But I do not believe that she could have repeated one prose paper out of all her father's works. She could have given an account of the contents of many. She read them frequently. I have been told that she spoke French with fluency; and a person who had opportunities of observing informed me that she spelt it with correctness. She was very deaf; but when she could hear the questions which were put to her, she answered them with sound judgment and a steady recollection. So far is it from being true that she could not write or speak a single sentence intelligibly, that I am persuaded she could do both as well as the generality of other people. It is true that she was in no respect to be compared with her father in point of understanding; but how few are those that can admit of such a comparison! It is by no means true, that she was an imbecile, or such a prodigy of memory. Her memory was strong, but not marvellous; her understanding was good, but not particularly great. It was beneath admiration, and far above contempt. It must not be dissembled that it was at intervals clouded, but not for any great continuance of time; and perhaps she possessed her faculties in the extreme period of her life as well and as fully as in any of the former."
SOME time after the death of Miss Addison, the books which she left were removed from Bilton, and disposed of by public auction in London.
Curiosity was much awakened on this occasion; as it was hoped some relic or memorial might be found in many of the volumes in the hand-writing of Miss Addison's illustrious father. Herein, however, the public were a good deal disappointed, nothing of the kind appearing; and only a few of the volumes were distinguished by his name in his own hand-writing; so that these books fetched in general no higher prices than might have been obtained for the same works from almost any other collection.1
'Addison's Library is not fairly represented by the Catalogue of the sale, which took place eighty years after his death. His daughter (who died March, 1797) is not unlikely to have given away many of the books during her long life, and Addison's literary executor would most probably have obtained all his annotated volumes and manuscripts.
The library consisted of eight hundred and fifty-six lots, and was sold by Messrs. Leigh and Sotheby, on the 27th of May, 1799, and three following days. It produced £456 2s. 9d. And on the fifth day were sold the medals, jewels, &c., for £97 2s. 2d. The most interesting lots were the following.
Lot 800. A manuscript supposed to be written either by Mr. Addison or Mr. Tickell, declaring the authors of the greatest part of the numbers in the Eighth Volume of the Spectator, which have never been announced to the public. A single half-sheet. 38. 6d. Bindley.
Lot 880. The Countess of Warwick, daughter of the Earl of Manchester, and her son, a half-length.
Lot 881. The Earl of Warwick, first husband to Mrs. Addison, whole-length, by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
These two lots were sold together for 15s. Cooper.
ABBÉ, a French one, his account of the
population of Paris, iv. 505.
Abbey, near Sir Roger's house, contem-
plations in it, ii. 440.
Abbot of St. Gaul, his office and authority,
i. 522.
Abbreviations of English proper names,
ii. 498.
Abdiel, his character exhibits a noble
moral, iii. 236.
Abdon, a judge of Israel, blessed with a
numerous progeny, iv. 20.
Abel Drugger, his appropriate sign-post,
ii. 286.
Abigail, complaint of one, respecting her
mistress's sick dog, ii. 81.
Abigails, male, in fashion among the
ladies, ii. 319.
Abingdon, Earl of, succeeded by Lord
Essex, v. 357.
Abraham, his relics in the great church
of Milan, i. 369; his lineage traced in
Paradise Lost, iii. 279.
Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden's poem,
why one of our most popular poems, iv.
32; why more interesting now than it
will be to posterity, v. 216.
Absence, called by the poets, death in
love, iii. 134; consolations of lovers on
such occasions, 135.
Abstinence, its tendency to abate party
animosity, ii. 181; the benefit of it, iii. 66.
Academy, for the exercise of the fan, ii.
428; for politics, projected at Paris, iii.
313.
Acætes, story of, i. 131; note respecting,
153.
Acarnania, its promontory called Leucate,
for what famous, iii. 106.
Accent in speech of every nation differ-
ent, ii. 288.
Accident, a most afflicting one, ii. 70.
Accomplishments, female, their value,
iv. 301.
Acerra, an emblem in the hand of Piety,
i. 282.
Achæmenides, left in the island of the
Cyclops, i. 39.
Achaia, medal of, i. 328, 330.
VOL. V.
Achelous, the horn of, i. 299.
Achilles, his ghost, how described by
Homer, ii. 113; inquires after his son,
ib.; why chosen by Homer as the hero
of his poem, iii. 184.
