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FOOTNOTES:[1]Such is the recorded testimony of Charles James Fox, and the late Robert Hall. The latter observes as follows:—"The letters of Mr. Cowper are the finest specimens of the epistolary style in our language. To an air of inimitable ease they unite a high degree of correctness, such as could result only from the clearest intellect, combined with the most finished taste. There is scarcely a single word capable of being exchanged for a better, and of literary errors there are none. I have perused them with great admiration and delight."[2]Of the letters contained in the "Private Correspondence" he emphatically remarked, "Cowper will never be clearly and satisfactorily understood without them."[3]This gentleman was a writer of English verse, and, with rare munificence, bestowed both an epitaph and a monument on that illustrious divine, the venerable Hooker. In the edition of Walton's Lives, by Zouch, the curious reader may find the epitaph written by Sir William Cowper.[4]Sir William Russel, the favourite friend of the young poet.[5]Miss Theodora Cowper.[6]Private correspondence.[7]The author is supposed to mean Mrs. Hill and her two daughters. The wordtheirscannot so well refer to the last antecedent, the persons who stand in that relation with it being both dead at the time he wrote, as is evident from the context.[8]Cowper's pecuniary resources had been seriously impaired by his loss of the Clerkship of the Journals in the House of Lords, and by his subsequent resignation of the office of Commissioner of Bankrupts. At the kind instigation of Major Cowper, his friends had been induced to unite in rendering his income more adequate to his necessary annual expenditure.[9]Private correspondence.[10]Freemantle, a villa near Southampton.[11]See his Emilius.[12]Private correspondence.[13]Private correspondence.[14]The office of readership to this society had been offered to Cowper, but was declined by him.[15]The wife of Major Cowper, and sister of the Rev. Martin Madan, minister of Lock Chapel.[16]"Marshall on Sanctification" This book is distinguished by profound and enlarged views of the subject on which it treats. It was strongly recommended by the pious Hervey whose testimony to its merits is prefixed to the work.[17]Private correspondence.[18]Dr. Haweis was a leading character in the religious world at this time, and subsequently the superintendent of Lady Huntingdon's chapels, and of the Seminary for Students founded by that lady. His principal works are a "Commentary on the Bible," and "History of the Church."[19]Dr. Conyers.—The circumstances attending the death of this truly pious and eminent servant of God are too affecting not to be deemed worthy of being recorded. He had ascended the pulpit of St. Paul's, Deptford, of which he was rector, and had just delivered his text, "Ye shall see my face no more," when he was seized with a sudden fainting, and fell back in his pulpit: he recovered, however, sufficiently to proceed with his sermon, and to give the concluding blessing, when he again fainted away, was carried home, and expired without a groan, in the sixty-second year of his age, 1786. The affecting manner of his death is thus happily adverted to in the following beautiful lines:—Sent by their Lord on purposes of grace,Thus angels do his will, and see his face;With outspread wings they stand, prepar'd to soar,Declare their message, and are seen no more.Underneath is a Latin inscription, of which the following is the translation.I have sinned.I repented. I believed.I have loved. I rest.I shall rise again.And, by the grace of ChristHowever unworthy,I shall reign.[20]Private correspondence.[21]Private correspondence.[22]Private correspondence.[23]Isaiah xliii. 2.[24]Isaiah xlviii. 10.[25]For this interesting document, see p. 465[26]It is impossible to read this and the four following Letters of Cowper to Mr. Hill, as well as a preceding one in page 27, and not to remark their altered tone and diminished cordiality of feeling. The forgetfulness of former ties and pursuits is often, we know, made a subject of reproach against religious characters. How then is Cowper to be vindicated? Does religion pervert the feelings? We believe, on the contrary, that it purifies and exalts them; but it changes their current, and fixes them on higher and nobler objects. Cowper's mind, it must be remembered, had experienced a great moral revolution, which had imparted a new and powerful impression to his views and principles. In this state of things Mr. Hill (lamenting possibly the change) solicits his return to London, and to his former habits and associations. But the relish for these enjoyments was gone; they had lost their power to charm and captivate. "I am now more than ever," says Cowper, "unwilling to revisit those noisy and crowded scenes, which I never loved, and which I now abhor; the incidents of my life have given an entire new turn to my whole character and conduct, and rendered me incapable of receiving pleasure from the same employments and amusements of which I could readily partake in former days." (See page 28.) Hill reiterates the invitation, and Cowper his refusal. Thus one party was advancing in spirituality, while the other remained stationary. The bond was therefore necessarily weakened, because identity of feeling must ever constitute the basis of all human friendships and intercourse; and the mind that has received a heavenly impulse cannot return with its former ardour to the pursuit of earthly objects. It cannot ascend and descend at the same moment. Such, however, was the real worth and honesty of Mr. Hill, that their friendship still survived, and a memorial of it is recorded in lines familiar to every reader of Cowper."An honest man, close button'd to the chin,Broad-cloth without, and a warm heart within."