Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele ( – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright and politician best known as the co-founder of the magazine ''The Spectator (1711), The Spectator'' alongside his close friend Joseph Addison. Early life Steel ...

, with whom he founded ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' magazine. His simple prose style marked the end of the mannerisms and conventional classical images of the 17th century.

Early life and education

Addison was born in Milston,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, but soon after his birth his father, Lancelot Addison, was appointed Dean of Lichfield and the family moved into the cathedral close. His father was a scholarly English clergyman. Joseph was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

, London, where he first met Richard Steele, and at The Queen's College, Oxford. He excelled in classics, being specially noted for his

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

verse, and became a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Magdalen College. In 1693, he addressed a poem to

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

, and his first major work, a book of the lives of English poets, was published in 1694. His translation of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

'' was published in the same year. Dryden, Lord Somers and Charles Montague, 1st Earl of Halifax, took an interest in Addison's work and obtained for him a pension of £300 a year to enable him to 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.

Career

Political career

Addison returned to England at the end of 1703. For more than a year he remained unemployed, but the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 gave him a fresh opportunity to distinguish himself. The government, specifically Lord Treasurer Godolphin, commissioned Addison to write a commemorative poem about the battle, and he produced ''The Campaign'', which was received with such satisfaction that he was appointed Commissioner of Appeals in Halifax's government. His next literary venture was an account of his travels in Italy, ''Remarks on several parts of Italy, &c., in the years 1701, 1702, 1703'', published in 1705 by Jacob Tonson. In 1705, with the Whigs in power, Addison was made Under-Secretary of State and accompanied Lord Halifax on a diplomatic mission to Hannover, Germany. A biography of Addison 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." In 1708 and 1709, Addison was a Member of Parliament for the borough of

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; ) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 census. The Lostwi ...

. He was soon appointed secretary to the new

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, Lord Wharton. Under the direction of Wharton, he was an MP in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for Cavan Borough from 1709 until 1713. In 1710, he represented Malmesbury, in his home county of

, holding the seat until his death in 1719.

Magazine founder

He met

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

in Ireland and remained there for a year. Later, he helped form the Kitcat Club and renewed his friendship with Richard Steele. In 1709, Steele began to publish the '' Tatler'', and Addison became a regular contributor. In 1711, they began ''

''; its first issue appeared on 1 March 1711. This paper, which was originally a daily, was published until 20 December 1714, interrupted for a year by the publication of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 1713. His last publication was ''The Freeholder'', a political paper, in 1715–16.

Plays

He wrote the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for Thomas Clayton's opera '' Rosamond'', which had a disastrous premiere in London in 1707. 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'' (1716).

''Cato''

In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous work, ''Cato, a Tragedy''. Based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, it deals with conflicts such as individual liberty versus government tyranny,

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

versus

Monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

, logic versus emotion, and Cato's personal struggle to retain his beliefs in the face of death. It has a prologue written by

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

and an epilogue by

Samuel Garth Sir Samuel Garth Royal Society, FRS (1661 – 18 January 1719) was an England, English physician and poet. Life Garth was born in Bolam, County Durham, Bolam in County Durham and matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1676, graduating B.A. ...

. The play was a success throughout the British Empire. It continued to grow in popularity, especially in America, for several generations. It is cited by some historians as a literary inspiration for the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, being known to many of the Founding Fathers. General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

Hymn

Addison wrote the popular church

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

"The Spacious Firmament on High", publishing it in ''The Spectator'' in 1712. It is sung either to the tune known as "London (Addison's)" by John Sheeles, written c. 1720, or to "Creation" by

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, 1798.

Marriage and death

Joseph Addison by Michael Dahl lowres color

The later part of Addison's life was not without its troubles. In 1716, he married Charlotte, Dowager Countess of Warwick, after working for a time as a tutor for her son. He then lived at Bilton Hall in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. His political career continued, and he served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1717 to 1718. His political newspaper ''The Freeholder'' was much criticised. His wife was arrogant and imperious; his stepson, Edward Rich, was an unfriendly rake. Addison's shyness in public limited his effectiveness as a member of Parliament. He eventually fell out with Steele over the Peerage Bill. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as Secretary of State because of his poor health, but he remained an MP until his death at Holland House, London, on 17 June 1719 (aged 47). He was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. After his death, an apocryphal story circulated that Addison, on his deathbed, had sent for his wastrel stepson to witness how a Christian man meets death. On 6 April 1808, Middletown, a town in upstate New York, was renamed Addison in his honour. Addison Road in West Kensington was also named after him.

