Addison is chiefly remembered as a man of letters, possibly the most brilliant essayist in the history of English literature, and the creator of the lovable country squire, Sir Roger de Coverley. He is generally associated with Sir Richard Steele, with whom he collaborated in two London periodicals, The Tatler and The Spectator. In these publications and their successor, the Guardian, appeared the essays which were later published as Evidences of the Christian Religion.
Besides his literary achievements, Addison was successful in politics. He was a member of Parliament for a number of years, and was twice appointed as Secretary of State. But despite these honours and the fame that accompanied them, he exhibited a truly Christian character, a genial serenity in his outlook on life and a wholesome morality. His famous hymn The Spacious Firmament on High strikes a balance between the new scientific discoveries of an ordered universe and faith in the Creator God of the Bible:
The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue etherial sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim: Th’ unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator’s power display; And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand. What though, in solemn silence, all Move round this round terrestrial ball? What though no real voice nor sound Amid their radiant orbs be found? In reason’s ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, Forever singing as they shine, The hand that made us is divine!’
It is said that when Addison lay dying, he reflected on his life and, having thought that he had wronged a friend, called the man to his bedside to ask forgiveness. Toward the end he sent for his stepson, Lord Warwick, whose rather careless life worried Addison. At first he was so weak that he could not say anything, but finally he uttered his last words, ‘See in what peace a Christian can die!’