[27]Private correspondence.[28]Private correspondence.[29]The Rev. T. Cotterill, formerly of Sheffield, and in much esteem for his piety and usefulness, was the first who established this right by a judicial proceeding.[30]He was presented to the living of St. Mary Woolnoth, in the city.—Ed.[31]Private correspondence.[32]"Brydone," author of Travels in Sicily and Malta. They are written with much interest, but he indulges in remarks on the subject of Mount Etna which rather militate against the Mosaic account of the creation.[33]Private correspondence.[34]Cowper here alludes to the celebrated work of the Abbé Raynal, entitled "Philosophical and Political History of the Establishments and Commerce of Europeans in the two Indies." This book created a very powerful sensation, being written with great freedom of sentiment and boldness of remark, conveyed in an eloquent though rather declamatory style. Such was the alarm excited in France by this publication, that a decree passed the Parliament of Paris, by which the work was ordered to be burnt.[35]Private correspondence.[36]Sir Thomas Hesketh, Baronet, of Rufford Hall, in Lancashire.[37]Raynal.[38]Private correspondence.[39]Mr. Unwin had suggested to Cowper the propriety of an application to Lord Thurlow for some mark of favour; which the latter never conferred, and which Cowper was resolved never to solicit.[40]Private correspondence.[41]Private correspondence.[42]Vide Cowper's Poems.[43]Private correspondence.[44]Vide Cowper's Poems.[45]This letter contained the beautiful fable of the Nightingale and the Glow-worm.[46]Private correspondence.[47]Private correspondence.[48]Ashley Cowper, Esq.[49]A happy change has occurred since this period, and the revival of piety in the Church of England must be perceptible to every observer.—Ed.[50]His meaning is, he contributed to the "Connoisseur" an essay or letter on this subject.[51]To those who contemplate the course of modern events, and the signs of the times, there may be a doubt whether the sentiment here expressed is equally applicable in the present age. May the union of good and wise men be the means, under the Providence of God, of averting every threatening danger.[52]Cowper's fable of the Raven concluded this letter.[53]Private correspondence.[54]Vide Cowper's Poems.[55]The event here alluded to was a crisis of great national danger. It originated in the concessions granted by Parliament to the Roman Catholics, in consequence of which a licentious mob assembled in great multitudes in St. George's Fields, and excited the greatest alarm by their unbridled fury. They proceeded to destroy all the Romish chapels in London and its vicinity. The prisons of Newgate, the Fleet, and King's Bench, were attacked, and exposed to the devouring flame. The Bank itself was threatened with an assault, when a well-disciplined band, called the London Association, aided by the regular troops, dispersed the multitude, but not without the slaughter of about two hundred and twenty of the most active ringleaders. The whole city presented a melancholy scene of riot and devastation; and the houses of many private individuals were involved in the ruin. The house of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield was the particular object of popular fury. Lord George Gordon, who acted a prominent part on this occasion, was afterwards brought to trial, and his defence undertaken by Mr. Kenyon, afterwards well known by the title of Lord Kenyon. Various facts and circumstances having been adduced in favour of Lord George Gordon, his lordship was acquitted. It is instructive to contemplate the tide of human passions and events, and to contrast this spirit of religious persecution with the final removal of Catholic disabilities at a later period.[56]Cowper alludes to this afflicting page in our domestic history, in his Table Talk:—When tumult lately burst his prison door,And set plebeian thousands in a roar;When he usurp'd authority's just place,And dared to look his master in the face.When the rude rabble's watch-word was—Destroy,And blazing London seem'd a second Troy.[57]The surrender of Charles-Town, in South Carolina, to Admiral Arbuthnot and General Sir Henry Clinton.[58]Verses on the burning of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield's house, during the riots in London.