Joseph Addison
From Philosopedia
Addison, Joseph (1 May 1672 - 17 June 1719)
The recognized master of the English essay, Addison advocated reason and moderation in life. In 1729, his Remarks on Several Parts of Italy were added by the Vatican to its list of prohibited books. However, according to his biographers, although he was called by some a Deist, basically he was a Christian. He once did write, however, “Atheist is an old-fashioned word. I am a freethinker.”
Addison was interested in how Augustus, Cato, Seneca, and Thomas More had behaved at their deaths, feeling one should die with a kind of fortitude. When he suspected his own death was near, Addison called for his stepson and announced, somewhat dramatically, “See with what peace a Christian can die,” whereupon he died. Observed Horace Walpole of Addison’s death,
- Unluckily, he died of brandy. Nothing makes a Christian die in peace like being maudlin.
