t "Holland House" (the property of his wile, to whom he had been married
but about two years), and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Several years
of his life were spent in the political affairs of his time, he held
several public offices, and was, for ten years, a member of Parliament.
His fame as an author rests chiefly upon his "Hymns," his tragedy of
"Cato," and his "Essays" contributed principally to the "Tatler" and the
"Spectator." The excellent style of his essays, their genial wit and
sprightly humor, made them conspicuous in an age when coarseness,
bitterness, and exaggeration deformed the writings of the most eminent:
and these characteristics have given them an unquestioned place among the
classics of our language.

Mr. Addison was shy and diffident, but genial and lovable; his moral
character was above reproach, excepting that he is said to have been too
fond of wine.
###

It is a celebrated thought of Socrates, that if all the misfortunes of
mankind were cast into a public stock, in order to be equally distributed
among the whole species, those who now think themselves the most unhappy,
would prefer the share they are already possessed of before that which
would fall to them by such a division. Horace has carried this thought a
great deal farther, and supposes that the hardships or misfortunes we lie
under, are more easy to us than those of any other person would be, in
case we could change conditions with him.

As I was ruminating on these two remarks, and seated in my elbowchair, I
insensibly fell asleep; when, on a sudden, methought there was a
proclamation made by Jupiter, that every mortal should bring in his griefs
and calamities, and throw them together in a heap. There was a large plain
appointed for this purpose. I took my stand in the center of it, and saw,
with a great deal of pleasure, the whole human species marching one after
another, and throwing down their several loads, which immediately grew up
into a prodigious mountain, that seemed to rise above the clouds.

There was a certain lady of a thin, airy shape, who was very active in
this solemnity. She carried a magnifying glass in one of her hands, and
was clothed in a loose, flowing robe, embroidered with several figures of
fiends and specters, that discovered themselves in a thousand chimerical
shapes as her garment hovered in the wind. There was something wild and
distracted in her looks. Her name was Fancy. She led up every mortal t