Contribution

It is as an essayist that Addison is remembered today. He began writing essays quite casually. In April 1709, his childhood friend Richard Steele started the ''Tatler''. Addison contributed 42 essays to the ''Tatler'', while Steele wrote 188. Regarding Addison's help, Steele remarked, "when I had once called him in, I could not subsist without dependence on him". The ''Tatler'' was discontinued on 2 January 1711. ''The Spectator'' began publication on 1 March of that year, and it continued – being issued daily, and achieving great popularity – until 6 December 1712. It exercised an influence over the reading public of the time, and Addison soon became the leading partner in it, contributing 274 essays out of a total of 635; Steele wrote 236. Addison also assisted Steele with ''The Guardian'', which began in 1713. Addison is the originator of the quote, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body". The quote can be found in Issue 147 of the ''Tatler''. The breezy, conversational style of the essays later prompted Bishop Richard Hurd to reprove Addison for what he called an "Addisonian Termination", or

preposition stranding Preposition stranding or p-stranding is the syntax, syntactic construction in which a so-called ''stranded'', ''hanging'', or ''dangling'' preposition occurs somewhere other than immediately before its corresponding object (grammar), object; for ex ...

, a grammatical construction that ends a sentence with a preposition. William Rose Benet, '' The Reader's Encyclopedia'', ''s.v.'' "Addisonian Termination".

in his 1735 '' Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot'' made Addison an object of derision, naming him "Atticus", and comparing him to an adder, "willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike". He wrote an essay entitled ''Dialogues on Medals'' which was translated into French by eighteenth-century priest and journalist Simon-Jérôme Bourlet de Vauxcelles (1733–1802). His essay "Adventures of a Shilling" (1710) is a brief, early example of an it-narrative or object narrative, a genre that would become more common later in the century. He also left an incomplete work, ''Of the Christian Religion''.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:450 height:450 PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:10 top:10 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1670 till:1720 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1670 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1670 PlotData= color:red mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S shift:(25,0) # shift text to right side of bar # there is no automatic collision detection, # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap at:1672 text:Born in Milston, Wiltshire at:1687 text:Educated at Oxford at:1699 text:Received travelling pension at:1704 text:"The Campaign" leads to political office at:1708 shift:(25,-10) text:Went to Ireland at:1709 text:Assisted Richard Steele in Tatler at:1711 text:Spectator started at:1716 shift:(25,-10) text:Married Lady Warwick at:1717 text:Secretary of State at:1719 text:Died at Holland House

Albin Schram letters

In 2005, an Austrian banker and collector named Albin Schram died, and in a file cabinet next to his laundry room a collection of a thousand letters was found, some of them of interest to historians. Two of them were written by Joseph Addison. The first reported on a debate in the House of Commons about a 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 Misters Annesley, Ward, Casar, 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....

Following the Duke of Marlborough's successful campaign of 1706, the Duke 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 the Duke's name on 26 May, after the Battle of Ramillies. Upon Marlborough's return to London in November, Parliament accepted the Duke's request that a grant of £5,000 'out of ye Post-Office' be made in perpetuity to his heirs. A second letter, written to 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 he Attorney Generalwith 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, with a tendency for convivial excess. His appealing manners and conversation contributed to his general popularity. He often put his friends under obligations for substantial favours, but he showed great forbearance toward his few enemies. His essays are noted for their clarity and elegant style, as well as their cheerful and respectful humour. William Thackeray portrayed Addison and Steele as characters in his novel '' The History of Henry Esmond''. Lord Macaulay wrote this generous tribute to Addison, which was published in 1866, seven years after Macaulay's death in 1859:

References

External links

* * * * *
Joseph Addison's Grave, Westminster Abbey
*
History of Henry Esmond - ThackeryPoems by Joseph Addison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addison, Joseph 1672 births 1719 deaths Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford British magazine publishers (people) British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 English Anglicans English essayists Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at King Edward VI School, Lichfield Irish MPs 1703–1713 English male essayists British magazine founders English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets Neoclassical writers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Malmesbury Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People educated at Charterhouse School People from Lichfield Writers from Staffordshire Writers from Wiltshire People from Fulham Writers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham English magazine editors Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Lostwithiel Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English writers 18th-century writers in Latin Articles which contain graphical timelines Chief secretaries for Ireland 18th-century English essayists History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cavan constituencies 18th-century English dramatists and playwrights Burials at Westminster Abbey Philosophers of art