sion was
the genius of Addison more vigorously exerted, and on none did the
superiority of his powers more evidently appear. His "Trial of Count
Tariff," written to expose the treaty of commerce with France, lived no
longer than the question that produced it.

Not long afterwards an attempt was made to revive the Spectator, at a
time indeed by no means favourable to literature, when the succession of
a new family to the throne filled the nation with anxiety, discord, and
confusion; and either the turbulence of the times, or the satiety of
the readers, put a stop to the publication after an experiment of eighty
numbers, which were actually collected into an eighth volume, perhaps
more valuable than any of those that went before it. Addison produced
more than a fourth part; and the other contributors are by no means
unworthy of appearing as his associates. The time that had passed during
the suspension of the Spectator, though it had not lessened his power
of humour, seems to have increased his disposition to seriousness: the
proportion of his religious to his comic papers is greater than in the
former series.

The Spectator, from its re-commencement, was published only three
times a week; and no discriminative marks were added to the papers.
To Addison, Tickell has ascribed twenty-three. The Spectator had many
contributors; and Steele, whose negligence kept him always in a hurry,
when it was his turn to furnish a paper, called loudly for the letters,
of which Addison, whose materials were more, made little use--having
recourse to sketches and hints, the product of his former studies, which
he now reviewed and completed: among these are named by Tickell the
Essays on Wit, those on the Pleasures of the Imagination, and the
Criticism on Milton.

When the House of Hanover took possession of the throne, it was
reasonable to expect that the zeal of Addison would be suitably
rewarded. Before the arrival of King George, he was made Secretary to
the Regency, and was required by his office to send notice to Hanover
that the Queen was dead, and that the throne was vacant. To do this
would not have been difficult to any man but Addison, who was so
overwhelmed with the greatness of the event, and so distracted by choice
of expression, that the lords, who could not wait for the niceties of
criticism, called Mr. Southwell, a clerk in the House, and ordered him
to despatch the message. Southwell readily told what was necessary in
th