ADDISON'S LAST DAYS. WHISTON, (Memoirs, p. 303,) thus records his fruitless attempt to see Addison in his last sickness. "When I was at that time passing to the Queen at Richmond, by Holland House, where I knew by the public papers he was then sick, and from which sickness he was not likely to recover, I went up to the house and desired to see my friend Mr. Addison; but the answer was that the physicians had given orders that nobody should be admitted to see him. I replied that notwithstanding such order, if he knew I was there, I believed he would see me; but I could not prevail, so I saw him not.1 OFFICES HELD BY ADDISON. IN Queen Anne's reign he was Commissioner of Appeals, attended Lord Halifax to Hanover, was under-secretary to Sir Charles Hedges and the Earl of Sunderland, Secretaries of State, and principal secretary to the Marquis of Wharton when that nobleman was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. After the accession of King George the First, Mr. Addison was successively appointed secretary to the Lords Justices, secretary to the Earl of Sunderland as Lieutenant of Ireland, and one of the Lords of Trade; and, last of all, Secretary of State. [And during nearly all this period he was Keeper of the Irish Records, deposited in the Birmingham Tower, Dublin.] TICKELL'S ELEGY ON ADDISON. Ir was the opinion of Dr. Johnson that there is not a more elegant funeral poem to be found in the whole compass of English literature than Mr. Tickell's elegy on the death of Addison.2 ADDISON'S WORKS.-FATALITY OF THE DEDICATIONS. It is somewhat remarkable, that Mr. Craggs, to whom Addison had dedicated his works, died before they were pub If the story of Addison's famous death-bed interview with the Earl of Warwick, (see page 514,) which would have taken place about this time, is to be accredited, it is not very likely that Addison would care to see so noted an anti-trinitarian as his early friend Whiston. 2 Prefixed to vol. i. of the present edition. lished; and that Lord Warwick, to whom the verses on Addison were dedicated, died likewise before their publication. "Addison's works (says Atterbury, in a letter) came to my hands yesterday, October 15, 1721. I cannot but think it a very odd set of incidents, that the book should be dedicated by a dead man to a dead man (Mr. Craggs); and even that the new patron (Lord Warwick), to whom Tickell chose to inscribe his verses, should be dead also before they were published. Had I been in the editor's place I should have been a little apprehensive for myself, under a thought that every one who had any hand in that work was to die before the publication of it." UNPUBLISHED PLAY ATTRIBUTED TO ADDISON. IN Steele's Correspondence, published by John Nichols in 1809, is the first act of a Tragedy said to be 'probably written' by Addison. The principal character is Oramont,' a pleasure-seeking youth, who, to save the family estates from a crown extent, is made to consent to his sister's prostitution. The following extracts will, we think, be sufficient to acquit Addison of the composition; for although there are occasionally some vigorous lines, he could not, even in his earliest youth, have written the concluding ones. ORAMONT. Power, 'tis the darling attribute of Heaven! MARTIAN. But she is wondrous proud; guard well your heart; her? Do you love ORAMONT. Love her!-yes, to enjoy her, nothing further; I scorn the childish ague of the soul, That shakes and trembles; mine's a raging fever, And prove Love's various pleasures, shun its pains. ALTIMOR. Tell me, what think you of a woman's honour? ORAMONT. Humph-nothing; or but a trifle, a gaudy flower, With many fancied charms, no real ones; The pleasure and the beauty of a day, That fades with every little breath of wind. ALTIMOR. Then would'st thou, Oramont, for this mere trifle, Quit all thy hopes of honour and of power? ORAMONT. No, on my soul I would not. What's the condition? ALTIMOR. You have a sister. ORAMONT. Yes. ALTIMOR. A fair one. ORAMONT. So she's thought. ALTIMOR. I love her. ORAMONT. No matter-I'd enjoy her-think on that. ORAMONT. The sprightly lark thus, as he mounts the sky, ADDISON'S HOUSE AT BILTON. MR. Ireland, in his 'Views on the River Avon,' gives the following account of this classic spot. 66 Quitting Rugby we pass a handsome modern bridge of three circular arches, constructed of stone, thrown across the Avon at about half a mile distant from the town. The river from hence winds gently through a fertile and expanded valley, till we reach the village of Newbold; which, from its eminent situation, commands a beautiful and extensive