Acilianus, recommended by Pliny for a
husband, ii. 6.
Acosta, his answer to Limborch, on Jew-
ish ceremonies, ii. 93.
Acquirement, used for acquisition, iii. 389,
note.
Acrostic, a piece of false wit, divided into
simple and compound, ii. 350.
Act of parliament, for the encouragement
of loyalty in Scotland, a provision in it,
iv. 398; for making parliamentary elec-
tions less frequent, v. 35.
Acts of parliament in favour of public
credit pointed out, ii. 238.
Actæon, transformed into a stag, i. 119;
hunted to death by his own dogs, 121.
Action, of Nicolini, superior to that of
English tragedians, ii. 261; in epic
poetry, rules respecting it, iii. 178.
Actions, classed into good, evil, and in-
different, iii. 92; of a mixt nature, and
modified by circumstances, 165; why
inadequate expressions of virtue, 166;
proceeding from patriotism more illus-
trious than any others, iv. 413.
Actors, Roman, their speech on inaking
their exit, iii. 321; why professed ene-
mies to critics, iv. 148.
Adam, his praise of Eve's virtues, ii. 43;
description of, in Paradise Lost, iii. 228;
his tender address to awaken Eve, 230,
231; relates his history to Raphael, 250;
his first impressions, 251, 252; unhappy
because alone, 253; in a dream beholds
the formation of Eve, ib.; his reflection
on the pleasures of love, compared to
those of sense, 254; his speech to Eve
after her transgression, 259; his horror
and despair, 266; his reconcilement to
Eve, 268; his regret on leaving Para-
dise, 273, 274; his visions, 274; joy at
perceiving the Messiah, 279; his praise
of the loveliness of Eve, as superior to
his reason, iv. 18; said to have short-
ened his life to extend that of David,
266.
Adamites, a sect of heretics of the last
Adams, William, Three, v. 319; George,
319. 321; letters to, 325.
Adams, Dr. Samuel, v. 325.
Adda, river, its course through Lake
Como and junction with the Po, i. 376.
Addison, character of his poetry, i. 3,
note; his translations from Ovid highly
finished and laboured, 87, note; wrote
his essay on the Georgics in his one-and-
twentieth year, 154, note; disingenuity
in his verses to the Princess of Wales,
with the tragedy of Cato, accounted for,
227, note; his reputation owing chiefly
to his prose-writings, 255, note; his pe-
culiar talents for essay-writing, ii. 1;
his serious papers have, in general,
less merit than his humorous, 75, note;
his genius compared to the spirit in
Milton's Mask, ib.; his talents for per-
sonal ridicule, and shyness in display-
ing them, 178, note; his invention in
matters of humour inexhaustible, 224,
note; a much better poet in prose than
in verse, 503, note; seen more to ad-
vantage as an imitator of Plato than of
Lucian, iii. 367, note; his amiable mind
and elegant genius, wherein conspicu-
ous, 371, note; possesses all the requi-
sites for fine writing, 389, note; his
essay on the pleasures of imagination
the most masterly of all his critical
works, 393, note; his hint on garden-
ing at present attended to, 406, note;
proofs of the elegant and virtuous habits
of his mind, 502, note; proportions the
expense of his wit to the worth of his
subject, 491, note; an instance of his
modesty and humour, iv. 48, note; of
his nice ear for the harmony of prose,
56, note; the 538th Spectator certainly
not written by him, 66, note; his paper,
winding up the plot of the Spectator,
not so well written as might be ex-
pected, 76, note; embarrassed in con-
triving how to protract his paper be-
yond its natural term, 82, note; not-
withstanding his satire on widows,
married the Countess of Warwick, who
laid him out in four years, 98, note;
his fine imitation of the oriental cast of
thought and expression, 142, note;
many sublime passages prove him to
be not an agreeable writer only, though
he had not the nerves of Montesquieu
nor the pomp of Bolingbroke, 147, note;
extracts from Dr. Swift's works, relat-
ing to him, 157, 158; the part he took
in the Guardian, to what owing, 159;
his first paper exquisite, 162, note; al-
lusion to his third dialogue on medals,
167, note; how far an admirer of Lu-
cian, 173, note; pays a just compli
ment to himself, 196, note; wherein a
true poet, ib.; instance of his badinage
pursued too far, 284, note; injudicious
in him to treat a serious subject in the
manner of Lucian, 297, note; applies
and explains his famous lines on honour
in Cato, 309, note; next to the humor-
ous and allegorical, his oriental papers
are the most taking, 331, note; as a
party writer, knew how to maintain the
fairness and dignity of his character,
363, note; his trial of Count Tariff,
to what relating, 364, note; peculiar
keenness of reproof in his Whig-Ex-