[59]These lines of Mr. Unwin, and here retouched by Cowper's pen, bear a strong resemblance to the beautiful Epitaph composed by Bishop Lowth, on the death of his beloved daughter, which seem to have suggested some hints, in the composition of the above epitaph to Northcote.Cara, vale, ingenio præstans, pietate, pudore,Et plus quam natæ nomine cara, vale.Cara Maria, vale: at veniet felicius ævum,Quando iterum tecum, sim modo dignus, ero.Cara redi, lætâ tum dicam voce, paternosEja age in amplexus, cara Maria, redi.[60]Private correspondence.[61]The alarm taken at the concessions made in favour of the Catholics was such, that many persons formed themselves into an association, for the defence of Protestant principles.—Ed.[62]These lines are founded on the suspicion, prevalent at that time, that the fires in London were owing to French gold, circulated for the purposes of corruption.[63]Three poets in three distant ages born,Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd;The next in majesty, in both the last.The force of Nature could no further go,To make a third she joined the other two.[64]Lord Chief Justice Mansfield incurred the loss, on this occasion, of one of the most complete and valuable collections of law books ever known, together with manuscripts and legal remarks, the result of his own industry and professional knowledge.[65]Private correspondence.[66]Private correspondence.[67]This distinguished lawyer was a connexion of Cowper's, having married Mary, daughter of William Cowper, of the Park, near Hertford, Esq. After having successively passed through the offices of Solicitor and Attorney General, he was advanced to the dignity of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and subsequently elevated to the Peerage by the title of Baron Walsingham.[68]Verses on a Goldfinch, starved to death in a cage.[69]Private correspondence.[70]The Verses alluded to appear to have been separated from the letter.[71]This letter concluded with the poetical law case of Nose, plaintiff—Eyes, defendants, already inserted.[72]Private Correspondence.[73]The loss of his excellent wife. Mr. Barham was the intimate friend of Newton, and Cowper, and of the pious Lord Dartmouth, whose name is occasionally introduced in these letters in connexion with Olney, where his lordship's charity was liberally dispensed. Mr. Barham suggested the subject of many of the hymns that are inserted in the Olney collection, and particularly the one entitled "What think ye of Christ?" He was father of the late Jos. Foster Barham, Esq., many years M.P. for the borough of Stockbridge. The editor is happy in here bearing testimony to the profound piety and endearing virtues of a man, with whose family he became subsequently connected. He afterwards married the widow of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., and lived at Hawkestone, in Shropshire.[74]The late Rev. Thomas Scott, so well known and distinguished by his writings.[75]Private correspondence.[76]This alludes to his attendance on a condemned malefactor in the jail at Chelmsford.[77]Private correspondence.[78]This season was remarkable for the most destructive hurricanes ever remembered in the West Indies.[79]He alludes to the humorous verses on the Nose and the Eyes, inserted in a preceding letter.[80]Private correspondence.[81]Private Correspondence.[82]Private correspondence.[83]Private correspondence.[84]Vide Poems, where, in the next line, the epithetunshakenis substituted forthe noblest, in the letter.[85]Private correspondence.[86]Private correspondence.[87]The privilege of franking letters was formerly exercised in a very different manner from what is now in use. The name of the M.P. was inserted, as is usual, on the cover of the letter, but the address was left to be added when and where the writer of the letter found it most expedient.[88]The classic beauty and felicity of expression in the Latin compositions of Bourne have been justly admired; but a doubt will exist in the mind of the classical reader, whether the praise which exalts his merits above those of a Tibullus, to whom both Ovid and Horace have borne so distinguished a testimony, does not exceed the bounds of legitimate eulogy.[89]Private correspondence.[90]Mr. Newton's voyage to Africa, and his state of mind at that period, are feelingly described by himself in his own writings, as well as the great moral change which he subsequently experienced.[91]An obscure part of Olney, adjoining to the residence of Cowper, which faced the market-place.[92]Lady Austen's residence in France.[93]Private correspondence.[94]Private correspondence.[95]Private correspondence.[96]Private correspondence.[97]Private correspondence.[98]Private correspondence.[99]Private correspondence.[100]It is recorded of the Rev. Mr. Cecil, that, being passionately fond of playing on the violin, and, finding that it engrossed too much of his time and thoughts, he one day took it into his hands and broke it to pieces.[101]Private correspondence.