Steele's politics on fire, and wit at once blazed into faction." He then took a strong side against the ministry, resigned his post in the stamp-office, together with a pension from the queen, and wrote the famous paper in The Guardian upon the demolition of Dunkirk, which was published on the 7th of August, 1713. He was soon after returned a member for Stockbridge in Hampshire; and is said to have gained his election by promising an apple stuck full of guineas to the man whose wife should first be brought to bed after that day nine months. He did not long enjoy his seat in the House of Commons; for having been prevailed on, by the importunity of others, to write some violent papers respecting the Protestant succession, he was expelled the House. He then recommenced the Spectator in a series of papers; of which Addison furnished the fourth part, and which were afterwards collected into the eighth volume of that work, the most valuable certainly of the whole.

Upon the accession of George I. he was rewarded for his attachment to the family of Hanover; he was knighted, chosen a member of Parliament, appointed a surveyor of the royal stables at Hampton-court, and governor of the royal company of comedians. He wrote many periodical and political papers; and besides the dramas already mentioned, the comedy of The Conscious Lovers, for which he received a purse of five hundred pounds from his Majesty. But notwithstanding all his resources, want of economy, which was indeed his only vice, kept him in constant poverty. He died at his seat near Caermarthen, in Wales, on the 1st September, 1729.

JOSEPH ADDISON.

JOSEPH ADDISON was the son of Dr. Lancelot Addison, rector of Milston, near Ambrosebury, in Wilshire, and afterwards dean of Salisbury. He was born at Milstone, on the 1st of May, 1672; and on the very day of his birth was laid out for dead: but Heaven preserved so valuable a life for the benefit of posterity. Having received the elements of his education at school, he went to the University of Oxford at the age of fifteen. In the course of a few years he wrote eight Latin poems, distinguished for purity and classical elegance, which gained him a character among all persons of taste. In the year 1695 he wrote a poem on one of King William's campaigns, addressed to Sir John, afterwards Lord Somers, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, which introduced him to that statesman's patronage, and laid the foundation of a sincere and lasting friendship. Having shown an inclination to travel, his patron obtained for him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. He visited Italy in 1699; and in the year following wrote a poetical epistle from that country to Lord Halifax, which has been much admired. The death of King William, in 1702, deprived him of his pension, and rendered it necessary for him to return to England; where he soon after published an account of his travels.

In the year 1704 an accident happened which gave him a new opportunity of displaying his genius, and opened the way to his future honours. The Lord Treasurer Godolphin happened one day to express his regret to Lord Halifax, that the Duke of Marlborough's victory at Blenheim had not been celebrated as it deserved; and at the same

time to request that his Lordship, who was the known patron of the poets, would name one qualified to do justice to so noble a subject. Lord Halifax mentioned Mr. Addison; but insisted that the Lord Treasurer should send a message to him in his own name; which was done in so respectful a manner, that Mr. Addison undertook the task. Lord Godolphin saw the poem when the author had arrived at the admired simile of the angel, and was so highly pleased, that he immediately appointed him a commissioner of appeals. In 1706 Mr. Addison was made under secretary of state; and in 1709 went over to Ireland as secretary to the Lord Lieutenant.

In the year 1713 his celebrated tragedy of Cato was first acted, which was received perhaps with more applause than any piece which was ever exhibited on the English stage. It was repeated thirty-five nights in succession, amidst the resounding plaudits both of the Whigs and the Tories. Panegyrics were written in honour of it by the greatest wits of the time; and it was translated into several languages.

At the death of Queen Anne he was made secretary to the Regency. In 1716 he married the Countess Dowager of Warwick, to whose son, it is said, he had formerly been tutor. In 1717 he was promoted to the office of secretary of state; but his health, which was before this period declining, suffered so much from the fatigues of business, that he was soon obliged to solicit his dismission; which he obtained with a pension of one thousand five hundred pounds a year. He did not long survive his resignation, but died in 1719, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.

It is to be regretted that so few anecdotes have been preserved respecting Mr. Addison as a writer in the Spectator. We are told, that when Jacob-Tonson came to him for the papers which he contributed, Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary always lay open before him. Sir Roger ✔ de Coverley was his favourite character. Sir Richard Steele upon one occasion made the old knight guilty of a great inconsistency:* Mr. Addison warmly remonstrated with him, and would not leave his friend till he promised that he would no more meddle with his favourite. To prevent any such improprieties for the future, he resolved to put Sir Roger out of the way; or, as he himself humorously expressed it, to kill the knight that nobody else might murder him.

As a writer, as a man, and as a Christian, the merit of Mr. Addison can not be too highly extolled. His style has been always esteemed a model of excellence by men of taste. His humour has a charm which can not be described; his philosophy is rational, and his morality is pure; and what must highly enhance his writings to every good man, he studied to practise himself the virtues he recommended to others. His papers in the first seven volumes of the Spectator are marked by one of the letters in the name CLIO.

EUSTACE BUDGELL.

As a writer in the Spectator, Budgell may be ranked next to Addison and Steele. He was the son of Dr. Gilbert Budgell, a clergyman; and was

*See No. 410.

born about the year 1685. He distinguished himself both at school and at the University of Oxford by his rapid progress in classical learning. His father intended him for the bar, entered him in the Inner Temple; but he preferred polite literature, and the society of persons of fashion, to the study of the law. He associated much with Addison, who was his mother's cousin-german; and when that gentleman was appointed secretary to the Earl of Wharton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he took Budgell along with him as one of his clerks. So close was the friendship between these two relations, that they lodged together, spent much of their time together, and presented to the world their literary productions in concert. In 1711 Mr. Budgell succeeded to his father's estate, which amounted nearly to 950l. a-year. But notwithstanding this accession to his fortune, he continued attentive to business. Mr. Addison obtained for him the office of under-secretary; he was also made chief secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland, deputy clerk of the council in that kingdom, and soon after elected a member of the Irish parliament, where he was a distinguished speaker. In these different offices he conducted himself with much ability and diligence. When Mr. Addison became secretary of state, he obtained for him the office of accountant and comptroller-general of Ireland, worth 400l. a-year. But this honour was of short duration; he happened to give some umbrage to the Duke of Bolton, who succeeded to the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and he was deprived of all his offices. To this misfortune was added the death of Mr. Addison, which gave a decisive blow to his political