their

Vessels that they did not come to Anchor under y" Fort upon firing at 'em. It is probable y Sub-Governour will be sacrificed. We talk of raising, some say three & others Six New Regim®. I am Sir Yo" Most Obedient Humble Servant

"Whitehall Jan. 10. 1706."

[Stepney Papers. Vol. 1, Folio 85.]

"J. ADDISON."

21. Aprill 1707.*

"Sir" This Morning the Duke of Marlborough accompanied with his Dutchesse set out for Margate in order to take his Voyage for Holland, the wind being fair.

Dr. Chetwood by ye D. of Marlborough's recommendation is made Dean of Glocester.

I hear Colonel Hunter is to go Deputy Governour to Virginia. under the Lord Arkney.

The Heralds have bin before a Committee of Council and received orders to adjust the Arms of the two Nations on the Publick Seals &c. to be made use of after the first of May.

Brigadier Palmes is to succeed Lieutenant General Windham as Colonel of that Regiment.

The City is full of the talk of a Peace, but I hear nothing of it at this End of the Town.

Mr. Musgrave lost a Thousand pound very nicely in the House of Commons, for upon a Division whether he shou'd have five or six Thousand pound for an Equivalent to his Toll at Carlisle, the Tellers gave it him by a Single Vote, but upon a Review which was demanded by one Mr. Coatsworth, no friend to Mr. Musgrave, the single Vote was against him. "I am Sir Your Most Humble Servant

"Mr Stepney."

[Stepney Papers. Vol. 1, Folio 81.]

"J. ADDISON."

Whitehall 25th, March 1707.

Sir-We expect a Mail from Lisbon with great Impatience, and have only heard from Valencia by way of Genoa that money and Provisions are there in great plenty. Our West India Merchants are in great pain for the Lee-Ward Islands which are

*The date is in the same handwriting as the former erroneous one. It should probably be March, not April.

very naked and defenceless, and it is fear'd Du Quéne's Squaddron is designed for those parts, thô 'tis more probable they have only the Conveying of the Galeons in View, having no land-men on board. The packet-boats from Ostende to Dover having hitherto fall'n into the hands of Privateers a new Method is proposed and under consideration for securing them. The Duke of Marlborough is still at Margate with the Dutchesse and I hear intends to stay there till the wind changes, which has kept his Grace there already these four days. "I am with great truth and respect S Yo" Most Humble Most Faithfull Servt J. ADDISON."

"Mr Stepney."

66

[Stepney Papers. Vol. 1, Folio 83.]

28. Aprill* S.-Yesterday the Queen passt the Annuity Bill, and tho several had giv'n out that the Fund it goes upon wou'd never be fill'd up, the whole Sum was Subscribed to as fast as the names cou'd be taken, and above a hundred thousand pound return'd. The Fund is for 1,120,000 lb. and the Annuity at Sixteen years purchase for 96 years.

Last night the Queen Sign'd a Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving to be observed on the 1st of May for the Union, and will Her Self celebrate it at St. Pauls.

A Commission is ordered to search into the Losses sustained by the Inhabitants of the Lee-Ward Islands that some Reparation may be made 'em and proper precautions taken for the future.

Her Majesty sends a Letter to the Republick of the Grisons in Confirmation of the Treaty made with them by Mr. Stanyan and the Emperours Envoy. The Articles that concern Her Majesty are the first and fourth, by which She engages to Indemnifie the Grisons from any Losses they may sustain by the Germans in their March, to protect 'em against the Resentments of the French, to comprehend 'em in the Treaty of Peace and do 'em good Offices with the Emperour.

"There is a talk of St Thomas Hanmores being to succeed Mr Mansel and the Latter to be made a Lord, with many other changes yt ye Town usually makes at the End of a Session of Parlament. "I am Sir Your most obedient Humble Servant

"March 28. 1707. Mr Stepney."

"J. ADDISON."

*The date 28 Aprill is either the date of receipt, or written in mistake for 28 March. It is not in the handwriting of Addison, nor of his amanuensis.

[Stepney Papers. Vol. 1, Folio 87.]

"Sir-The Queen has sent a Letter of Reprimand to the Lower House of Convocation for some Intemperate behaviour that has lately pass'd among 'em tending to the diminishing H. M' prerogative as Head of the Church, wch H. M. lets em know she pardons for this time but will make use of other methods with them in case they do the Like for the future.

This morning the Town was surprised with the news of a marriage solemnised last night at the D. of Montagu's house between L Hinchinbrook and the only Daughter of Lady Anne Popham.

By our Last Letters from Valencia we find the K. of Spains friends are all, except the Count de Noyelles, very much out of humour at his intended Journey to Catalonia. I hear that Earl Rivers & L Essex talk of returning home, ye Command being in the hands of L Gallway. They design to march towards Madrid by y way of Arragon and by that means leave ye Tajo on ye left, the passing of wch would be difficult & dangerous.

Prince Lichtenstein, Count Oropeza, and Count de Cardona are the Cabinet Councellours. The great & only misfortune they have in y present favourable Conjuncture is ye division among y General Officers.

You will doubtless hear of our talked of Changes from other hands. I am Sir Yo' most Humble Servant

"Whitehall Apr. 11. 1707. Mr Stepney."

[Stepney Papers. Vol. 1, Folio 89.]

