and set it. the world Son of more cr "ure as a professi it of terry hements; orced from ith the best fbTde to attain a "eptheir art in the iters without claim who have secured this r and work, of breadth hich insturctively anes ss Addison is an illustrious est order; there was none of of genus in him; his thong't ghest intellecte. 1 hie; he set no style, and fired no in ration by wrse; he was not a scholar in the age which was stirred and stung by swift, charmed by the wit and elegance «derness of Steele, at d enchanted by the Ihson holds the most representative place. the Man of Letters of his time, his name 'tre of his period. are 1. t of t: le. â loss ne LAT Me stop. Wi'tshire, on May Day, 1672, it was ary with the first EA' Colfer Dry with wien ir dit n. ted not rubli iei, Jacob Tonson. He 1. reorganization of Eng h xerator, con plcxty and obscurity; le to the fi xil dity, cherry, balance, and A have sine characterized its best examples. He saw the rise of polite society in its modern sense; the development of the social resources of the city; the enlargement of what is called "the reading class” to embrace all classes in the community and all orders in the nation. And he was one of the first, following the logic of a free press, an organized business for the sale of books, and the appearance of popular interest in literature, to undertake that work of translating the best thought, feeling, sentiment, and knowledge of his time, and of all times, into the language of the drawing-room, the club, and the street, which has done so much to humanize and civilize the modern world. To recognize these various opportunities, to feel intuitively the drift of sentiment and conviction, and so to adjust the uses of art to life as to exalt the one, and enrich and refine the other, involved not only the possession of gifts of a high order, but that training which puts a man in command of himself and of his materials. Addison was fortunate in that incomparably important education which assails a child through every sense, and above all through the imagination-in the atmosphere of a home, frugal in its service to the body, but prodigal in its ministry to the spirit. His father was a man of generous culture: an Oxford scholar, who had stood frankly for the Monarchy and Episcopacy in Puritan times; a voluminous and agreeable writer; of whom Steele says that he bred his five children "with all the care imaginable in a liberal and generous way." From this most influential of schools Addison passed on to other masters: from the Grammar School at Lichfield, to the well-known Charter House; and thence to Oxford, where he first entered Queen's College, and later, became a member of Magdalen, to the beauty of whose architecture and natural situation the tradition of his walks and personality adds no small charm. He was a close student, shy in manner, given to late hours of work. His literary tastes and appetite were early disclosed, and in his twenty-second year he was already known in London, had written an Account of the Greatest English Poets,' and had addressed some complimentary verses to Dryden, then the recognized head of English Letters. While Addison was hesitating what profession to follow, the leaders of the political parties were casting about for men of literary power. A new force had appeared in English politics-the force of public opinion; and in their experiments to control and direct this novel force, politicians were eager to secure the aid of men of Letters. The shifting of power to the House of Commons involved a radical readjustment, not only of the mechanism of political action, but of the attitude of public men to the nation. They felt the need of trained and persuasive interpreters and advocates; of the resources of wit, satire, and humor. It was this very practical service which |