Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-09-08
SWIFT, VOLTAIRE, AND ADDISON.

Ill SuCl ClOSc CONTACT III.
SWIFT, VOLTAIRE, AND ADDISON.
The last Edinburgh Review contains
charming article on the Life and Writings
Of Addison. SAID 10 be from the fine pen Of
Macauley, of which, the following sketches of
Swift, Volaire, and Addison, a. wits, is GER
tainly worthy;
The three most eminent masters of the art
OF rldiculc, during the eighteenth century,
were, we conceive, Addison, Swift and Vol
iaire. Which of the three had the greatest
power of moving laughter may be questioned.
But each of them, within his own domain,
was supreme. Votaire is the prince of buff.
foons. His merriment is without disguise or
restraint He gambols; he grins he shakes
his sides; he points the finger; he turns up
the nose he shoots out the tongue. The
manner of Swift is the very opposite TO this.
tie moves laughter, but never joins in it,
tie appears in his works such as he appears
in society. All the company are convused
with merriment, while the Dean, the author
OF all the mlrth, preserves an invincblc grav-
ity, and even sourness Of aspect and gives
ulterance TO the most eccentric and ludicrous
fancies, with the air Of man reading the
combination service.
The manner Of Addison is as remote from
that OF Swift as from that Of Voltaire. He
neither laughs out like the French wit, nor
like the Irish wit, throws double portion of
severity in his coun,enance while laughing in
ly, but preserves look peculiarly his own,
look OF demurc serenity, disturbed only by
an arch sparkle of the eye, an almost imper-
ceptible elevation of the brow, an almost i'm
perceptibe curl of lip. His tone was never
that of Jack Pudding or of a Cynic. 1t is
that OF a gentleman, in whom the quickest
sense OF the ridiculous is constantly tempered
by good nature and good breeding.
We own that the hllmor of Addison is, in
orr opinion, of "A more delicious flavor than
the hunor of either Swift or Voltaire. Thus
much, al least is certain that both Swift and
Voltalre have been successfully mmicked
and that no man has yet been able to mimic
Addison. The letter of the Able Cover to
Pansophe is Votairc all over, and inn posed
during long time, on the Academicians OF
Paris. There are passages in Arbuthnot's
satrical works which we, at least, cannot dis
tlngusli from Swifl's best writing. But OF
the many eminent men who have made Adj
Olson their model, though several have cop.
led his mere diction with happy effect, none
has been able to catch the tone of his pleas.
antry. In the World, in the Connoisseur,
in the Mirror, in the Lounger, there are nl-
merous papers written in obvious imitation Of
his Tatlcrs and Spectators. Most of these
papers have some merit; many are very
lively and amusing but there is not single
one which could be passed off as Addison's
on critic of the smallest perspicacily
But that which chiefly distinguishes Add.
son from Noltare, from almost all the grea
masters OF ridicule, is the grace, the noble.
ness, the moral purity, winch we find even ir
ms merrinent. Severity, gradually hard
enng and darkening into misan'hropv, char.
acterizes the works of Swift. The nature o
Voltaire was, indeed, not inhuman; but hi
venera.ed nothing. Neither in the mas,e
pieces Of art nor in the purcs, examples of vir
tue, neither in the Great FIRST Cause nor il
the awful enigma of the grave, could he SEE
any thing but subjects for drolery. Thu
more solemn and august the theme, the more
monkey-iike was his grimacing and chatte
, ring The mirh Of Swift is the mirth o
Mephistophiles the mirth of Voltnire is tn,
mlrth of Puck. If, as Soame Jenyes oddl,
imagined, portion of the happiness of Sc
raphm and just men made perfect be deri
we'd from an exquisite perception of the In
dlcrous, their mirlh must surely be none 9th
er than the mirlh Of Addison "a mirlh con
t sstent with tender compassion for all that i
irail, and with profound reverence for all tina
is sublime. Nothing great, nothing amiable
no moral duty, no doctrine Of natural or re
. vealed religion, has ever been associated by
Addison with any degrading idea.
His humanity is without parallel in lite
rary history. The highest proof of human
virtue is to possess houndless power wlhou
abusing it. No kind Of power is more for
midabe than the power of making men ri
b diculous; and that power Addison possesse
in boundess measure. How grossly ina
: power was abused by Swift and Vol,aire
well known. But of Addison i. may be cor
d lidenlly affirmed that he had blackened n
o mans character, nay, that j, would DO diff
:. cult, IT net impossible, to find in all the vo
h umes which he has left ms, single taur
which can be called ungenerous or unkin'
d Yet he had detrac,ors, whose maignity migl
J. have seemed to Justify as terrible revcng
l. as that which men, not superior to him in q
j. MUS, wreaked on Bettesworth and on Fran
l. de Popignan. He was politician Inc W
10 the best writer Of his party; he lived in tim
l. Of fierce excitement-in times when perso
Of high character and station stopped TO sou
J rlity such as is now prac,ised only by the b
ID sest OF mankind, Yet no nrovoea,ion Al
no example could induce pim to return ra
n ING for railing.