derived from that of Ambrose Philips, who, after all, was more of his own age, being only three years younger than Addison. He too wished to scale Parnassus, and had written some pastorals, agreeable enough nothings; but his character was mixed. It was not fair to say

'Twas all the ambition his poor soul could feel

To wear red stockings, and to dine with Steele, yet he had much of the fop in his nature, and his dapper little person was always neatly dressed. He was a skilled swordsman, while an unduly long, yet elegantly curvilinear nose shrunk still further a mouth already set in the contracted Antinous folds fancied by fashionable painters. Although he had a genuine love of the country and felt lonely in the town, he had allowed himself to be dragged into the political arena, having been employed in diplomatic affairs at Utrecht in 1703, while still a Fellow of St. John's, Cambridge. His personality, ruled by a certain childish and engaging weakness-for he had none of Steele's rather uncomfortable independence-appealed very strongly to Addison, who became "more than he was able to express, his most affectionate and most faithful servant" the words do not read as empty formality. Addison did all he could to obtain his friend government posts, to aid his literary ventures, and Pastoral Philips' became so closely attached to him that at one time the two seem never to have been apart. Swift could not meet Addison in the park or the Mall without finding Ambrose" more of a puppy than ever "-walking with him and when the younger man had to go to Bath for eye treatment, his protector went too.'

But the person of most note who now appeared in Addison's life was Swift himself, not so much in the Whig interest as ready to court any party that would

I

Stella, several entries, the Bath one, 24th Aug. 1711.

obtain the extension of Queen Anne's Bounty to Ireland. Something uncouth in appearance, with an odd abruptness in his manner, and an eccentricity of behaviour that might have earned him the epithet 'mad' had there not lurked some mysterious sense of savage power behind the already gnarled forehead, he moved like an ominous vulture among the swan-like wits of the coffee-houses. Since it was an open secret that he was the author of that deadly, pungent satire, The Tale of a Tub, which not only seemed to many to strike formidably at the roots of revealed religion but also at the delicate framework of human self-love, he was able to inspire fear. But his emotions were deep, and if endurance is the test of passion, his friendships were passionate as his hatreds were overwhelming. He took to Addison, whose character, with its gentle diffidence, showed such striking contrasts with his own, and perhaps even forced himself into his company: the tempestuous parson of Laracor was not one who could ever have said "Par délicatesse j'ai perdu ma vie". Addison, who could never reject advances, responded, and was so impressed by the not yet famous satirist that he presented him with a copy of his Travels inscribed to " Dr. Jonathan Swift, the most agreeable companion, the truest friend, and the greatest genius of his age". In Swift's own words, Addison, Steele and me" formed a veritable triumvirate.

But Addison did not long have so much leisure, for he was now definitely launched on his political career, and in 1706 was made Under-Secretary of State to Sir Charles Hedges, who had been the legal member of that very commission which had ousted Hough from the courts of Magdalen. But Hedges, being a Tory, did not long Scott, footnote, 70, 71.

survive the ministerial turnover, and Addison soon found himself serving under the Earl of Sunderland, the son of Etherege's correspondent, a vehement and intriguing Whig, whose austere demeanour consciously masked an almost uncontrollable violence. No doubt Addison found points of contact with him, for though not so brilliant or so wide a thinker as his father, Sunderland was an eager collector of ancient books, his stock ultimately becoming the famous Blenheim library.

However, this relation too was shortlived. In 1707, during a debate in the House of Lords, the Earl of Wharton, though one of the Whig junto, pronounced an upsetting harangue upon the decay of trade and agriculture brought about by the war. Meeting him afterwards on the staircase, the Duke of Marlborough buttonholed and gently remonstrated with him. The conversation, begun in a whisper, gradually grew louder ; and the Duke, fearful lest some of the damaging reminiscences in which the Earl was beginning to indulge should come to the ears of some idle stander-by, hastily closed the colloquy by promising Wharton the viceroyalty of Ireland, in which he had shown such interest during the Tyrconnel administration. He knew that friends are often dangerous when out of office. When appointed in December 1708,2 Wharton chose Addison as his secretary, and thus the latter had as his commander a man whose character was more strikingly in contrast with his own than even Sunderland's.

Lord Wharton's was of that type of realistic, even sceptical, mind, of which the Revolutionary period can show so many examples, Shaftesbury, Savile, and lastly St. John, all of whom were able to add to the subtle clarity of Macchiavelli the useful principles of Cartesian 1 D. N. B.,

Wharton.

2 Luttrell.

66

a lie

doubt. Wharton, though no great philosopher, was enough of one to think that, politically at least, " well believed was as good as if it were true "; and though it may be that his moral credit has suffered by confusion with his son's, it is certain he was indifferent to a personal reputation he had no impulse to preserve falsely pure. A man of great natural ability, vigour, and versatility, he was a firm disciple of the great Trimmer, whose experience as well as his precepts convinced him that salvation, personal and national, lay in the unshrinking prosecution of party. Thus it was his proud boast that as author of Lilli-Burlero he had sung a deluded prince out of three kingdoms, though some credit must surely be given to that tripping tune of Purcell's which, at about this time, Captain Toby Shandy was so fond of whistling.1 And certainly he showed judgement in choosing as his subordinate a man so eminently safe and honest as Addison.

The appointment caused tattle in politico-social circles, Peter Wentworth suggesting to Addison that he might have been generous enough to procure the post for his second brother Lancelot, a Fellow of Magdalen: but Peter's only reason seems to have been that Lancelot was a friend of his own brother, Lord Raby. Rumour also ran that Steele would get the reversion of his friend's last job; but the mercurial author of The Tender Husband-in which Addison had helped him-was obviously not the person for a comparatively high political post where stability was the first desideratum, and he was fobbed off with a promise of the next vacant post should it prove consistent with his retaining the office of

2

1 The words (1st Part) may be found in Percy's Reliques; the tune in Messrs. Novello's Ten Purcell Melodies, 'A new Irish Tune'.

* Wentworth, 68, and Luttrell, 23rd Dec. 1708.

Gazetteer and in fact he was shortly given a lucrative appointment at the head of the Stamp Office.

But if Addison did nothing for Lancelot-perhaps Lancelot wanted nothing-he did a great deal for his first brother Gulston, and Peter Wentworth had occasion to be more than ever amazed.

"Since I writ this ", Lord Raby read in January 1709,1 "I am told a great Peice of News that Mr. Addison is really a very great man with the juncto, and that he has got his elder brother, who has been a factor abroad in those parts to be Governor of Fort St. George, and the Great Pits is turn out, his son here has a great while constantly votes with the Torys which has been a great help to Mr. Addison. It seems Mr. Addison's friends can do what they please with the cheif of the East India Company, who I think have the liberty of naming their Governor, and by management with them this place is got which they say some years are worth 20,000 pound." It was clear that the Whig side was the right one, for after Anne's abortive attempt in 1708 to shed her faithful Mr. Montgomery and the too magnificent Mr. Freeman, the Whigs were so firmly in possession of keys, wands, seals, that Sunderland could parade his highly Spartan republicanism, and entertain the Sovereign with pithy remarks on the habitual failings of ruling princes. It was not Godolphin and Marlborough who had disappeared from the council table, but Mrs. Masham's cousin Harley, and his ambitious young friend Henry St. John.

Accordingly, in April 1709, Addison travelled to Ireland in a train that included for the Earl's pleasure Thomas Clayton the composer, and for his own, Eustace Budgell, whom he made his clerk. Mr. Secretary's place was worth two thousand a year; besides this he earned four hundred as keeper of the Records in BirmingWentworth, 75, 76, • Grandfather of the great commoner.