Miscellaneous Works, in Verse and Prose, of the Late Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq, Vol 1 of 3 With Some Account of the Life and Writings of the Author Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Miscellaneous Works, in Verse and Prose, of the Late Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq., Vol. 1 of 3: With Some Account of the Life and Writings of the Author

The plan of the Spefiater, asit regards the feigned perlon of the Author, and of the leveral charaé'ters that compofe his club, was projeé'ted m concert with Sir Riebard Steele. And, be many palfages in the courie of the work would otherwife be obfcure, I have taken leave to infert. One lingle paper, wr1tten by Sir Ric/yard wherein thole charaéters are dr as a, qm'atihper/bme, or as fo many, piétures ornament and explication of the whole. 3 As for the diftiné't papers; they'were never or feldom lhown to each other,.by their refpeétive authors 5 who fully anfwered the promife they had made, and far out went the~expe6tation they had raifed, of purfuing' their labour in the fame fpirit and lirength, with which it was begun. It would have been impoflible 0 made little or no ufe'of letters numerous correfpondents of the Speé'z'a far, to have executed his large lhare of this task, in lo exquilite a manner; if he had not ingrafted into it many pieces, that had lain by him in little hints and minutes, which he from time. To time coleé'ted, and ranged in order, and moulded into the form in, which they now appear. Such are the elfays upon fit, the Plea/utter of tbe 71, the Critique upon jllz'lton, andfome others, which I thought to have conneéted in a, contiriued Series in this edition, though they Were at firl't publilhed with.the inter ruption of writings on different fubjeéts. But as fuch a fcheme would have obliged me to cut off feve ral graceful introductions and circuml'tances, peculi arly adapted to the time and occalion of printing them, I durl'c not purfue. That attempt. The Tragedy of Cato appeared in publick in the Year 1713, when the greatell part of the lall: A& was added by the Author to.th'e foregoing, which he had kept by him formnany years. He took up a, delign of writinga play upon this fubjeét, when he, was very young at the Univerlity, and even attempt thing init there, though not a line as it now 'the work wasperformed by him 1n his. Travels, and re-touched in England, without any formed refolution of bringing it upon the liage, till his friendsof the. Full quality. Anddiltinétionlprévailn ed with'him' the lalt finilhiiig to it, at'a time when they th the doé'trine of Liberty very lea'z fonable. It is in every body's memory, with what was received by the public that thefirll: run of it lal'ted for 'a month and then flopped, only b'ecaufe one of the performers became incapableof aé'ting a principal part. The Author received' a mell'age, that the Qwen would be pleafed to have it dedicated to her: but as'hie had 'deligned that com pliment elfewhere, he found himfelf obliged by his. Duty on the one lide, and his honour'on the other, to fend it into the world without any dedication. The fam'e'of this Tragedy. Foon fpread through'europe, and it has not only been tranflated, but aé'ted in molt of the languages of Chril'cendom. The tranflation of it into Italian, by Signor Sal'zvini, is very well known; but'i have not been able to learn, whether that'of a young Neapolitan noble man, has ever been made'public.

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