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Unit 10: Addison -Pleasures Of Imagination: Introduction

1705, with the Whigs in political power, Addison was made Under-Secretary of State and Notes
accompanied Halifax on a mission to Hanover. Addison’s biographer states that “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”.
From 1708 to 1709 he was MP for the rotten borough of Lostwithiel. Addison was shortly afterwards
appointed secretary to the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Wharton, and Keeper of the
Records of that country. Under the influence of Wharton, he was Member of Parliament in the
Irish House of Commons for Cavan Borough from 1709 until 1713. From 1710, he represented
Malmesbury, in his home county of Wiltshire, holding the seat until his death.
Magazine founder
Joseph Addison: engraving after the Kneller portrait He encountered Jonathan Swift in Ireland
and remained there for a year. Subsequently, he helped found the Kitcat Club and renewed his
association with Richard Steele. In 1709 Steele began to bring out Tatler, to which Addison became
almost immediately a contributor: thereafter he (with Steele) started The Spectator, the first number
of which appeared on 1 March 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 20 December 1714.
Plays
He wrote the libretto 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 (his last
undertaking was The Freeholder, a party paper, 1715–16.)
Marriage and death
The later events in the life of Addison did not contribute to his happiness. In 1716, he married the
Dowager Countess of Warwick to whose son he had been tutor, and his political career continued
to flourish, as he served Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1717 to 1718. However,
his crazy government newspaper, The Freeholder, was much criticised, and Alexander Pope was
among those who made him an object of derision, christening him “Atticus”. His wife appears to
have been arrogant and imperious; his stepson the seventh Earl was a rake and unfriendly to him;
while in his public capacity his invincible shyness made him of little use in Parliament. He eventually
fell out with Steele over the Peerage Bill of 1719. 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, London
on 17 June 1719, in his 48th year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Besides the works above
mentioned, he wrote a Dialogue on Medals, and left incomplete a work on the Evidences of Christianity.
Cato
The actor John Kemble in the role of Cato in Addison’s play, which he revived at Covent Garden
in 1816, drawn by George Cruikshank. In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous work of fiction,
Cato, a Tragedy. Based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, it deals with, inter alia,
such themes as individual liberty versus government tyranny, Republicanism versus Monarchism,
logic versus emotion and Cato’s personal struggle to cleave to his beliefs in the face of death. It has
a prologue written by Alexander Pope and an epilogue by Dr. Garth. The play was a success
throughout Britain and its possessions in the New World, as well as Ireland. It continued to grow
in popularity, especially in the American colonies, for several generations. Indeed, it was almost
certainly a literary inspiration for the American Revolution, being well known to many of the
Founding Fathers. In fact, George Washington had it performed for the Continental Army while
they were encamped at Valley Forge. Among the founders, according to John J. Miller, “no single
work of literature may have been more important than Cato”. Some scholars have identified the

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