登陆注册
4705400000565

第565章

But scarcely had Addison entered the Cabinet when his health began to fail. From one serious attack he recovered in the autumn; and his recovery was celebrated in Latin verses, worthy of his own pen, by Vincent Bourne, who was then at Trinity College, Cambridge. A relapse soon took place; and, in the following spring, Addison was prevented by a severe asthma from discharging the duties of his post. He resigned it, and was succeeded by his friend Craggs, a young man whose natural parts, though little improved by cultivation, were quick and showy, whose graceful person and winning manners had made him generally acceptable in society, and who, if he had lived, would probably have been the most formidable of all the rivals of Walpole.

As yet there was no Joseph Hume. The Ministers, therefore, were able to bestow on Addison a retiring pension of fifteen hundred pounds a year. In what form this pension was given we are not told by the biographers, and have not time to inquire, But it is certain that Addison did not vacate his seat in the House of Commons.

Rest of mind and body seem to have re-established his health; and he thanked God, with cheerful piety, for having set him free both from his office and from his asthma. Many years seemed to be before him, and he meditated many works, a tragedy on the death of Socrates, a translation of the Psalms, a treatise on the evidences of Christianity. Of this last performance, a part, which we could well spare, has come down to us.

But the fatal complaint soon returned, and gradually prevailed against all the resources of medicine. It is melancholy to think that the last months of such a life should have been overclouded both by domestic and by political vexations. A tradition which began early, which has been generally received, and to which we have nothing to oppose, has represented his wife as an arrogant and imperious woman. It is said that, till his health failed him, he was glad to escape from the Countess Dowager and her magnificent dining-room, blazing with the gilded devices of the House of Rich, to some tavern where he could enjoy a laugh, a talk about Virgil and Boileau, and a bottle of claret, with the friends of his happier days. All those friends, however, were not left to him. Sir Richard Steele had been gradually estranged by various causes. He considered himself as one who, in evil times, had braved martyrdom for his political principles, and demanded, when the Whig party was triumphant, a large compensation for what he had suffered when it was militant. The Whig leaders took a very different view of his claims. They thought that he had, by his own petulance and folly, brought them as well as himself into trouble, and though they did not absolutely neglect him, doled out favours to him with a sparing hand. It was natural that he should be angry with them, and especially angry with Addison. But what above all seems to have disturbed Sir Richard, was the elevation of Tickell, who, at thirty, was made by Addison Under-Secretary of State; while the editor of the Tatler and Spectator, and the author of the Crisis, and member for Stockbridge who had been persecuted for firm adherence to the House of Hanover, was, at near fifty, forced, after many solicitations and complaints, to content himself with a share in the patent of Drury Lane Theatre. Steele himself says, in his celebrated letter to Congreve, that Addison, by his preference of Tickell, "incurred the warmest resentment of other gentlemen"; and everything seems to indicate that, of those resentful gentlemen, Steele was himself one.

While poor Sir Richard was brooding over what he considered as Addison's unkindness, a new cause of quarrel arose. The Whig party, already divided against itself, was rent by a new schism.

The celebrated Bill for limiting the number of Peers had been brought in. The proud Duke of Somerset, first in rank of all the nobles whose religion permitted them to sit in Parliament, was the ostensible author of the measure. But it was supported, and in truth devised, by the Prime Minister.

We are satisfied that the bill was most pernicious; and we fear that the motives which induced Sunderland to frame it were not honourable to him. But we cannot deny that it was supported by many of the best and wisest men of that age. Nor was this strange. The royal prerogative had, within the memory of the generation then in the vigour of life, been so grossly abused, that it was still regarded with a jealousy which, when the peculiar situation of the House of Brunswick is considered, may perhaps be called immoderate. The particular prerogative of creating peers had, in the opinion of the Whigs, been grossly abused by Queen Anne's last Ministry; and even the Tories admitted that her Majesty, in swamping, as it has since been called, the Upper House, had done what only an extreme case could justify. The theory of the English constitution, according to many high authorities, was that three independent powers, the sovereign, the nobility, and the commons, ought constantly to act as checks on each other. If this theory were sound, it seemed to follow that to put one of these powers under the absolute control of the other two, was absurd. But if the number of peers were unlimited, it could not well be denied that the Upper House was under the absolute control of the Crown and the Commons, and was indebted only to their moderation for any power which it might be suffered to retain.

