Jo

THE LIFE OF

JOSEPH ADDISON.

OSEPH ADDISON, fon of Lancelot Addifon,

dean of Litchfield, was born at Milston, near Ambros-bury, in the county of Wilts, of which place his father was then rector, on the firft of May, 1672; and, being not thought likely to live, was baptized on the fame day, as appears from the church-regifter.

One may justly wonder, that, in the account given of Mr. Addison, in Wood's history of the Oxford writers, his true age should be fet down, and yet that it should escape Mr. Tickell. This is of fome importance, because it changes the whole chronology of his life, and that too in favour of the author. He became a demy of Magdalen College in Oxford, by merit, at the age of feventeen. Is not the bare relation of this the highest panegyric on Mr. Addison? It was here he became acquainted with Mr. Sacheverell, who was exactly of his own age, and of a very promifing genius too, fince we find a tranflation of part of the first Georgic of Virgil, inferted in the Examen Poeticum, for the year 1693, the

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fame

fame volume in which Mr. Addifon's firft En. glish verfes appeared; and, as Mr. Addison's verfes were addreffed to Mr. Dryden, fo Mr. Sacheverell's tranflation was dedicated to him. Those who remembered Mr. Addison at college, affirmed, that his temper was the fame it appeared ever afterwards; that is to fay, his abilities were exceededed by nothing but his modefty.

When he grew up to an age fit for going to fchool, he was put under the care of the reverend Mr. Naith, at Ambros-bury, He was afterwards removed, to a fchool at Salisbury, taught by the reverend Mr. Taylor; and thence to the Charter-house, where he was unt der the tuition of the learned Dr. Ellis, and where he contracted an intimacy with Mr. Steele, afterwards Sir Richard, which lafted as long as Mr. Addifon lived..

He was not above fifteen when he went to the univerfity of Oxford, where he was entered of Queen's College, in which his father had ftudied. He clofely addicted himself at this time with fuch diligence to claffical learn ing, that he acquired an elegant Latin ftyle before he arrived at that age in which lads ufually begin to write good English,^.

A paper of his yerfes in that tongue, fell, by accident, in the year 1687, into the hands of Dr. Lancaster, dean of Magdalen College, who was fo well pleafed with them, that he immediately procured their author's election

into that house, where he took his degrees of bachelor and master of arts.

His Latin poetry, in the course of a few. years, was exceedingly, admired in both the univerfities, and juftly gained him the reputa-tion of a great poet before his name was fo much as known in town.

It is not very certain at what age our author. wrote fome of the Latin poems which have been published; however, they were certainly: written very early, and they ftill retain that high esteem which was firft conceived of them. They were published in the second volume of Mufarum Anglicanarum Anale&ta, feu Poemata quædam melioris notæ, feu hactenus inedita, feu fparfim edita. They were eight in all, but very probably they are not placed in the order of time in which they were written. 1. Pax Gulielmi Aufpiciis Europæ reddita, 1697; i. e. Peace under the Aufpice of William restored to Europe. 2. Barometri De feriptio; i. e.. A Defcription of the Barome3. ПYTMAIOTEPANOMAXIA, five. Præ lium inter Pigmæos & Grues commiffum; i. e. A Battle between the Pigmies and the Cranes. 4. Refurrectio delineata ad altare Coll. Magd.) Oxon. i. e. A Poem, upon the Refurrection, being a Defcription of the Painting over the Altar in Magdalen College at Oxford. 5. Sphæriflerium; i. e. the Bowling-green. 6. Ad D. D. Hannes, infigniffimum Medicum &: Poetem; ie. To Dr. Hannes, an excellenti phyfician

ter.

Phyfician and Poet, an Ode. 7. Machine gefticulantes, Anglice; A Puppet-show. 8. Ad infigniffimum Virum D. T. Burnettum, Sacræ Theorie Telluris Authorem; ie. To the celebrated Dr. Thomas Burnet, Author of the Theory of the Earth, an Ode.--Thefe poems have been tranflated into English by Dr. George Sewell, of Peter-house, Cambridge; Mr. Newcomb, and Nicholas Amhurft, efqrs. both of Oxford.

He was twenty-two years of age before he published any thing in our language, and then came abroad a copy of verfes addreffed to Mr. Dryden; which procured him immediately, and that very defervedly, from the best judges in that nice age, a great reputation, being as correct and perfect as any thing which even himself afterwards produced.

Some little space intervening, he fent into the world a tranflation of the fourth Georgic of Virgil (omitting the ftory of Ariftæus) exceedingly commended by Mr. Dryden. He wrote alfo that difcourfe on the Georgics which is prefixed to them, by way of preface, in Mr. Dryden's tranflation, and is allowed to be one of the jufteft pieces of criticism in our own or in any other language.

It would be equally tedious and impertinent to dwell in this place on every little piece published by our author. It is a kind of charity to illuftrate the beauties of an obfcure author, but to us it appears a fort of detraction, to

fuppofe

fuppofe that the worth of any of Mr. Addison's poems fhould be unknown to our readers: we will therefore confine ourselves to fuch parts of his works as have any circumstances relating to them which ought to be preferved, as a kind of hiftorical commentary, for the use rather of pofterity than of the present times.

Mr. Tickell, in his preface to the works of Mr. Addifon, expreffes a kind of furprize, that Mr. Dryden, who fo readily owned the verfion of the fourth Georgic fent him by Mr. Addison, should not take notice of his having communicated the Effay on the Georgics, fince it came from the fame hand.

Sir Richard Steele took occafion to vindicate Mr. Dryden, by fhewing, first, that the Effay upon the Georgics, is the fame with the preface prefixed to thofe poems in Mr. Dryden's tranflation of Virgil's works; which, fecondly, is owned to have come from a friend, whofe name is not mentioned because he defired to have it concealed.

If any one should enquire, why Mr. Addi fon was content the world fhould know he tranflated one of Virgil's Georgics, and at the fame time defired to conceal his writing what Mr. Dryden placed as a preface to his tranfla tion of the Georgics, it will be no difficult thing to fatisfy him. The version was what many people had done, and any body might do, but the effay was an untryed strain of cri sicifm, which bore a little hard on the old

profeffors

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