[102]Author of the popular poem, "De Animi Immortalitate," written in the style of Lucretius. The humorous poem alluded to by Cowper, in praise of smoking, is entitled "The Pipe of Tobacco." It is remarkable as exhibiting a happy imitation of the style of six different authors—Cibber, Ambrose Philips, Thomson, Pope, Swift, and Young. The singularity and talent discoverable in this production procured for it much celebrity. An edition of his Poems was published by his son, Isaac Hawkins Browne, Esq.[103]Private correspondence.[104]Private correspondence.[105]Goldsmith used to say of Johnson, that he had nothing of the bear but the external roughness of its coat.[106]Private correspondence.[107]Private correspondence.[108]Private correspondence.[109]Marquis Caraccioli, born at Paris, 1732. It is now well known that the letters of Pope Ganganelli, though passing under the name of that pontiff, were composed by this writer. These letters, as well as all his writings, are distinguished by a sweet strain of moral feeling, that powerfully awakens the best emotions of the heart; but there is a want of more evangelical light. He is also the author of "La Jouissance de soi-même;" "La Conversation avec soi-même;" "La Grandeur d'Ame," &c.; and of "The Life of Madame de Maintenon."[110]Private correspondence.[111]Private correspondence.[112]"There is a solitude of the gods, and there is the solitude of wild beasts."[113]Private correspondence.[114]The surrender of the army of Lord Cornwallis to the combined forces of America and France, Oct. 18th, 1781. It is remarkable that this event occurred precisely four years after the surrender of General Burgoyne, at Saratoga, in the same month, and almost on the same day. This disastrous occurrence decided the fate of the American war, which cost Great Britain an expenditure of one hundred and twenty millions, and drained it of its best blood, and exhausted its vital resources.[115]Private correspondence.[116]NOTE BY THE EDITOR.The lines alluded to are the following, which appeared afterwards, somewhat varied, in the Elegant Extracts in Verse:If John marries Mary, and Mary alone,'Tis a very good match between Mary and John.Should John wed a score, oh! the claws and the scratches!It can't be a match: 'tis a bundle of matches.[117]Private correspondence.[118]As the reader may wish to see the lines to Sir Joshua, they are here supplied from the documents left by Dr. Johnson. Those to the Queen of France are not found.TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.Dear President, whose art sublimeGives perpetuity to time,And bids transactions of a day,That fleeting hours would wait awayTo dark futurity, survive,And in unfading beauty live,—You cannot with a grace declineA special mandate of the Nine—Yourself, whatever task you choose,So much indebted to the Muse.Thus says the Sisterhood:—We come—Fix well your pallet on your thumb,Prepare the pencil and the tints—We come to furnish you with hints.French disappointment, British glory,Must be the subject of my story.First strike a curve, a graceful bow,Then slope it to a point below;Your outline easy, airy, light,Fill'd up, becomes a paper kite.Let independence, sanguine, horrid,Blaze like a meteor on the forehead:Beneath (but lay aside your graces)Drawsix and twenty rueful faces,Each with a staring, stedfast eye,Fix'd on his great and good ally.France flies the kite—'t is on the wing—Britannia's lightning cuts the string.The wind that raised it, ere it ceases,Just rends it into thirteen pieces,Takes charge of every flutt'ring sheet,And lays them all at George's feet,Iberia, trembling from afar,Renounces the confed'rate war.Her efforts and her arts o'ercome,France calls her shatter'd navies home:Repenting Holland learns to mournThe sacred treaties she has torn;Astonishment and awe profoundAre stamp'd upon the nations round;Without one friend, above all foes,Britannia gives the world repose.[119]Private correspondence.[120]The poem afterwards entitled "Heroism."—Vide Poems.[121]Private correspondence.[122]Mr. Smith, afterwards Lord Carrington.[123]The lines alluded to are entitled "The Flatting Mill, an Illustration."[124]Private correspondence.[125]Cowper, though a Whig, vindicates the American war, keenly as he censures the inefficiency with which it was conducted. The subject has now lost much of its interest, and is become rather a matter of historical record. Such is the influence of the lapse of time on the intenseness of political feeling! The conduct of France, at this crisis, is exhibited with a happy poignancy of wit."True we have lost an empire—let it pass.True; we may thank the perfidy of France,That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown,With all the cunning of an envious shrew.And let that pass—'twas but a trick of state."Task, book ii.Cowper subsequently raises the question how far the attainment of Independence was likely to exercise a salutary influence on the future prospects of America. He anticipates an unfavourable issue. Events, however, have not fulfilled this prediction. What country has made such rapid strides towards Imperial greatness? Where shall we find a more boundless extent of territory, a more rapid increase of population, or ampler