aminer, to what imputable, 370, note;
when and for what purpose he under-
took the Freeholder, 396, note; his hu-
morous papers the best; those on grave
and political subjects the worst written,
478, note; his Highland-seer's vision
had been with more propriety given as
a dream of his own, 495, note; solid
reasoning in his paper on the punish-
ment of the rebels, v. 17, note; his
panegyric on Pope's translation of the
Iliad, where commented on, 48, note;
speaks like a friend of Rowe and like a
Whig of Lucan, ib. ; makes a Whig of
Queen Elizabeth, 96, note; bis Free-
holder preserved by the reputation of
his other works, 101, note; closed his
life like Pascal in meditating a defence
of the Christian Religion, 103, note;
Mr. Gibbon's satirical remark on it an-
swered, 106, note; encomiums on him
by Sir R. Steele, 145; why he declined
going into orders, 150; remarks of his
father on the friendship between him
and Steele, 151; his exquisite humour
and delicate satire, 152; conjecture re-
specting his Discourse on Ancient and
Modern Learning, 214, note; an ex-
pression in it by which one might swear
to the author, 219, note; another in-
stance of expression purely Addisonian,
225, note; his controversy with Steele
in the Old Whig, 236, 247; his paper in
the Reader, 309; his translation of the
Polymnia of Herodotus, 319, 321; of
Urania, 320; Lord Somers his early
patron, 322; his introduction to him,
323; description of Versailles, 326;
anecdote respecting him and Temple
Stanyan, 329; his mode of spending his
time at Blois, 331; visit to Male-
branche, 332; introduced to Boileau,
ib.; his three days' conversation with
the Duke of Shrewsbury at Florence,
336; Duke of Somerset proposes that
Addison should accompany his son in
his travels, 341; his father's death, 344;
made Commissioner of Appeal in the
Excise, 346; invited to write "The
Campaign," ib.; publishes his Travels,
347; attends Lord Halifax to Hanover,
ib.; fictitious Table of Contents to his
Travels, ib.; undertakes the education
of the Earl of Warwick, 366; marries
the Countess of Warwick, 366, 434;
made Secretary of State for Ireland,
374; anecdote of him and the Duke of
Wharton, 378; his desire to serve Swift,
379; letter from Swift, 391; probable
dissolution of English Parliament, 392,
393: presented to the Duke of Ormond,
398; suffers weakness of the eyes, 392,
399, 400; his professions of desire to
serve Ambrose Phillips, 400; letters from
Mr. Wortley, 401, 403, 404; loss of his
Irish place, 401; resident in London,
404; the room in which he and Steele
chiefly wrote their papers in the Spec-
tator, ib.; disapproves Pope's treat-
ment of Dennis, 405; letters from Mr.
Hughes, 406, 411, 414; from Swift, 406;
Pope's letter respecting Dennis, 410;
Gay's zeal in his cause, ib.; Hughes
proposes to him to establish the Re-
gister, 411; declined by him, 412; as-
sists Steele in his trial, 415; his con-
duct in relation to the difference between
Philips and Pope, ib.; Jervas's report
of Addison's zeal for Pope, 416; Pope's
regard for Addison, 417; Lord Halifax's
reproof of Addison's modesty, 418; made
Commissioner of Appeals, 420, 427; and
Secretary to Sir Charles Hedges, and to
Lord Sunderland, 420; draws the Pa-
tent for the Prince of Wales, 420, 428;
his sound Whiggism and difference in
politics with Bolingbroke, 421; attends
Halifax to meet George I. on his arrival,
ib.; Pope's letter professing respect and
offering requests as to the Iliad and
Essay on Criticism, 423; recital of his
claims to office, 424; purchase of the
Bilton estate, ib.; elected for Lost-
withiel, 425; for Malmesbury, ib.; his
great popularity, ib.; bequeathed
£12,000 to his daughter and Lady War-
wick, 424; his disappointment, 427;
made Secretary of State, ib.; made
Keeper of the Records in Birmingham
Tower, ib.; his recommendations of
persons to Lord Halifax for office, 429;
his exertions in favour of Major Dun-
bar, 430, 431; his disinterestedness
therein, 432; his Life, by Tickell, ib.;
loses the Irish Secretaryship, 434; cha-
racter of his wedded life, 435, 436; his
Circular Letter on his appointment as
Secretary of State, 436; Lady Wortley
Montagu's letter on his appointment,
ib.; his serious illness, 491; appoints
Richard Tickell clerk in his office, 508;
letter desiring to resign the seals as
Secretary of State, 509; his resignation,
510; his dangerous illness, ib.; adopts a
course of water-drinking at Bristol, 427,
511; his death and memoir ir. the His-
torical Register, 513, 514; his will, 515;
is Latin compositions, 519-523; as-
signment with Tonson for volume of
Spectator, 524. LETTERS to Tonson,
319-321, 340, 434; the Earl of Halifax,
321, 377,423, 429; Lord Somers, 322; Mr.
