d, and his habits of piety, he
positively refused. Mr. Tickell has alleged, that it was Addison's
extreme modesty, a constitutional timidity, which made him resolve
against being in the church--but he became a statesman; and, surely,
that is a character which requires as much courage as a clergyman's,
when the church is not under persecution.

The first dramatic work from the pen of Addison, was an opera called
"Rosamond," which having but indifferent success, he next assisted
Steele in his play of "The Tender Husband;" for which the author
surprised him by a dedication, openly to avow the obligation.

These two friends now united their efforts in that well-known periodical
work, "The Spectator;" by which they reformed the manners, as well as
the morals, of their readers, and established their own literary fame.
But, as the talents of Addison were superior to those of Steele, so are
the papers in this work which were written by him esteemed above the
rest;--and, as a mark of distinction, he had the laudable, or his friend
Steele the honest pride, to affix a letter at the end of every such
paper, by which it should be known for his. The Muse Clio furnished the
four letters which have been thus used in "The Spectator," as Addison's
honourable stamp of authorship.

In the periodical work of "The Guardian" he had likewise some share;
and, in 1713, he produced, what Dr. Johnson has called "the noblest work
of Addison's genius"--"Cato."

Notwithstanding the merit of this play, it is certain that it was
indebted to the political circumstances of the times, for that
enthusiastic applause with which it was received by the town.

The joy or sorrow which an author is certain to experience upon every
new production, is far more powerful in the heart of a dramatist than
in that of any other writer. The sound of clamorous plaudits raises
his spirits to a kind of ecstacy; whilst hisses and groans, from a
dissatisfied audience, strike on the ear like a personal insult, avowing
loud and public contempt for that in which he has been labouring to show
his skill.

Addison, with his timid nature, felt all the excruciating tortures of
an ambitious, yet a fearful dramatist. He could not stay at home on the
first night of "Cato;" for to be told, at once, that his tragedy was
driven from the stage with derision, had been to his tremulous nerves
like the dart of death. Not less peril might have befallen him as an
auditor--he therefore was