Add is on, JOSEPH

1672-1719. English e ayist and poet. Under-Secretary of State 1706; M.P. 1708; Secretary of State 1717-18. His works include many political papers, the once famous tragedy of Cato, 1713, a few fine hymns, and Dialogues on Ancient Medals ; but his chief services to literature were rendered through The Spectator (q.v.), which he established in 1711, and the best parts of which he wrote. He did much to purify English prose, and was the model of style for a century.