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Joseph Addison ( May 1, 1672 - June 17, 1719) was an English politician and writer. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.


Addison was born in Milston , Wiltshire, his father Lancelot Addison being dean of the cathedral city of Lichfield. He was educated at Charterhouse School, where he first met Steele, and at Queen's College, Oxford. He excelled in classics, and became a Fellow of Magdalen. In 1693, he addressed a poem to John DrydenJohn Dryden ( August 19, 1631 May 12, 1700) was an influential British poet and playwright. He was born in a village rectory near Oundle in Northamptonshire and educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a professional writer th, the former poet laureate, and his first major work, a book about the lives of English poets, was published in 1694, and his translation of Vergil's Georgics in the same year.

In 1699Events January 26 Treaty of Karlowitz signed March 30 the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa. May 1 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville founds the first European settlement in the Mississippi River Valley Births February 17 Georg Wenzeslaus v, he began training for the diplomatic service, and travelled widely in Europe, all the time writing and studying politics. His poem, The Campaign, celebrating the Battle of BlenheimThe Battle of Blenheim was a major battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, August 13, 1704. A French and Bavarian army, under Count Camille de Tallard and Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, were advancing on the Austrian capital of Vienna., won him preferment, and by 1705Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. It is completed in 1724 The Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 is passed by the English Parliament, which naturalized Sophia of Hanover and the "issue of her body" as British subjects. he was an under-secretary of state in the government of HalifaxCharles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax ( April 16, 1661 May 19, 1715) was Chancellor of the Exchequer, poet, statesman, and Earl of Halifax. Charles was born at Horton, in Northamptonshire, the son of Mr. George Montague, a younger son of the Earl of Manche. He became MP for MalmesburyMalmesbury is an old-established city in north-west Wiltshire on the South Cotswolds. Located in south west England, it is close to Cirencester, Chippenham and Swindon. It is surrounded by rivers on three sides. Malmesbury is the oldest borough in England in his home county of Wiltshire in 1708, and was shortly afterwards sent to Ireland, where he encountered Jonathan Swift and remained for a year. Subsequently, he helped found the Kitcat Club, and renewed his association with Steele. They founded The Spectator together in 1711, and began a successful second career as a dramatist.

In 1716, he married the countess of Warwick, and his political career continued to flourish, as he served Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1717 to 1718. However, his political newspaper, The Freeholder, was much criticised, and Alexander Pope was among those who made him an object of derision, christening him "Atticus". He eventually fell out with Steele over the Peerage Bill of 1719. In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as secretary of state because of his poor health, but remained an MP until his death, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Addison, Joseph Addison, Joseph



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