resources for a commerce that promises to make the whole world tributary to its support? Besides, why should not the descendants prove worthy of their sires? Why should a great experiment in legislation and government suspend the natural course of political and moral causes? May the spiritual improvement of her religious privileges keep pace with the career of her national greatness! What we most apprehend for America is the danger of internal dissension. If corruption be the disease of monarchies, faction is the bane of republics. We add one more reflection, with sentiments of profound regret, and borrow the muse of Cowper to convey our meaning and our wishes."I would not have a slave to till my ground,To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,And tremble when I wake, for all the wealthThat sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart'sJust estimation priz'd above all price,I had much rather be myself the slave,And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."Task, book ii.[126]This remark is inaccurate. Prior's Solomon is distinctly mentioned, though Johnson observes that it fails in exciting interest. His concluding remarks are, however, highly honourable to the merit of that work. "He that shall peruse it will be able to mark many passages, to which he may recur for instruction or delight; many from which the poet may learn to write, and the philosopher to reason."—Life of Prior.—Editor.[127]Private correspondence.[128]The retention of the American colonies was known to be a favourite project with George III.; but the sense of the nation was opposed to the war, and the expense and reverses attending its prosecution increased the public discontent.[129]Dr. Johnson.[130]The language in the original is as follows: "His expression has every mark of laborious study; the line seldom seems to have been formed at once; the words did not come till they were called, and were then put by constraint into their places, where they do their duty, but do it sullenly."—SeeLives of the Poets.[131]The severity of Johnson's strictures on Milton, in his Lives of the Poets, awakened a keen sense of indignation in the breast of Cowper, which he has recorded in the marginal remarks, written in his own copy of that work. They are characteristic of the generous ardour of his mind, in behalf of a man whose political views, however strong, were at least sincere and conscientious; and the splendour of whose name ought to have dissipated the animosities of party feeling. From these curious and interesting comments we extract the following:—Johnson—"I know not any of the Articles which seem to thwart his opinions, but the thoughts of obedience, whether canonical or civil, roused his indignation."Cowper—"Candid."Johnson—"Of these Italian testimonies, poor as they are, he was proud enough to publish them before his poems; though he says he cannot be suspected but to have known that they were said,Non tam de se, quam supra se."Cowper—"He did well."Johnson—"I have transcribed this title to show, by his contemptuous mention of Usher, that he had now adopted a puritanical savageness of manners."Cowper—"Why is it contemptuous? Especially, why is it savage?"Johnson—"From this time it is observed, that he became an enemy to the Presbyterians, whom he had favoured before. He that changes his party by his humour, is not more virtuous than he that changes it by his interest. He loves himself rather than truth."Cowper—"You should have proved that he was influenced by his humour."Johnson—"It were injurious to omit, that Milton afterwards received her father and her brothers in his own house, when they were distressed, with other Royalists."Cowper—"Strong proof of a temper both forgiving and liberal."Johnson—"But, as faction seldom leaves a man honest, however it may find him, Milton issuspectedof having interpolated the book called 'Ikon Basilike,' &c."Cowper—"A strange proof of your proposition!"Johnson—"I cannot but remark a kind of respect, perhaps unconsciously paid to this great man by his biographers. Every house in which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury to neglect naming any place that he honoured by his presence."Cowper—"They have all paid him more than you."Johnson—"If he considered the Latin Secretary as exercising any of the powers of Government, he that had showed authority either with the Parliament or with Cromwell, might have forborne to talk very loudly of his honesty."Cowper—"He might, if he acted on principle, talk as loudly as he pleased."Johnson—"This darkness, had his eyes been better employed, had undoubtedly deserved compassion."Cowper—"Brute!"Johnson—"That his own daughters might not break the ranks, he suffered them to be depressed by a mean and penurious education. He thought women made only for obedience, and man only for rebellion."Cowper—"And could you write this without blushing?Os hominis!"Johnson—"Such is his malignity, that hell grows darker at his frown."Cowper—"And atTHINE!"[132]See Murphy's "Essay on the Genius of Dr. Johnson."[133]Ibid.[134]See "Life of Pope."[135]Private correspondence.