Essayist and politician, born in Milston, Wiltshire, S England, UK. A student at Oxford, he was a distinguished Classical scholar and fellow of Magdalen College (16981711), beginning his literary career in 1693 with a poetical address to Dryden. In 1699 he obtained a pension to train for the diplomatic service, and spent four years abroad. While under-secretary of state (17068) he produced his opera Rosamond (1706), and in 1708 was elected to parliament for Lostwithiel and then Malmesbury (170919). He became a member of the Kit-Cat Club, and contributed to the Tatler, started by his friend Richard Steele in 1709. In 1711 he and Steele founded the Spectator, 274 numbers of which were his own work. In 1716 he became a lord commissioner of trade, and married Charlotte, Countess of Warwick. In the Hanoverian cause, he issued (171516) a political newspaper, the Freeholder, which cost him many of his old friends, and he was satirized as Atticus by Alexander Pope. In 1717 he was appointed secretary of state under Sunderland, but resigned his post because of failing health.
Joseph Addison (May 1, 1672 – June 17, 1719) was an English politician and writer. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
Life and writing
Addison was born in Milston, Wiltshire, but soon after Joseph's birth his father was appointed Dean of Lichfield and the Addison family moved into the Cathedral Close. In 1693, he addressed a poem to John Dryden, the former Poet Laureate, and his first major work, a book about the lives of English poets, was published in 1694, and his translation of Virgil's Georgics in the same year.
Such first attempts in English verse were so successful as to obtain for him the friendship and interest of Dryden, Lord Somers and John Montague (later Lord Halifax, by whose means he received, in 1699, a pension of £300 to enable him to travel widely in Europe the continent with a view to diplomatic employment, all the time writing and studying politics. Addison was commissioned to write this, and produced The Campaign, which gave such satisfaction that he was forthwith appointed a Commissioner of Appeals in the government of Halifax. In 1705, the Whigs having obtained the ascendency, Addison was made Under-Secretary of State and accompanied Halifax on a mission to Hanover. In 1708 he became MP for Malmesbury in his home county of Wiltshire, and was shortly afterwards appointed as Chief Secretary for Ireland and Keeper of the Records of that country.
He encountered Jonathan Swift in Ireland, and remained there for a year. In 1709 Steele began to bring out the Tatler, to which Addison became almost immediately a contributor: thereafter he (with Steele) started The Spectator, the first number of which appeared on March 1, 1711. This paper, which at first appeared daily, was kept up (with a break of about a year and a half when the Guardian took its place) until December 20, 1714.
The later events in the life of Addison did not contribute to his happiness. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as secretary of state because of his poor health, but remained an MP until his death at Holland House, June 17, 1719, in his 48th year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Besides the works above mentioned, he wrote a Dialogue on Medals, and left unfinished a work on the Evidences of Christianity. The character of Addison, if somewhat cool and unimpassioned, was pure, magnanimous, and kind. When allowance has been made for this, he remains one of the most admirable characters and writers in English literature.
Cato
In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous work of fiction, a play entitled Cato, a Tragedy. Based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, it deals with, inter alia, such themes as individual liberty vs. emotion and Cato's personal struggle to cleave to his beliefs in the face of death.
The play was a success throughout England and her possessions in the New World, as well as Ireland.
Some scholars believe that the source of several famous quotations from the American Revolution came from, or were inspired by, Cato. These include:
Patrick Henry's famous ultimatum: "Give me Liberty or give me death!" (Supposed reference to Act II, Scene 4: "It is not now time to talk of aught/But chains or conquest, liberty or death."). (Clear reference to Act I, Scene 2: "'Tis not in mortals to command success;Though the play has fallen considerably from popularity and is now rarely performed, it remains a favorite source of inspiration (and quotations) for proponents of individual rights, free markets, and libertarian values generally. For example, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were inspired by the play to write a series of essays on individual rights, using the name "Cato." In turn, the libertarian think-tank The Cato Institute is named for these essays.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.The action of the play involves the forces of Cato at Utica, awaiting the arrival of Caesar just after Caesar's victory at Thapsus (46 B.C.). The noble sons of Cato, Portius and Marcus, are both in love with Lucia, the daughter of Lucius, a senatorial ally of Cato. Juba, prince of Numidia, another fighting on Cato's side, loves Cato's daughter Marcia. Meanwhile, Sempronius, another senator, and Syphax, general of the Numidians, are conspiring secretly against Cato, hoping to draw off the Numidian army from supporting him. In the final act, Cato commits suicide, leaving his supporters to make their peace with the approaching Caesar--an easier task after Cato's death, since he has been Caesar's most implacable foe.
Source
Joseph Addison, Cato: A Tragedy, and Selected Essays. Ed.Summary
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Preceded by: George Dodington |
Chief Secretary for Ireland 1708–1710 |
Succeeded by: Edward Southwell |
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Preceded by: Sir John Stanley |
Chief Secretary for Ireland 1714–1715 |
Succeeded by: Martin Bladen and Charles Delafaye |
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Preceded by: Paul Methuen |
Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1717–1718 |
Succeeded by: James Craggs the Younger |
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