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Prose

Notes inspiration for several famous quotations from the American Revolution in 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.”).
• Nathan Hale’s valediction: “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” (Supposed
reference to Act IV, Scene 4: “What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country.”).
• Washington’s praise for Benedict Arnold in a letter to him: “It is not in the power of any man
to command success; but you have done more — you have deserved it.”
(Clear reference to Act I, Scene 2: “’Tis not in mortals to command success; but we’ll do more, Sempronius,
we’ll deserve it.”). Not long after the American Revolution, Edmund Burke quotes the play as well
in his Letter to Charles-Jean-François Depont (1789) in Further Reflections on the Revolution in
France: “The French may be yet to go through more transmigrations. They may pass, as one of our
poets says, ‘through many varieties of untried being,’ before their state obtains its final form.” The
poet in reference is of course Addison and the passage Burke quoted is from Cato (V.i. II): “Through
what variety of untried being,/Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!” Though the
play has fallen from popularity and is now rarely performed, it was widely popular and often
cited in the eighteenth century, with Cato as an exemplar of republican virtue and liberty. For
example, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were inspired by the play to write a series of
letters, Cato’s Letters on individual rights, using the name “Cato”. 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
BC). 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. Joseph Addison by Kraemer
Contribution
It is mostly as an essayist that Addison is remembered today. Addison began writing essays quite
casually. In April 1709, his childhood friend, Richard Steele, started The Tatler. Addison inspired
him to write this essay. Addison contributed 42 essays while Steele wrote 188. Of Addison’s help,
Steele remarked, “When I had once called him in I could not subsist without dependence on him”.
On 2 January 1711, The Tatler was discontinued. On 1 March 1711, The Spectator was published,
and it continued until 6 December 1712. The Spectator which was issued daily and achieved great
popularity. It exercised a great deal of influence over the reading public of the time. In The
Spectator, Addison soon became the leading partner. He contributed 274 essays out a total of 555;
Steele wrote 236 for this periodical. Addison also assisted Steele with the Guardian which Steele
began in 1713.
The breezy, conversational style of the essays later elicited Bishop Hurd’s reproving attribution of
an “Addisonian Termination”, for preposition stranding, the casual grammatical construction that
ends a sentence with a preposition.
Albin Schram Letters
In 2005 an Austrian banker and collector named Albin Schram died and, in his laundry room, a
collection of around 1000 letters from great historical figures was found. One was written by
Joseph Addison, reporting on the debate in the House of Commons over the grant to John Churchill,
1st Duke of Marlborough and his heirs, following the Battle of Ramillies. The letter was written on
the day of the debate, probably to George Stepney. Addison explains that the motion was opposed
by Mr Annesley, Ward, Caesar and Sir William Vevian, ‘One said that this was showing no

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