Steele took part with the Opposition, Addison with the Ministers.

同类推荐
  • 太上一乘海空智藏经·七宝庄严经

    太上一乘海空智藏经·七宝庄严经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 野記

    野記

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 善住意天子所问经

    善住意天子所问经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Master Humphrey S Clock

    Master Humphrey S Clock

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 梼杌近志

    梼杌近志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 末世1—丧尸

    末世1—丧尸

    死,亦是生的开始;一段故事的结束,亦是另一段故事的开始。
  • 蛮荒巨神

    蛮荒巨神

    一座仙岛,一个女神,一条通天路。路,就在方岳脚下……方岳身为族长儿子却因血脉低下,备受欺凌,但少年心性坚韧,努力修炼,最终打破魔咒,成功突破。并带领方氏部落重新崛起!百年后,且看天下,谁主沉浮!
  • 饱含智慧的对联故事(阅读故事享受快乐丛书)

    饱含智慧的对联故事(阅读故事享受快乐丛书)

    《阅读故事享受快乐丛书:饱含智慧的对联故事》精选了中国民间的两百余个对联故事。这些故事,有的展现了智者的高尚情怀和名人、雅士的精神世界,有的歌颂了劳动人民的聪明才智、纯朴感情和创新精神,有的描写了士大夫的闲情逸致,有的抨击了恶人的丑恶言行,有的蕴涵着不同地域的风土人情,读者可以从中领略到中华语言神奇的魅力,受到启迪。
  • 云汐缘

    云汐缘

    世界上最悲衷的事情莫过于推你进地狱的人,曾经带你去过天堂。她原本是这天地之主,上古最后的一位龙神。可以真情被一只狐狸精给骗了,后落得一个魂飞魄散的结果,心酸啊,怨恨啊。原以为永世不得超生,可是,却莫名其妙的穿越到了另外一只狐狸身上!老天,她怎么就是和狐狸精过不去呢?
  • 孟子大讲堂

    孟子大讲堂

    孟子,中国古代著名思想家、教育家、战国时期儒家代表人物。他继承并发扬了孔子的思想,成为仅次于孔子的一代儒家宗师,对后世中国文化的影响全面而巨大,是中国人推崇的文化大师,像钻石一样成为后人最珍爱的宝物。本书以《孟子》为基础去观察孟子的管理思想,融注着真实感,文笔挥洒,是一部可读之书,对大家提升自己管理能力大有益处。孟子与孔子并称中华“双圣”,不管在做人还是在治国之道上,都极力推行“仁政”,孟子的治国之道当中,丰富的仁政管理思想对我们当今的企业管理思想是一个极大的启示。
  • 游戏开发设计师

    游戏开发设计师

    一个游戏设计师的人生一个讲作游戏的故事最后能做游戏,真好(这只是一个做游戏的故事,仅此【认真脸!】)
  • 优美的田园散文(散文书系)

    优美的田园散文(散文书系)

    散文是美的,它能给人以美的享受,然而什么样的散文才是最美的散文呢?秦牧曾说:“精粹警辟的、谈笑风生的、亲切感人的、玲珑剔透的,使你读时入了神、读后印象久久不会消失的好散文,还是不多。”他还说:“一篇好的散文,应该通过各种各样的内容给人以思想的启发、美的感受、情操的陶冶。”品读精美的散文,宛如清风般涤荡沐浴;让散文的清扬与美丽永远地伴随你。
  • Twenty Years After

    Twenty Years After

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 王妃,你莫嚣张

    王妃,你莫嚣张

    破虏当先,王妃,你的功夫为何这么好?九州赤县,王妃,你的智谋为何这么惊人?哎呀!不就是打了几次胜仗吗?你不就是仗着我喜欢你吗?王妃,你莫嚣张!
  • 失落的文明探索

    失落的文明探索

    人类总是充满好奇心,富有求知欲望,不仅对历史积淀的文 化知识和日益发展的科学技术具有浓厚的兴趣,而且对世界上许 许多多的未解之谜都充满了好奇心。这是人类的心理特征,也是 人类社会进步的一种基本动因。从地球到宇宙,从自然到历史, 从科学到艺术,在这许许多多的领域中,无不存在着这样或那样 的“未解之谜”。