Addison, though he had the reputation of a toper, was respectability itself.

Steele was almost always disreputable.

He was brought from Ireland, placed at the Charter House, and then transferred to Oxford, where he became acquainted with Addison.

Thackeray says that "Steele found Addison a stately college don at Oxford." The stateliness and the don's rank were attributable no doubt to the more sober character of the English lad, for, in fact, the two men were born in the same year, 1672.

Steele, who during his life was affected by various different tastes, first turned himself to literature, but early in life was bitten by the hue of a red coat and became a trooper in the Horse Guards.