only by a slight French accent."
Addison's three years of foreign travel, and the friendly society of the
highest and best wherever he journeyed, had caused him to blossom out into
a most exceptional man. Nature had done much for him, but her best gift
was the hospitable mind. Travel to many young men is the opportunity to
indulge in a line of conduct not possible at home. But Addison, ripening
slowly, appreciated the fact that the Puritan has a deal of truth on his
side. There is a manly abstinence that is most becoming, and to moderate
one's desires and partake of the good things of earth sparingly is the
best way to garner their benefit. No doubt, too, Addison's modesty and
tendency to shyness saved him from many a danger. "Bashfulness is the
tough husk in which genius ripens," says Emerson.

Thus do we find our man at thirty, strong, manly, gifted, handsome,
chivalrous, proud, yet tender, sympathetic, knowing--ready to serve his
country in whatsoever capacity he could serve it best. When lo! the death
of the King cut off his pension, a new party came in, his influential
friends were thrown out of power, and Addison's prospects wilted in a
single night.

* * * * *

The fact is that Addison from his thirtieth to his fortieth year was
little better than a denizen of Grub Street. Fortunately he was a
bachelor, with no one but himself to support, else actual hardship might
have entered. Several flattering offers to act as tutor or companion to
rich men's sons came his way, and were declined in polite and gracious
language; and once a suggestion that he wed a woman of wealth was tabled
in a manner not quite so gracious. In passing, it is well to state that
all of Addison's relations with women seem to have occupied a lofty plane
of chivalry. His respect for the good name of woman was profound, and
whether any woman ever broke through that fine reserve and exquisite
formality is a question. He was intensely admired by women, of course, but
it was from the other side of the drawing-room. He kept gush at bay, and
never tempted to indiscretion.

Addison's youth was past; he was creeping well into the thirties, and
still with no prospects. He was out of money, with no profession, and no
special reputation as a writer. The popular poets of the time were Sedley,
Rochester, Buckingham and Dorset--and you have never heard of them? Well,
it only shows how a literary reputation is a shadow that fad