1
May 1672 A.D. Joseph
Addison Born.
Some
insights are offered at Wiki.
Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was
the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot
Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his
long-standing friend, Richard
Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
Contents
- 1 Life and writing
- 2 Marriage and death
- 3 Contribution
- 4 Timeline
- 5 Albin Schram letters
- 6 Analysis
- 7 See also
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Life and writing
Background
Addison was born in Milston, Wiltshire, but soon after his birth his father, Lancelot Addison, was appointed Dean
of Lichfield and the Addison family moved into the cathedral close.
He was educated at Charterhouse School, where he first met Richard Steele, and at The Queen's College,
Oxford.[1] He excelled in
classics, being specially noted for his Latin verse, and became a Fellow of Magdalen College. In 1693, he addressed a poem to John
Dryden, and his first major work, a book of the lives of
English poets, was published in 1694. His translation of Virgil's Georgics was published the same year. Dryden, Lord
Somers and Charles Montagu, 1st
Earl of Halifax, took an interest in Addison's work
and obtained for him a pension of £300 to enable him travel to Europe with a
view to diplomatic employment, all the time writing and studying politics.
While in Switzerland in 1702, he heard of the death of William III,
an event which lost him his pension, as his influential contacts, Halifax and
Somers, had lost their employment with the Crown.
Political career
He returned to England at the end
of 1703. For more than a year he remained without employment, but the Battle of Blenheim
in 1704 gave him a fresh opportunity of distinguishing himself. The government,
more specifically Lord Treasurer
Godolphin, commissioned Addison to write a commemorative poem, and
he produced The Campaign, which gave such satisfaction that he was
forthwith appointed a Commissioner of Appeals in Halifax's government.[2] His next literary
venture was an account of his travels in Italy, which was followed by an opera
libretto titled Rosamund. In 1705, with the Whigs in political power, Addison was made Under-Secretary of State and
accompanied Halifax on a mission to Hanover. Addison's biographer states:
"In the field of his foreign responsibilities Addison's views were those
of a good Whig. He had always believed that England's power depended upon her
wealth, her wealth upon her commerce, and her commerce upon the freedom of the
seas and the checking of the power of France and Spain."[3]
From 1708 to 1709 he was MP for the rotten
borough of Lostwithiel. Addison was shortly afterwards appointed secretary to the new Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, Lord Wharton, and Keeper of the Records of that country. Under the influence of
Wharton, he was Member
of Parliament in the Irish House of
Commons for Cavan
Borough from 1709 until 1713. From 1710, he represented Malmesbury, in his home county of Wiltshire, holding the seat until his death.
Magazine founder
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Joseph
Addison: engraving after the Kneller portrait
He encountered Jonathan
Swift in Ireland and remained there for a year. Subsequently,
he helped found the Kitcat Club and renewed his
association with Richard Steele. In 1709 Steele began to bring out Tatler, to which Addison became almost immediately a contributor: thereafter he
(with Steele) started The Spectator, the first number of which appeared on 1 March 1711. This paper,
which at first appeared daily, was kept up (with a break of about a year and a
half when The Guardian took its place) until 20 December 1714. His last undertaking was
The Freeholder, a political paper, 1715–16.
Plays
He wrote the libretto for Thomas Clayton's opera Rosamond, which had a disastrous premiere in London in
1707.[4] In 1713 Addison's
tragedy Cato was produced, and was received with acclamation by both Whigs and Tories. He followed this effort with a comedic play, The Drummer.
Cato
The actor
John Kemble in the role of Cato in Addison's play, which he revived
at Covent Garden in 1816, drawn by George Cruikshank.
Main article: Cato, a Tragedy
In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous
work of fiction, Cato, a Tragedy. Based on the last days of Marcus
Porcius Cato Uticensis, it deals with such
themes as individual liberty versus government tyranny, Republicanism versus Monarchism, logic versus emotion,
and Cato's personal struggle to cleave to his beliefs in the face of death. It
has a prologue written by Alexander
Pope and an epilogue by Dr. Garth.[5]
The play was a success throughout Britain and its possessions in the New
World, as well as Ireland.
