Mr. Addison received his first education at the Chartreux, from whence he was removed very early to Queen's college in Oxford. He had been there about two years, when the accidental fight of a paper of his verses, in the hands of Dr. Lancaster then Dean of that house, occasioned his being elected into Magdalen college. He employed his first years in the study of the old Greek and Roman writers; whose language and manner he caught at that time of life, as strongly as other young people gain a French accent, or a genteel air. An early acquaintance with the claffics is what may be called the good-breeding of poetry, as it gives a certain gracefulness which never forfakes a mind, that contracted it in youth, but is feldom or never hit by those, who would learn it too late. He first di

stinguished himself by his Latin compofitions, published in the Muse Anglicana, and was admired as one of the best authors fince the Auguftan age, in the two universities, and the greatest

part

part of Europe, before he was talked of as a poet in town. There is not perhaps any harder task than to tame the natural wildness of wit, and to civilize the fancy. The generality of our old English poets abound in forced conceits, and affected phrases; and even those, who are faid to come the nearest to exactness, are but too often fond of unnatural beauties, and aim at something better than perfection. If Mr. Addison's example and precepts be the occafion, that there now begins to be a great demand for correctness, we may juftly attribute it to his being first fashioned by the ancient models, and familiarised to propriety of thought, and chastity of style. Our country owes it to him, that the famous Monfieur Boileau first con. ceived an opinion of the English genius for poetry, by perusing the present he made him of the Musa Anglicane. It has been currently reported, that this famous French poet, among the civilities he shewed Mr. Aldifon on that occafion, affirmed,

affirmed, that he would not have written against Perrault, had he before seen such excellent pieces by a modern hand. Such a saying would have been impertinent and unworthy Boileau, whose dispute with Perrault turned chiefly upon fome passages in the ancients, which he rescued from the mif-interpretations of his adversary. The true and natural compliment made by him, was, that those books had given him a very new idea of the English politeness, and that he did not question but there were excellent compositions in the native language of a country, that poffefsed the Roman genius in so eminent a degree.

The first English performance made public by him, is a short copy of verses to Mr. Dryden, with a view particularly to his translations. This was foon followed by a version of the fourth Georgic of Virgil, of which Mr. Dryden makes very honourable mention, in the postscript to his own translation of all Virgil's works: wherein I have often wondered that

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that he did not, at the same time, acknowledge his obligation to Mr. Addifon, forgiving him The Effay upon the Georgics, prefixed to Mr. Dryden's translation. Left the honour of fo exquisite a piece of criticism should hereafter be transferred to a wrong author, I have taken care to infert it in this collection of his works.

Of fome other copies of verses, printed in the Mifcellanies, while he was young, the largest is An Account of the greatest English Poets; in the close of which he infinuates a design he then had of going into holy orders, to which he was strongly importuned by his father. His remarkable seriousness and modesty, which might have been urged as powerful reasons for his choosing that life, proved the chief obstacles to it. These qualities, by which the priesthood is so much adorned, represented the duties of it as too weighty for him; and rendered him ftill the more worthy of that honour, which they made him decline. It is happy that this very cir

cumstance

cumstance has since turned so much to the advantage of virtue and religion, in the cause of which he has bestowed his labours the more fuccessfully, as they were his voluntary, not his necessary employment. The world became insensibly reconciled to wisdom and goodness, when they saw them recommended by him with at least as much spirit and elegance, as they had been ridiculed for half a century.

He was in his twenty eighth year, when his inclination to see France and Italy was encouraged by the great LordChancellor Somers, one of that kind of patriots, who think it no waste of the public treasure to purchase politeness to their country. The poem upon one of King William's campaigns, addrest to his Lordship, was received with great humanity, and occafioned a message from him to the author to defire his acquaintance. He foon after obtained, by his interest, a yearly pension of three hundred pounds from the

crown,