relics of his residence are preserved and treasured with a lively sense of their value; and if you will do it reverently, you may sit for a thoughtful moment in his arm-chair and handle his cane.
Although Addison was not born in Lichfield, he must have received a good deal of shaping culture of his mind there. His father, a learned, accomplished, sharp-witted man, had already attained to high distinction before he was appointed dean of Lichfield Cathedral, which was in 1683, when he was about fifty years of age. As his illustrious son Joseph entered college at Oxford in 1687, he must have resided with his father in Lichfield several years before and many after his collegiate course. At least, the little city claims him as one of her sons, perhaps mostly on the ground that his father's grave is with them unto this day. In the long Latin inscription of his father's monument in the cathedral, his own name and memory are blended in the closing sentence with a filial tribute to what he owed to his parent's qualities and example. It reads thus:
"An honour of his age,
from him his eldest son Joseph
received his extraordinary natural gifts,
his pure habits, his goodwill to men, piety to God,
and every other brilliant patrimony;
who, while he would have erected this monument
to himself in companionship of his excellent parent,
was called away by sudden death. A.D. 1719."