It continued to grow in popularity, especially in the American colonies, for
several generations. Indeed, it was almost certainly literary inspiration for
the American Revolution, being well known to many of the Founding Fathers. In fact, George Washington
had it performed for the Continental
Army while they were encamped at Valley
Forge. Among the founders, according to John
J. Miller, "no single work of literature may have been more
important than Cato".[6]
Some scholars have identified the
inspiration for several famous quotations from the American Revolution in Cato.
These include:
- Patrick Henry's famous ultimatum: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
(Supposed
reference to Act II, Scene 4: "It is not now time to talk of
aught/But chains or conquest, liberty or death.").[7]
- Nathan Hale's valediction: "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
(Supposed
reference to Act IV, Scene 4: "What a pity it is/That we can
die but once to serve our country.").[7]
- Washington's praise for Benedict Arnold in a letter to him: "It is not in the power of any man to command success; but you have done more—you have deserved it."
(Clear
reference to Act I, Scene 2: "'Tis not in mortals to command
success; but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it.").
Not long after the American
Revolution, Edmund Burke quotes the play as
well in his Letter to Charles-Jean-François Depont (1789) in Further
Reflections on the Revolution in France, saying the French may be yet be
obliged to go through more transmigrations and "to pass, as one of our
poets says, 'through great varieties of untried being'", before their
state obtains its final form.[8] The poet in
reference is of course Addison and the passage Burke quoted is from Cato
(V.i. II): "Through what variety of untried being,/Through what new
scenes and changes must we pass!"
Though the play has fallen from
popularity and is now rarely performed, it was widely popular and often cited
in the eighteenth century, with Cato as an exemplar of republican virtue and liberty. For example, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were inspired by the play to write a series of letters, Cato's
Letters on individual rights, using the name "Cato".[citation needed]
The action of the play involves the
forces of Cato at Utica, awaiting the arrival of
Caesar just after Caesar's victory at Thapsus (46 BC). The noble sons of Cato, Portius and Marcus, are both in love with
Lucia, the daughter of Lucius, a senatorial ally of Cato. Juba, prince of Numidia, another fighting on Cato's side, loves Cato's daughter Marcia. Meanwhile,
Sempronius, another senator, and Syphax, general of the Numidians, are
conspiring secretly against Cato, hoping to draw off the Numidian army from
supporting him. In the final act, Cato commits suicide, leaving his supporters
to make their peace with the approaching Caesar—an easier task after Cato's death,
since he has been Caesar's most implacable foe.
Joseph
Addison by Kraemer
Marriage and death
The later events in the life of
Addison did not contribute to his happiness. In 1716, he married the
Dowager Countess of Warwick, to whose son he had been
tutor, and his political career continued to flourish, as he served as Secretary
of State for the Southern Department from 1717 to 1718.
However, his political newspaper, The 
Freeholder, was much criticised, and Alexander
Pope was among those who made him an object of derision,
christening him "Atticus". His wife appears to have been arrogant and
imperious; his stepson, the seventh Earl, was a rake and unfriendly to him; while in his public capacity his
shyness made him of little use in Parliament. He eventually fell out with
Steele over the Peerage Bill of 1719. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as
Secretary of State because of his poor health, but remained an MP until his
death at Holland House, London, on 17 June 1719, in his 48th year, and was buried in Westminster
Abbey.
Freeholder, was much criticised, and Alexander
Pope was among those who made him an object of derision,
christening him "Atticus". His wife appears to have been arrogant and
imperious; his stepson, the seventh Earl, was a rake and unfriendly to him; while in his public capacity his
shyness made him of little use in Parliament. He eventually fell out with
Steele over the Peerage Bill of 1719. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as
Secretary of State because of his poor health, but remained an MP until his
death at Holland House, London, on 17 June 1719, in his 48th year, and was buried in Westminster
Abbey.
