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His intemperance was in part the custom of the age
and in part a physical failing, and it must have been excessive to be
distinguished in that age. In the Latin-English of Dr. Johnson, "It is not
unlikely that Addison was first seduced to excess by the manumission which
he obtained from the servile timidity of his sober hours." This failing
must be regarded as a blot on his fame.
He was the most accomplished writer of his own age, and in elegance of
style superior to all who had gone before him.
In the words of his epitaph, his prose papers "encouraged the good and
reformed the improvident, tamed the wicked, and in some degree made them
in love with virtue." His poetry is chiefly of historical value, in that
it represents so distinctly the Artificial School; but it is now very
little read. His drama entitled _Cato_ was modelled upon the French drama
of the classical school, with its singular preservation of the unities.
But his contributions to _The Spectator_ and other periodicals are
historically of great value.


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