J. ADDISON."

L' Halifax and

"Sir-I send you Enclosed a Letter from my thank you for all the kind ones receivd from your side. This day L Sunderland had a Son Christened, The Queen Godmother & y Duke of Marlborough and La Realton Godfathers. They say Jack How, M Blathwait, and Prior, Shake. The Dutchess of Marlborow has invited Lady Peterborow to dine with her & name her company, who are Dr Garth La Wharton L" Halifax & L Sunderland. The Earl of Manchester will I believe have directions to call at Vienna in his way to Venice. It was to day proposed in y" House of Commons to Let in French Wine among us, but ye proposal was received so warmly by one of y

Members that it immediately fell to our great mortification. I am

Yo' Most Obed Servant

"Decbr. 17. Mr Stepney."

J. ADDISON."*

CHAPTER VII.

1706 to 1708.

Opera of Rosamond. Unsuccessful on the stage and why printed. Lines on it by Tickell. His introduction to Addison and favor with him. Addison assisted in the Tender Husband. Doubtful nature of his connection with the Warwick family. Letters to the young earl. Rise of his acquaintance with the Dowager countess whom he afterwards married. Political movements. Gradual Preponderance of Mrs. Mashham and Harley and Bolingbroke. Pamphlet on the necessity of an augmentation. Renewal of his intimacy with Steele. Notices from Steele's correspondence. Pecuniary transactions between the friends. Correspondence private and official with Mr. Cole, Mr. Wortley Montagu, Earl of Manchester.

It is no slight instance of that ardent devotion to literature by which Addison was so constantly distinguished that he should have ventured to signalize the first year of his appointment to a political station of real business and important trust, by the production of a dramatic poem for music. It appears that while on his travels he had frequently given himself the entertainment of attending the representation of the Italian Opera in its native country, and on his return, finding this amusement recently introduced on the London theatre, and struck with the absurdity, perhaps more apparent than real, since music has her own tongue and seldom permits any other to be distinguished,-of an audience sitting to hear a performance in a language of which they were almost universally ignorant,he conceived the idea of writing an English opera.-Such was the origin of his Rosamond. Unfortunately, he was himself no judge in the art which he condescended thus to patronize; and through the unskillfulness of the English composer employed, who produced, according to a report cited by Sir John Hawkins, a mere "jargon of sounds," the piece was coldly received, and fell after

*This whole series of letters are transcribed from the originals in the British Museum. The order only has been changed where it was obviously erroneous.

two or three representations. As no fact is more notorious than that a large proportion of our most harmonious poets,-Dryden of the number, have been totally destitute of musical ear, it is evident that there can be no correspondence between the principles of melody in poetic numbers and in music, and that sweet verse will not necessarily make sweet song; yet it must probably have been from belief in the existence of such a correspondence that the author of Rosamond has taken pains to adorn it with lines and stanzas which are among the softest and most flowing in the language. It bears in other respects also the marks of careful and artist-like finishing, and if as a drama it makes but a small part of the enduring fame of a writer so eminent in other departments, this, in the judgment of no very indulgent critic, is far from being imputable to its want of merit.* By the publication of this beautiful drama, its author, shaking off the discordant accompaniment which had marred his harmony, appealed, and not in vain, to the good taste of the reading world. Among the testimonies in its

*About this time," writes Dr. Johnson, "the prevalent taste for Italian operas inclined him to try what would be the effect of a musical drama in our own language. He therefore wrote the opera of Rosamond, which, when exhibited on the stage, was either hissed or neglected; but trusting that the public would do him more justice, he published it, with an inscription to the Duchess of Marlborough; a woman without skill, or pretensions to skill, in poetry or literature. His dedication was therefore an instance of servile absurdity to be exceeded only by Joshua Barnes's dedication of a Greek Anacreon to the Duke." It may be remarked that the critic here, in the vehemence of his own party-spirit, and his eagerness to chastise Barnes, has neglected two very obvious differences in the cases: first, that an English piece, and of so light a kind as an opera, might have been dedicated without absurdity" to any lady of quality whatever; but secondly, that this particular opera,-the scene of which is laid in that very manor of Woodstock which had recently been granted by the crown to the Duke of Marlborough, and in the fable of which the exploits of this great captain are introduced by way of prophetic vision, illustrated with a plan of the rising towers of Blenheim Castle, could have been dedicated, in all reason and propriety, to no other person living than the Duchess. And after all, the dedication thus inveighed against, is a mere inscription of the simplest form. To the work itself, however, Dr. Johnson has done ample justice in the following terms: "The opera of Rosamond, though it is seldom mentioned, is one of the first of Addison's compositions. The subject is well-chosen, the fiction is pleasing, and the praise of Marlborough, for which the scene gives an opportunity, is what perhaps every production of human excellence must be, the product of good luck improved by genius. The thoughts are sometimes great and sometimes tender; the versification is easy and gay. There is doubtless some advantage in the shortness of the lines, which there is little temptation to load with expletive epithets. The dialogue seems commonly better than the songs. The two comic characters of Sir Trusty and Gridiline, though of no great value, are yet such as the poet intended. Sir Trusty's account of the death of Rosamond is, I think, too grossly absurd. The whole drama is airy and elegant; engaging in its progress and pleasing in its conclusion. If Addison had cultivated the lighter parts of poetry, he would probably have excelled."