initial letter of his name. The volume composed for the inhabitants of Olney was the joint production of the Divine and the Poet. and intended, as the former expressly says in his Preface, “as a monument to perpetuate the remembrance of an intimate and en"deared friendship-With this pleasing view (continues Mr. Newton) I entered upon my part, which would have been smaller " than it is, and the book would have appeared much sooner, and "in a very different form, if the wise, though mysterious Provi"dence of God had not seen fit to cross my wishes. We had not proceeded far upon our proposed plan, before my dear friend was prevented by a long and affecting indisposition, from affording me any farther assistance.”—The severe illness of the Poet, to which these expressions relate, began in 1773, and extended beyond the date of the Preface (from which they are quoted) February 15, 1779. 66 66 66 These social labours of the Poet with an exemplary Man of God, for the purpose of promoting simple piety, among the lower classes of the people, must have been delightful in a high degree to the benevolent heart of Cowper, and I am persuaded he alludes to his own feelings on this subject, in the following passage from his Poem on Conversation. True Bliss, if Man may reach it, is compos'd Of hearts in union mutually disclos'd; And, farewell else all hope of pure delight! Those hearts should be reclaim'd, renew'd, upright: Bad Bad Men, profaning Friendship's hallow'd name, But souls, that carry on a blest exchange From such communion, in their pleasant course, Such fellowship in literary labour, for the noblest of purposes, must be delightful indeed, if attended with success, and at all events, it is entitled to respect; yet it may be doubtful if the intense zeal, with which Cowper embarked in this fascinating pursuit, had not a dangerous tendency to undermine his very delicate health. Such an apprehension naturally arises from a recollection of what medical writers of great ability have said on the awful subject of mental derangement. Whenever the slightest tendency to that misfortune appears, it seems expedient to guard a tender spirit from the attractions of Pity herself-So fearfully and wonderfully are we made, that man in all conditions ought perhaps to pray that he he never may be led to think of his Creator and of his Redeemer, either too little or too much; since human misery is often scen to arise equally from an utter neglect of all spiritual concerns, and from a wild extravagance of devotion. But if the charitable and religious zeal of the Poet led him into any excesses of devotion, injurious to the extreme delicacy of his nervous system, he is only the more entitled to admiration and to pity. Indeed his genius, his virtues, and his misfortunes were calculated to excite those tender and temperate passions in their purest state, and to the highest degree. It may be questioned if any mortal could be more sincerely beloved and revered than Cowper was by those, who were best acquained with his private hours. The season was now arrived when the firm friendship of Mrs. Unwin was put to the severest of trials, and when her conduct was such as to deserve those rare rewards of grateful attention and tenderness, which, when she herself became the victim of age and infirmity, she received from that exemplary being, who considered himself indebted to her friendly vigilance for his life, and who never forgot an obligation, when his mind was itself. In 1773, he sunk into such severe paroxysms of religious despondency, that he required an attendant of the most gentle, vigilant, and inflexible spirit. Such an attendant he found in that faithful guardian, whom he had professed to love as a mother, and who who watched over him, during this long fit of depressive malady, extended through several years, with that perfect mixture of tenderness and fortitude, which constitutes the inestimable influence of maternal protection. I wish to pass rapidly over this calamitous period, and shall only observe, that nothing could surpass the sufferings of the patient, or the care of the nurse. That meritorious care received from Heaven the most delightful of rewards, in seeing the pure and powerful mind, to whose restoration it had contributed so much, not only gradually restored to the common enjoyments of life, but successively endowed with new and marvellous funds of diversified talents, and courageous application. The spirit of Cowper emerged by slow degrees from its very deep dejection; and before his mind was sufficiently recovered to employ itself on literary composition, it sought, and found, much salutary amusement in educating a little group of tame Hares, On his expressing a wish to divert himself by rearing a single Leveret, the good-nature of his neighbours supplied him with three. The variety of their dispositions became a source of great entertainment to his compassionate and contemplative spirit. One of the trio, he has celebrated in the Task, and a very animated minute account of this singular family humanized, and described most admirably by himself, in prose, appeared first in the Gentleman's Magazine, and has been recently inserted in the second volume of his Poems. These interesting animals had not only the honour of being N cherished VOL. I. cherished and celebrated by a Poet, but the pencil has also contributed to their renown; and their portraits, engraved from a drawing presented to Cowper by a friend unknown, may serve as a little embellishment to this Life of their singularly tender and benevolent protector. His three tame Hares, Mrs. Unwin, and Mr. Newton, were, for a considerable time, the only companions of Cowper; but as Mr. Newton was removed to a distance from his afflicted friend, by preferment in London, to which he was presented by that liberal encourager of active piety Mr. Thornton, the friendly Divine before he left Olney in 1780, humanely triumphed over the strong reluctance of Cowper to see a stranger, and kindly introduced him to the regard and good offices of the Revd. Mr. Bull, of NewportPagnell, who, from that time, considering it as a duty to visit the Invalide, once a fortnight, acquired, by degrees, his cordial and confidential esteem. The affectionate temper of Cowper inclined him particularly to exert his talents at the request of his friends; even in seasons, when such exertion could hardly have been made without a painful degree of self-command. At the suggestion of Mr. Newton we have seen him writing a series of Hymns: at the request of Mr. Bull he translated several spiritual Songs from the mystical Poetry of Madame de la Mothe Guyon, |