THE FIFTH PERIOD.

The Hanoverian Age to the First Empire of
Napoleon, 1714–1804.

CHAPTER XXIV.

PROSE WRITERS OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

JOSEPH ADDISON.

"Give days and nights, sir, to the study of Addison, if you mean to be a good writer, or, what is more worth, an honest man." - Samuel Johnson.

"Addison was the best company in the world." — Lady Mary Montagu.

"He was not free with his superiors. He was rather mute in his society on some occasions; but when he began to be company he was full of vivacity, and went on in a noble stream of thought and language, so as to chain the attention of every one to him." - Edward Young.

"The great satirist who alone knew how to use ridicule without abusing it, who without inflicting a wound effected a great social reform, and who reconciled wit and virtue after a long and disastrous separation, during which wit had been led astray by profligacy, and virtue by fanaticism."

THE writers of prose who were contemporaneous with Pope developed a new and beneficent form of English literature. In the form of a periodical, a scanty modicum of news was published, together with a short, lively essay on some moral or critical theme. The aim of the dissertations was to inculcate right living, good taste, and politeness.

The most illustrious writer of this literature was Joseph Addison (1672-1719). He was the son of Lancelot Addison, a clergyman of some reputation for learning. In his early years he was sent to the famous Charter-house school, and there began his friendship for "Dick" Steele. At Oxford, he distinguished himself by his scholarship and his taste in Latin poetry.

His Early Writings. His first attempt in English verse (1693) was an Address to Dryden, by which he won the old poet's friendship. Later a eulogistic address to William III. attracted the attention of the court, and gained a pension for the young author. He traveled in France and Italy, to cultivate his tastes, but was soon deprived of his pension by the death of the king. He returned to London, where he lived in dignified poverty. Meantime Marlborough won the memorable victory of Blenheim. The Lord Treasurer, Godolphin, eager to see the event worthily celebrated, bethought him of the young poet; and the Campaign, published in 1705, was the result. The verses are stiff and artificial enough; but Addison, abandoning the custom of former poets, who paint a military hero as slaughtering whole squadrons with his single arm, places the glory of a general on its true basis, -the power of conceiving and executing intellectual combinations, the exercise of calmness and foresight in the hour of danger. The praises of Marlborough were none too lofty for the popular demand. The town went wild over one passage, in which the hero was compared to an angel guiding a whirlwind.*

*"So when an angel by divine command,

With rising tempests shakes a guilty land
(Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed),
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm."

The career of Addison now became brilliant and prosperous. He was appointed under-secretary of state, afterwards chief secretary for Ireland, and held other honorable offices. The Campaign was followed by his Travels in Italy; in 1707 he published his opera of Rosamond; and about this time he sketched the comedy of The Drummer. Although he first achieved fame as a poet, he won his most enduring reputation by writing prose for the earliest English periodicals.

A short account of Steele and of early periodical literature is appropriate here. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) was of Irish parentage. He had been the schoolfellow of Addison, at the Charter-house and Oxford. His life was full of vicissitudes. His heart was tender, his benevolence deep, his aspiration lofty; but his passions were strong, and he lacked prudence and self-control. He was a man of ready talents; and being an ardent partisan pamphleteer, was rewarded by government with the position of Gazetteer, which gave him a monopoly of official news at a time when newspapers were still in their infancy.

The Tatler. Steele determined to profit by the facilities thus afforded him to found a new species of periodical which should contain besides the news of the day a series of light and agreeable essays upon topics likely to improve the taste, the manners, and morals of society. At this period literary taste was at its lowest ebb among the middle and fashionable classes. Amusements, when not merely frivolous, were either immoral or brutal. Gambling, even among women, was prevalent. Intellectual pleasures and requirements were regarded either with wonder or with contempt. The fops and fine ladies prided themselves on their ignorance, and any allusion to books was scouted as pedantry. Such was the disease which Steele determined to treat. For this purpose he founded The Tatler, a small sheet appearing three times a week, each penny number

containing a short essay, while news and advertisements filled up the remaining space. The popularity of the new journal was great; no tea-table, no coffee-house. in that age of coffeehouses was without it; and the authors, writing with ease, pleasantry, and knowledge of life, soon gained wide influence. The Tatler was published for nearly two years, - from April 12, 1709, till January 2, 1711. By that time Steele was no longer Gazetteer. His success in writing under the pseudomyn of Isaac Bickerstaffe (which Swift had first made famous) prompted him to continue his ventures. He soon established the famous Spectator, which appeared six times a week. After reaching five hundred and fifty-five numbers, it was discontinued for about eighteen months, resuming in 1714. The Guardian, inferior to either of the other periodicals, though Addison and Steele were among its contributors, was begun in 1713, and continued for one hundred and seventy-five numbers. Many writers of the time, among them Swift and Berkeley, furnished hints or contributions.

Addison's Coöperation with Steele. - Addison gave his constant aid as a contributor to Steele's enterprise. He entered warmly into the project, supplying many of the most valuable papers. For The Tatler he furnished onesixth, for The Spectator more than one-half, and for The Guardian one-third of the matter. Of this Steele made loyal recognition. "I fared," he said, "like a distressed prince, who calls in a powerful neighbor to his aid. I was undone by my auxiliary. I could not subsist without dependence on Addison's papers are signed by one of the four letters, C. L. I. O., either the letters of the name of Clio, or the initials of Chelsea, London, Islington, and the Office, the places where the essays were written.

him."

The fertility of invention displayed in these charming papers, the variety of their subjects, and the felicity of

their treatment, place them among literary masterpieces. Nothing is too high, nothing too low, to furnish matter for amusing and yet profitable reflection. From the patches and cherry-colored ribbons of the ladies to the loftiest principles of morality and religion, everything is treated with appropriateness and unforced energy. The student will find in Addison qualities that never can become obsolete an unfailing clearness and limpidity of expression, and a singular harmony between language and thought. His delineations of character and manners are exquisite. Sir Roger de Coverley is a finished picture worthy of Cervantes or of Scott. The manner in which his foibles and his virtues are combined is a proof that Addison, who added most of the subtle strokes to the character, possessed humor of the highest order.

Addison's poetry, though popular in his own time, has fallen in public estimation. His lighter lyrical verse, such as the songs in Rosamond, is pleasing and musical; while his Hymns breathe a fervent and tender spirit of piety. This is especially true of the verses beginning,

"When all thy mercies, O my God,"

and of his well-known adaptation of the noble psalm, “The heavens declare the glory of God."

The Tragedy of "Cato."-In 1713 Addison brought out his tragedy of Cato, written with elegance, but lacking dramatic spirit. When first presented, the play was successful; and night after night an applauding audience crowded the theater, Whig and Tory finding delight in

"Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison."- Samuel Johnson.