in 1701, from Italy, to the Right Honourable Lord Halifax," in smooth and graceful English verse. In 1702 he set in order at Vienna the materials which he had collected in Italy for his "Dialogues on Ancient Medals." In the same year, on making arrangements to return to England, he found himself chosen as secretary from King William III., to attend the army under Prince Eugene, who had just begun the war in Italy. He heard the news of the king's death while enjoying the picturesque scenery of Geneva, in which his pure taste must have felt exquisite delight. The change of ministry at the beginning of the new reign destroyed his hopes of present advancement. He had leisure for a tour in Germany on his way home, and did not arrive in London until nearly the close of 1703. He shortly afterwards published his "Travels," which he appropriately dedicated to Lord Somers, then no longer in office. In 1704, requested by the Lord-Treasurer Godolphin, on the suggestion of Lord Halifax, to celebrate the recent victory of Blenheim, he commenced the beautiful poem of the "Campaign." Lord Godolphin saw a specimen of the work before its completion, and was so charmed with the imagery, that he appointed the author c ommissioner of appeals, vacant by the removal of the celebrated Mr. Locke to the council of trade. In 1705 he accompanied Lord Halifax to Hanover. In 1706 he was made under-secretary of state. In 1707 he published, anonymously, an able pamphlet, entitled "The Present State of the War," &c.
At this time he resided in a venerable mansion at the east end of Fulham, once the residence of Nell Gwynn. His friends persuaded him to flatter the new taste for operas, by writing one called Rosamond, which did not succeed on the stage; but from letters which he dated from Fulham, we find that Addison preferred the hedgerows to the theatre, the oratorio of birds to the most musical opera, and the voice of the nightingale to Mrs. Tofts, the finest singer of that age. In 1709 he went to Ireland as secretary to the lord-lieutenant, the marquis of Wharton. The salary of the keeper of records in Ireland was increased, and the office was bestowed on Addison as a mark of the queen's favour. At the change of ministry in 1710, he returned to England, where he remained in political retirement, until in 1714, on the death of Queen Anne, he was made the secretary to the regency. But though in retirement, he was not unemployed; for, from his lodging in St. James's Place, with its exquisite literary breakfasts, out-rivalling the feasts of Samuel Rogers in our own day, he sent forth those celebrated papers in the Spectator and Guardian, which bear the initials Clio, and which have not more wonderfully contributed to the improvement of the English morals, than to the purity of the national taste; while, in 1713, he published the "Tragedy of Cato," alike remarkable for its preservation of the classical unities, and as designed to awaken the nation to a love of civil freedom. About the same time he formed the noble purpose of compiling a new English dictionary.
He was now at the height of popularity, and though "a whig, when whigs were at a discount," he wielded an influence all but universal. Taverns, in those days, like the modern clubs of Pall Mall and St. James's Street, were the reunions of fashionable society, both literary and political. Sadly illustrative of the irreligion of the age, one was called the "Devil's Tavern." It was situated between the Temple Gates and Temple Bar, and had been the haunt of wits from the time of Ben Jonson. In 1710 we find the great essayist dining at this well-known house, while a general election was filling the land with the riot which Hogarth afterwards so admirably painted. "I dined to-day," says Swift in a letter to Stella, "with Dr. Garth and Mr. Addison at the Devil tavern, near Temple Bar; and it is well I dine every day, else I should be longer in making out my letters; for we are yet in a very dull state, only inquiring every day after new elections, where the tories carry it among the new members six to one. Mr. Addison's election has passed easy and undisputed; and I believe, if he had a mind to be chosen king, he would hardly be refused."
On the arrival of George I. he was again sent to Ireland, as secretary to the new lord-lieutenant, Lord Sunderland. In 1715 he became a lord of trade. From September, 1715, to July, 1716, he rendered important service to the government by publishing a powerful political paper twice a-week, entitled "The Freeholder." In 1716 he married the countess-dowager of Warwick, an union which does not appear to have added to his domestic happiness. In 1717 he accepted the dignity of secretary of state; more, it is understood, in compliance with the wishes of his wife, than in accordance with his own judgment. This high office he resigned after holding it about a year, in consequence of his declining health, retiring with a pension of £1500 a-year. A complicated asthma and dropsy deprived the world of his eminent services, at Holland House, Kensington, on the 17th of June, 1719.
There are few illustrious Englishmen whose characters have been more variously and richly illustrated by contemporary and succeeding writers, than that of Addison. There are yet fewer who have contributed so much to that illustration themselves. In a corrupt age, Addison exhibited a rare and refreshing example of unswerving adherence to the cause of truth, decorum, and piety. His deep respect for religion he owed to the instructions of his father's home; and though, perhaps, his personal earnestness as a Christian may have been somewhat abated by his love of conviviality in the prime of manhood, in the last years of his life he gave ample proofs of devoutness. He continued his "Evidences of Christianity." He contemplated a new version of the Psalms. Some of his hymns are sung to this day in churches, wherever the English language is understood. His last words, which were addressed to his stepson, the young earl of Warwick, are well known. Pressing the hand of the profligate youth, he softly said, "I have sent for you, that you might see with what peace a Christian can die," and calmly expired.
The story that Addison, in the latter years of his life, gave himself up to intemperance, rests on no solid foundation, and may fairly be pronounced a calumny. An old tradition connects his name with the long gallery, or library, which forms the west wing of Holland house. It is affirmed that he had there a bottle of wine placed at each end, and, when in the fervour of composition, was in the habit of pacing the narrow gallery between glass and glass. Fancy may attribute the bright humour which sparkles in so many of his essays to the inspiration of wine; but there is too much sober sense in his lucubrations, even when he most indulges in pleasantry, to admit of such an explanation of their brilliancy. He haunted, it is true, the coffee-house and the tavern, as did all the other great wits of the day. We have from his own graphic pen a sketch of St. James's coffee-house, St James's Street; and he was a member of the Kit-cat Club, which met at an obscure inn in Shire Lane. The old White Horse Inn, on the Hammersmith Road, now known as the Holland Arms, was often his resort on an afternoon, when he wanted to beguile an hour of leisure. But the house which he most frequented was Button's, on the south side of Russell Street, Covent Garden. The landlord, whose name it bore, had been in the service of Lady Warwick. It was opened in 1712, under Addison's express auspices, and when the world had just been startled by the tragedy of "Cato." "A lion's head and paws, serving as the letter-box for literary communications, was placed in front of the building, and the editor of the Guardian says, 'whatever the lion swallows, I shall digest for the use of the public' 'He is indeed a proper emblem of knowledge and action, being all head and paws.'" "Addison usually studied all the morning, then met his party at Button's, and dined there, staying five or six hours, and sometimes far into the night." These habits doubtless favoured the accumulation of the practical wisdom which enriches his essays, but they must have had their peculiar temptations.
Dispassionate criticism, at the present day, does not place Addison in the foremost rank of English poets. His metrical productions do not breathe the fire of high original genius; they are rather the result of a refined classical taste. Stately, rhetorical, and harmonious, they still want the rapture and boldness which mark the poet born. The celebrated tragedy of "Cato" exhibits all the author's beauties and defects. That on its first appearance it was played for thirty-five nights in succession to crowded and enthusiastic audiences, has been attributed, first, to the warm efforts of friends; secondly, to the political excitement of the time; and last, but not least, to the fact that he gave his share of the proceeds for the benefit of the "house."
It is as a prose author that Addison occupies so distinguished a place among the writers of our country. As such, his merits
