So wrote Steele; and the
Spectator
will bear witness how religiously his friendship was returned. In number 453, when, paraphrasing David's
Hymn on Gratitude
, the 'rising soul' of Addison surveyed the mercies of his God, was it not Steele whom he felt near to him at the Mercy-seat as he wrote
Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Has made my cup run o'er,
And in a kind and faithful Friend
Has doubled all my store?
The
Spectator
, Steele-and-Addison's
Spectator