prospect on every side. The canal is conducted through a subterraneous passage beneath part of the church-yard of Newbold, and from this point highly increases the beauty of the surrounding scene, which includes an extended view of the meandering course of our gentle Avon, through a verdant space of fertile valleys. The spire of the church in the distance of the landscape belongs to the village at Bilton, which may well be considered as classical ground, having been the residence of Mr. Addison; a name that will ever be held in esteem by the admirer of sound criticism, chaste humour, and a correct and attic style of composition. Venera tion for the character of this eminent man leads me to view the situation of his retreat, which stands about a mile distant from the banks of the Avon. "The exterior of this house, though it cannot be truly denominated picturesque, may yet have a claim to attention, as it remains precisely in the state it was at the decease of its former possessor, nor has the interior suffered much change in its form or decoration.' The furniture and pictures hold their places with an apparent sacred attention to his memory: among the latter are three of himself, at different periods of his life, in each of which is strongly marked with the pencil the ease of the gentleman, and open and ingenuous character of the friend to humanity. Two good portraits are likewise hanging near his own of his friend Mr. Secretary Craggs. "Some others of Vandyck, Van Somers, Lilly, &c., that were purchased by Mr. Addison, are to be found in other apartments, sufficient to evince that his taste was not confined to writing alone. In the grounds a long walk of beautiful Spanish chesnuts and oaks running in a straight line still hold their primitive appearance; here he was accustomed to pass the hours in that musing, and in those reflections, from which the public have gathered so rich a fruit: it retains the name of Addison's Walk. This form of a straight line is that to which, in his earliest youth, he seems to have been attached; as part of the walks in Magdalen College, which are fashioned upon this model, still pass there under his name. "The Spanish oaks in these grounds are said to have been the first that were planted in this country; the acorns were given to him by his friend Craggs, who brought them from Spain. "In a kind of hermitage in this walk I found the following verses: 1 Mr. Wm. Howitt, who visited Addison's house at Bilton in 1845, and describes it in his 'Homes and Haunts,' concludes thus: "Such are the paintings at Bilton. They include a most interesting group of the friends and contemporaries of Addison, besides others. It is a rare circumstance that they have been permitted to remain there, when his library and his medals have been dispersed. Altogether Bilton is one of the most satisfactory specimens of the homes and haunts of our departed literary men.” Sequestered from the world, oh! let me dwell, By mortal eye unseen, I will explore The various works of nature's bounteous store; From birth to growth, from growth to sure decay: "I do not know that these lines were Mr. Addison's, but there is something in their versification that renders them not unworthy a recital. This estate was purchased by Mr. Addison in the year 1711 of the younger son of Sir William Broughton, for the sum of £10,000; in the purchase he was assisted by his brother, Mr. Gulstone Addison, Governor of Fort St. George at Madras, in which station he succeeded Governor Pitt, distinguished by the appellation of Diamond Pitt. "At the decease of Mr. Addison, in 1719, this estate came to his widow, the Countess of Warwick, from whom it devolved on their daughter, the present Miss Addison, whom I had the honour of seeing, at this visit, with no small degree of respect and veneration. This lady was born about a twelvemonth before the death of her father, who, as some vague reports in the country say, left a large trunk of manuscripts, with a strict injunction that they should not be opened till her decease; if this be true, the polite and learned may, at a future day, expect what may yet further magnify the revered name of Addison." Ireland's Warwickshire Avon. ADDISON'S DAUGHTER. IN the Gentleman's Magazine for March, 1797, we find the following: "At Bilton, near Rugby, in Warwickshire, 1 It is not known what became of these MSS. If the love-letters between Addison and the Countess of Warwick could be found, they would, no doubt, be highly interesting. The publisher of the present volume has made inquiries for them in every probable direction, without the least success. |