On 6 April 1808, after Addison's
death, a town in upstate New York which had been originally organized as
Middletown in March 1796 was changed to Addison, in honor of Joseph Addison.
Contribution
It is mostly as an essayist that
Addison is remembered today. Addison began writing essays quite casually. In
April 1709, his childhood friend, Richard Steele, started The Tatler.
Addison inspired him to write this essay. Addison contributed 42 essays while
Steele wrote 188. Of Addison's help, Steele remarked, "when I had
once called him in, I could not subsist without dependence on him".[9] On 2 January 1711,
The Tatler was discontinued. On 1 March 1711, The Spectator was
published, and it continued until 6 December 1712. The Spectator was
issued daily and achieved great popularity. It exercised a great deal of
influence over the reading public of the time. In The Spectator, Addison
soon became the leading partner. He contributed 274 essays out a total of 555;
Steele wrote 236 for this periodical. Addison also assisted Steele with the Guardian
which Steele began in 1713.
The breezy, conversational style of
the essays later elicited Bishop Hurd's
reproving attribution of an "Addisonian Termination", for preposition stranding, the casual grammatical construction that ends a sentence with a
preposition.[10]
Besides the works above mentioned, he
wrote an essay, Dialogues on Medals, and left incomplete a work, Of
the Christian Religion.
Timeline
Albin Schram letters
In 2005 an Austrian banker and
collector named Albin Schram died and, in his
laundry room, a collection of around 1000 letters from great historical figures
was found.
One was written by Joseph Addison,
reporting on the debate in the House of Commons over the grant to John Churchill, 1st
Duke of Marlborough, and his heirs, following the Battle of Ramillies. The letter was written on the day of the debate, probably to George
Stepney.
Addison explains that the motion was
opposed by Mr Annesley, Ward, Caesar and Sir William Vevian, "One said
that this was showing no honour to His Grace but to a posterity that he was not
concern'd in. Casar ... hoped ye Duke tho he had ben Victorious over the Enemy
would not think of being so over a House of Commons: wch was said in pursuance
to a Motion made by some of the Craftier sort that would not oppose the
proposition directly but turn it off by a Side-Wind pretending that it being a
money affaire it should be refer'd to a Committee of the whole House wch in all
probability would have defeated the whole affaire...."[citation needed]
Following the Duke of Marlborough's
highly successful campaigns of 1706, he and George Stepney became the first
English regents of the Anglo-Dutch condominium for governing the southern
Netherlands. It was Stepney who formally took possession of the principality of
Mindelheim in Marlborough's name on 26 May, following the Battle of Ramillies.
On Marlborough's return to London in November, Parliament granted his request
that his grant of £5,000 'out of ye Post-Office' be made in perpetuity for his
heirs.
A second letter to his friend Sir
Richard Steele was also found, concerning the Tatler and other matters.
'I very much liked your last paper
upon the Courtship that is usually paid to the fair sex. I wish you had
reserved the Letter in this days paper concerning Indecencies at Church for an
entire piece. It wd have made as good a one as any you have published. Your
Reflections upon Almanza are very good.' The letter concludes with references
to impeachment proceedings against Addison's friend, Henry
Sacheverell ('I am much obliged to you for yor Letters relating to
Sackeverell'), and the Light House petition: 'I am something troubled that you
have not sent away ye Letters received from Ireland to my Lord Lieutenant,
particularly that from Mr Forster [the Attorney General] with the Enclosed
petition about the Light House, which I hope will be delivered to the House before
my Return'.
Analysis
Addison's character has been described
as kind and magnanimous, albeit somewhat cool and unimpassioned. His appealing
manners and conversation made him one of the most popular men of his day; and
while he laid his friends under obligations for substantial favours, he showed
great forbearance towards his few enemies. His essays are noted for their
clarity and elegant style, as well as their cheerful and respectful humour. One
flaw in Addison's character was a tendency to convivial excess, which
nonetheless should be judged in view of the somewhat lax manners of his time.