[136]Dr. Johnson.[137]Lady Austen.[138]The nation was growing weary of the American war, especially since the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army at York Town, and the previous capture of General Burgoyne's at Saratoga. The ministry at this time were frequently outvoted, and Lord North's administration was ultimately dissolved.[139]Waller's Panegyric to my Lord Protector, 1654.[140]Isaiah lii. 7.[141]Private correspondence.[142]This letter has been inserted in the preceding pages.[143]Lord Thurlow.[144]Private correspondence.[145]The person here alluded to is Simon Browne, a learned Dissenting minister, born at Shepton Mallet, about the year 1680. He laboured under a most extraordinary species of mental derangement, which led him to believe "that God had in a gradual manner annihilated in him the thinking substance, and utterly divested him of consciousness; and that, although he retained the human shape, and the faculty of speaking, in a manner that appeared to others rational, he had all the while no more notion of what he said than a parrot." His intellectual faculties were not in any way affected by this singular alienation of mind, in proof of which he published many theological works, written with great clearness and vigour of thought. He addressed a Dedication to Queen Caroline, in which he details the peculiarities of his extraordinary case, but his friends prevented its publication. It was subsequently inserted in No. 88 of the "Adventurer." Such was the force of his delusion, that he considered himself no longer to be a moral agent; he desisted from his ministerial functions, and could never be induced to engage in any act of worship, public or private. In this state he died, in the year 1732, aged fifty-five years.[146]John Thornton, Esq.[147]Here Cowper transcribed the letter written from Passy, by the American ambassador, Franklin, in praise of his book.[148]This alludes to the celebrated victory gained by Sir George Rodney over Count de Grasse, April 12, 1782. On this occasion, eight sale of the line were captured from the French, three foundered at sea, two were for ever disabled, and the French Admiral was taken in the Ville de Paris, which had been presented by the city of Paris to Louis XV. Lord Robert Manners fell in this engagement. It was the first instance where the attempt was ever made of breaking the line, a system adopted afterwards with great success by Lord Nelson. Lord Rodney, on receiving the thanks of Parliament on this occasion, addressed a letter of acknowledgment to the Speaker, conveyed in the following terms. "To fulfil," he observed, "the wishes, and execute the commands of my Sovereign, was my duty. To command a fleet so well appointed, both in officers and men, was my good fortune; as by their undaunted spirit and valour, under Divine Providence, the glory of that day was acquired."[149]Lord Rodney's despatches commenced in the following words: "It has pleased God, out of his Divine Providence, to grant to his Majesty's arms," &c. This was more religious than the nation at that time could tolerate. Lord Nelson afterwards was the first British Admiral that adopted the same language.[150]Private correspondence.[151]Dr. Franklin.[152]Attempts have recently been made to recover this vessel; and some of the guns have been raised, and found to be in excellent order.[153]See Ellis's "Specimens of the early English Poets, with an historical sketch of the rise and progress of English poetry and language."[154]Private correspondence.[155]Lady Austen.[156]Private correspondence.[157]Private correspondence.[158]The well-known author of "The Minstrel."[159]This letter closed with the English and Latin verses on the loss of the Royal George, inserted before.[160]Private correspondence.[161]Private correspondence.[162]The benevolent character here alluded to is John Thornton, Esq.[163]Private correspondence.[164]Preliminaries of peace with America and France were signed at Versailles, Jan. 20th, 1783.[165]France, Spain, and Holland, all of whom united with America against England.[166]This passage alludes to the formation of what was called "the Eclectic Society," consisting of several pious ministers, who statedly met for the purpose of mutual edification. It consisted of Newton, Scott, Cecil, Foster, &c. It is still in existence.[167]Private correspondence.[168]Lord Shelburne, who made this peace, was taunted in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox with having been previously averse to it, and even of having said that,when the independence of America should be granted, the sun of Britain would have set; and that the recognition of its independence deserved to be stained with the blood of the minister who should sign it. It was in allusion to this circumstance that Mr. Fox applied to him the following ludicrous distich:You've done a noble deed, in Nature's spite,Tho' you think you are wrong, yet I'm sure you are right.Lord Shelburne's defence was, that he was compelled to the measure, and not so much the author as the instrument of it. SeeParliamentary Debatesof that time.