Sansom, 323; Col. Frowde, 324; Mr.
Adams, 325; Mr. Congreve, 326; Mons.
L'Espagnol, 328; Dr. Newton, ib.; Mr.
Abraham Stanyan, 329, 330; Mr. Wort-
ley Montagu, 331, 369, 370, 372, 491;
Bishop Hough, 332, 344; Earl of Man-
chester, 334, 362-364, 371; Chamber-
lain Dashwood, Esq., 337; Mr. Stepney,
337, 349, 350-361, 365; the Earl of
Winchelsea, 338; Mr. Wyche, 339, 345;
Mr. Alleyn Bathurst, 339; the Duke of
Somerset, 342, 343; Mr. Wood, 345;
Mr. Lewis, 348; Dean Swift, 359, 377-
379, 381, 386, 390, 510, 511; Mr. Cole,
363, 364; Earl of Warwick, 366–368;
Ambrose Phillips, 370, 371?, 375, 380,
383, 384, 399, 428; Steele, 373?; Sam.
Stebbing, 375, 385; Joseph Keally, 382,
385, 392, 397, 398; a Lady, 387; Mar-
quis of Wharton, 393, 394, 396; Mr.
Wortley, 401, 403; Mr. Hughes, 405,
412; Pope, 412; Mons. D'Almanza,
418; Rev. Mr. Flamstead, ib.; the
Council of Trade, 419; Mons. de Robe-
thon, 420, 421; Major Dunbar, 430, 431;
Duke of Grafton, 433; Circular Letter,
436; Mayor of Dover, 438; Bubb Dodd-
ington, 439; Mr. Crawford, 440, 446,
451, 502; Mr. Davenant, 440; Lords
Justices of Ireland, 441; Lord Mayor of
London, 441, 490; Commissioners of
Trade in South Carolina, 442; Lords
Commissioners of Trade, 443, 448, 465,
474, 475, 486, 495, 500; Mr. James Day-
rolles, 445, 481; Earl of Peterborough,
446; Attorney-General, 447, 455, 509;
Lords of the Treasury, 450, 451, 462, 468,
479, 480, 483, 485, 493, 499, 503, 504;
Earl of Stair, 453, 455, 457, 458, 460,
463, 466, 469, 473, 474, 480, 482, 492,
495-498, 504, 506; Mardyke Commis-
sioners, 465, 472; Viscount Stanhope,
467; Commissioners of Customs, 471;
L'Envoye de Danemarc, 482; Board of
Ordnance, 485, 495; Secretary at War,
496; Duchess of St. Albans, 500; the
King, 509; Mr. Cracherode, ib.; Rt.
Hon. James Craggs, 513; his commu-
nication to Mr. Worsley, (per Temple
Stanyan,) ib.; his French circular on
the Quarrel between the King and the
Prince of Wales, 514; sundry_official
letters, 517; his resignation of office,
from illness, 522; his communication to
the Right Honourable James Craggs,
523; his death, from the Historical Re-
gister, 523, 524; his will, 525; ana-
lysis of several of his official letters,
527, 528; poems, &c. attributed to him,
not hitherto included in his works, 529,
et seq.; his poem of the "Play-House,'
529; his epilogue written for Steele's
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