In an effort to educate myself, I am reading The Oxford Book of Essays, chosen and edited by John Gross. [copies for sale here] There’s 142 of the blighters, so it will take me all year. To make this “stick” I am going to blog each essay.
This essay is online
Who was the author:
Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was a British writer and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine. His simple prose style marked the end of the mannerisms and conventional classical images of the 17th century.[1]
What happened the year they were born (and the C02 ppm): 1672
The Big Events they were alive for: The Glorious Revolution. The coming of the Hanovers. Er…
What happened in the year they died (and the C02 ppm): 1719
My awareness of/appreciation of this author (if any): absolutely minimal
What’s the essay?
The essay is called “Thoughts in Westminster.” It’s 4 pages long. For me, the key take-aways were that today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fishwrap, ashes to ashes and ecclesiastes etc…
Best line(s)
“I could not but look upon these registers of existence, whether of brass or marble, as a kind of satire upon the departed persons; who bad left no other memorial of them, but that they were born and that they died. They put me in mind of several persons mentioned in the battles of heroic poems, who have sounding names given them, for no other reason but that they may be killed, and are celebrated for nothing but being knocked on the head.”
” when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions. factions, and debates of mankind.”
Stuff I had to look up
Prebendaries A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir stalls, known as prebendal stalls.
Rostral situated or occurring near the front end of the body, especially in the region of the nose and mouth or (in an embryo) near the hypophyseal region.
Sir Cloudesly Shovel
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22/23 October 1707) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fought at the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.
Stuff worth thinking about.
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Stuff to look up
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Connects to (watch this space – if there are later essays that resonate with this one, I’ll come back and add a link to the post for that essay).
marchudson.net 
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