[1]Such is the recorded testimony of Charles James Fox, and the late Robert Hall. The latter observes as follows:—"The letters of Mr. Cowper are the finest specimens of the epistolary style in our language. To an air of inimitable ease they unite a high degree of correctness, such as could result only from the clearest intellect, combined with the most finished taste. There is scarcely a single word capable of being exchanged for a better, and of literary errors there are none. I have perused them with great admiration and delight."

[2]Of the letters contained in the "Private Correspondence" he emphatically remarked, "Cowper will never be clearly and satisfactorily understood without them."

[3]This gentleman was a writer of English verse, and, with rare munificence, bestowed both an epitaph and a monument on that illustrious divine, the venerable Hooker. In the edition of Walton's Lives, by Zouch, the curious reader may find the epitaph written by Sir William Cowper.

[4]Sir William Russel, the favourite friend of the young poet.

[5]Miss Theodora Cowper.

[6]Private correspondence.

[7]The author is supposed to mean Mrs. Hill and her two daughters. The wordtheirscannot so well refer to the last antecedent, the persons who stand in that relation with it being both dead at the time he wrote, as is evident from the context.

[8]Cowper's pecuniary resources had been seriously impaired by his loss of the Clerkship of the Journals in the House of Lords, and by his subsequent resignation of the office of Commissioner of Bankrupts. At the kind instigation of Major Cowper, his friends had been induced to unite in rendering his income more adequate to his necessary annual expenditure.

[9]Private correspondence.

[10]Freemantle, a villa near Southampton.

[11]See his Emilius.

[12]Private correspondence.

[13]Private correspondence.

[14]The office of readership to this society had been offered to Cowper, but was declined by him.

[15]The wife of Major Cowper, and sister of the Rev. Martin Madan, minister of Lock Chapel.

[16]"Marshall on Sanctification" This book is distinguished by profound and enlarged views of the subject on which it treats. It was strongly recommended by the pious Hervey whose testimony to its merits is prefixed to the work.

[17]Private correspondence.

[18]Dr. Haweis was a leading character in the religious world at this time, and subsequently the superintendent of Lady Huntingdon's chapels, and of the Seminary for Students founded by that lady. His principal works are a "Commentary on the Bible," and "History of the Church."

[19]Dr. Conyers.—The circumstances attending the death of this truly pious and eminent servant of God are too affecting not to be deemed worthy of being recorded. He had ascended the pulpit of St. Paul's, Deptford, of which he was rector, and had just delivered his text, "Ye shall see my face no more," when he was seized with a sudden fainting, and fell back in his pulpit: he recovered, however, sufficiently to proceed with his sermon, and to give the concluding blessing, when he again fainted away, was carried home, and expired without a groan, in the sixty-second year of his age, 1786. The affecting manner of his death is thus happily adverted to in the following beautiful lines:—Sent by their Lord on purposes of grace,Thus angels do his will, and see his face;With outspread wings they stand, prepar'd to soar,Declare their message, and are seen no more.Underneath is a Latin inscription, of which the following is the translation.I have sinned.I repented. I believed.I have loved. I rest.I shall rise again.And, by the grace of ChristHowever unworthy,I shall reign.

Sent by their Lord on purposes of grace,Thus angels do his will, and see his face;With outspread wings they stand, prepar'd to soar,Declare their message, and are seen no more.

Underneath is a Latin inscription, of which the following is the translation.

I have sinned.I repented. I believed.I have loved. I rest.I shall rise again.And, by the grace of ChristHowever unworthy,I shall reign.

[20]Private correspondence.

[21]Private correspondence.

[22]Private correspondence.

[23]Isaiah xliii. 2.

[24]Isaiah xlviii. 10.

[25]For this interesting document, see p. 465

[26]It is impossible to read this and the four following Letters of Cowper to Mr. Hill, as well as a preceding one in page 27, and not to remark their altered tone and diminished cordiality of feeling. The forgetfulness of former ties and pursuits is often, we know, made a subject of reproach against religious characters. How then is Cowper to be vindicated? Does religion pervert the feelings? We believe, on the contrary, that it purifies and exalts them; but it changes their current, and fixes them on higher and nobler objects. Cowper's mind, it must be remembered, had experienced a great moral revolution, which had imparted a new and powerful impression to his views and principles. In this state of things Mr. Hill (lamenting possibly the change) solicits his return to London, and to his former habits and associations. But the relish for these enjoyments was gone; they had lost their power to charm and captivate. "I am now more than ever," says Cowper, "unwilling to revisit those noisy and crowded scenes, which I never loved, and which I now abhor; the incidents of my life have given an entire new turn to my whole character and conduct, and rendered me incapable of receiving pleasure from the same employments and amusements of which I could readily partake in former days." (See page 28.) Hill reiterates the invitation, and Cowper his refusal. Thus one party was advancing in spirituality, while the other remained stationary. The bond was therefore necessarily weakened, because identity of feeling must ever constitute the basis of all human friendships and intercourse; and the mind that has received a heavenly impulse cannot return with its former ardour to the pursuit of earthly objects. It cannot ascend and descend at the same moment. Such, however, was the real worth and honesty of Mr. Hill, that their friendship still survived, and a memorial of it is recorded in lines familiar to every reader of Cowper."An honest man, close button'd to the chin,Broad-cloth without, and a warm heart within."