Thackeray wrote Addison and his
colleague Richard Steele into the novel The History of Henry
Esmond as characters.
"As a man, he may not have
deserved the adoration which he received from those who, bewitched by his
fascinating society, and indebted for all the comforts of life to his generous
and delicate friendship, worshipped him nightly, in his favourite temple at
Button’s. But, after full inquiry and impartial reflection, we have long been
convinced that he deserved as much love and esteem as can be justly claimed by
any of our infirm and erring race. Some blemishes may undoubtedly be detected
in his character; but the more carefully it is examined, the more it will
appear, to use the phrase of the old anatomists, sound in the noble parts, free
from all taint of perfidy, of cowardice, of cruelty, of ingratitude, of envy.
Men may easily be named, in whom some particular good disposition has been more
conspicuous than in Addison. But the just harmony of qualities, the exact
temper between the stern and the humane virtues, the habitual observance of
every law, not only of moral rectitude, but of moral grace and dignity,
distinguish him from all men who have been tried by equally strong temptations,
and about whose conduct we possess equally full information." – Lord
Macaulay[11]
See also
 |
References
1.
Jump up ^ 
"Addison, Joseph". Dictionary of
National Biography.
London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
"Addison, Joseph". Dictionary of
National Biography.
London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
4.
Jump up ^ McGeary, Thomas (1998). "Thomas
Clayton and the Introduction of Italian Opera to England", Philological Quarterly, Vol. 77 (subscription required)
5.
Jump up ^ Joseph Addison, Cato: A Tragedy,
and Selected Essays. ed. Christine Dunn Henderson & Mark E. Yellin.
Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004. ISBN 0-86597-443-8.
6.
Jump up ^ John J. Miller, "On Life, Liberty, and Other Quotable Matters," Wall Street Journal, 2 July 2011.
7.
^ Jump up to: a b Richard,
Carl J. (2009). Greeks & Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding
Fathers,
p. 151. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
8.
Jump up ^ Burke, Edmund (1872) Reflections on the revolution in France, and on the proceedings of certain
societies in London relative to that event, p. 232. Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday.
9.
Jump up ^ Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Sir Richard Steele, p. 148. Haskell House Publishers, first published 1865.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource
External links
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Wikisource has
original works written by or about:
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Wikiquote has a collection
of quotations related to: Joseph Addison
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- Joseph Addison Seminar
- Works by Joseph Addison at Project Gutenberg
- Joseph Addison's Grave, Westminster Abbey
- Quotations Book – Joseph Addison
- The Bow and Grimace: International journal inspired by Addisons Spectator no. 69
- Cato (A Tragedy in Five Acts) (1713)
- Essays by Joseph Addison at Quotidiana.org
- Works by or about Joseph Addison in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Archival material relating to Joseph Addison listed at the UK National Archives
- Index entry for Joseph Addison at Poets' Corner
- Joseph Addison at University of Toronto Libraries
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Political offices
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Preceded by
George Dodington |
Chief Secretary for Ireland
1708–1710 |
Succeeded by
Edward Southwell |
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Preceded by
Sir John Stanley |
Chief Secretary for Ireland
1714–1715 |
Succeeded by
Martin Bladen Charles Delafaye |
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Preceded by
Paul Methuen |
Succeeded by
James Craggs the Younger |
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Preceded by
Russell Robartes James Kendall |
Succeeded by
Francis Robartes Russell Robartes |
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Preceded by
Thomas Farrington Henry Mordaunt |
Member of Parliament for Malmesbury
1710–1719 With: Thomas Farrington 1710–1713 Sir John Rushout, Bt 1713–1719 |
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Preceded by
Thomas Ashe Robert Saunders |
Succeeded by
Charles Lambart Theophilus Clements |
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