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Mr. Addifon received his firft 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 verfes, in the hands of Dr. Lancafter then Dean of that house, occafioned his being elected into Magdalen college. He employed his first years in the study of the old Greek and Roman writers; whofe language and manner he caught at that time of life, as ftrongly 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 thofe, who would learn it too late. He firft diftinguished himself by his Latin compofitions, published in the Mula Anglicane, and was admired as one of the beft authors fince the Auguftan age, in the two univerfities, 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 fomething better than perfection. If Mr. Addifon's example and precepts be the occafion, that there now begins to be a great demand for correctnefs, we may juftly attribute it to his being firft fashioned. by the ancient models, and familiarifed to propriety of thought, and chastity of ftyle. Our country owes it to him, that the famous Monfieur Boileau firft con. ceived an opinion of the English genius for poetry, by perufing the present he made him of the Mufa Anglicane. It has been currently reported, that this famous French poet, among the civilities he fhewed Mr. Aldifon on that occafion,

affirmed,

affirmed, that he would not have written againft Perrault, had he before seen fuch excellent pieces by a modern hand. Such a faying would have been impertinent and unworthy Boileau, whofe dispute with Perrault turned chiefly upon fome paffages in the ancients, which he refcued 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 politenefs, and that he did not question but there were excellent compofitions in the native language of a country, that poffeffed the Roman genius in fo eminent a degree.

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

that

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that he did not, at the fame time, acknowledge his obligation to Mr. Addifon, for giving him The Effay upon the Georgics, prefixed to Mr. Dryden's tranflation. Left the honour of fo exquifite 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 defign he then had of going into holy orders, to which he was ftrongly importuned by his father. His remarkable seriousness and modefty, which might have been urged as powerful reasons for his choofing that life, proved the chief obftacles to it. These qualities, by which the priesthood is fo much adorned, reprefented the duties of it as too weighty for him; and rendered him fill the more worthy of that honour, which they made him decline. It is happy that this very cir

cumftance

cumftance has fince turned fo much to the advantage of virtue and religion, in the cause of which he has bestowed his labours the more fuccefsfully, as they were his voluntary, not his necessary employment. The world became infenfibly reconciled to wisdom and goodness, when they faw 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 fee 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 politenefs to their country. The poem upon one of King William's campaigns, addreft to his Lordship, was received with great humanity, and occafioned a meffage from him to the author to defire his acquaintance. He foon after obtained, by his intereft, a yearly penfion of three hundred pounds from the

crown,

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