"An honest man, close button'd to the chin,Broad-cloth without, and a warm heart within."

[27]Private correspondence.

[28]Private correspondence.

[29]The Rev. T. Cotterill, formerly of Sheffield, and in much esteem for his piety and usefulness, was the first who established this right by a judicial proceeding.

[30]He was presented to the living of St. Mary Woolnoth, in the city.—Ed.

[31]Private correspondence.

[32]"Brydone," author of Travels in Sicily and Malta. They are written with much interest, but he indulges in remarks on the subject of Mount Etna which rather militate against the Mosaic account of the creation.

[33]Private correspondence.

[34]Cowper here alludes to the celebrated work of the Abbé Raynal, entitled "Philosophical and Political History of the Establishments and Commerce of Europeans in the two Indies." This book created a very powerful sensation, being written with great freedom of sentiment and boldness of remark, conveyed in an eloquent though rather declamatory style. Such was the alarm excited in France by this publication, that a decree passed the Parliament of Paris, by which the work was ordered to be burnt.

[35]Private correspondence.

[36]Sir Thomas Hesketh, Baronet, of Rufford Hall, in Lancashire.

[37]Raynal.

[38]Private correspondence.

[39]Mr. Unwin had suggested to Cowper the propriety of an application to Lord Thurlow for some mark of favour; which the latter never conferred, and which Cowper was resolved never to solicit.

[40]Private correspondence.

[41]Private correspondence.

[42]Vide Cowper's Poems.

[43]Private correspondence.

[44]Vide Cowper's Poems.

[45]This letter contained the beautiful fable of the Nightingale and the Glow-worm.

[46]Private correspondence.

[47]Private correspondence.

[48]Ashley Cowper, Esq.

[49]A happy change has occurred since this period, and the revival of piety in the Church of England must be perceptible to every observer.—Ed.

[50]His meaning is, he contributed to the "Connoisseur" an essay or letter on this subject.

[51]To those who contemplate the course of modern events, and the signs of the times, there may be a doubt whether the sentiment here expressed is equally applicable in the present age. May the union of good and wise men be the means, under the Providence of God, of averting every threatening danger.

[52]Cowper's fable of the Raven concluded this letter.

[53]Private correspondence.

[54]Vide Cowper's Poems.

[55]The event here alluded to was a crisis of great national danger. It originated in the concessions granted by Parliament to the Roman Catholics, in consequence of which a licentious mob assembled in great multitudes in St. George's Fields, and excited the greatest alarm by their unbridled fury. They proceeded to destroy all the Romish chapels in London and its vicinity. The prisons of Newgate, the Fleet, and King's Bench, were attacked, and exposed to the devouring flame. The Bank itself was threatened with an assault, when a well-disciplined band, called the London Association, aided by the regular troops, dispersed the multitude, but not without the slaughter of about two hundred and twenty of the most active ringleaders. The whole city presented a melancholy scene of riot and devastation; and the houses of many private individuals were involved in the ruin. The house of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield was the particular object of popular fury. Lord George Gordon, who acted a prominent part on this occasion, was afterwards brought to trial, and his defence undertaken by Mr. Kenyon, afterwards well known by the title of Lord Kenyon. Various facts and circumstances having been adduced in favour of Lord George Gordon, his lordship was acquitted. It is instructive to contemplate the tide of human passions and events, and to contrast this spirit of religious persecution with the final removal of Catholic disabilities at a later period.

[56]Cowper alludes to this afflicting page in our domestic history, in his Table Talk:—When tumult lately burst his prison door,And set plebeian thousands in a roar;When he usurp'd authority's just place,And dared to look his master in the face.When the rude rabble's watch-word was—Destroy,And blazing London seem'd a second Troy.

[56]Cowper alludes to this afflicting page in our domestic history, in his Table Talk:—

When tumult lately burst his prison door,And set plebeian thousands in a roar;When he usurp'd authority's just place,And dared to look his master in the face.When the rude rabble's watch-word was—Destroy,And blazing London seem'd a second Troy.

[57]The surrender of Charles-Town, in South Carolina, to Admiral Arbuthnot and General Sir Henry Clinton.

[58]Verses on the burning of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield's house, during the riots in London.

[59]These lines of Mr. Unwin, and here retouched by Cowper's pen, bear a strong resemblance to the beautiful Epitaph composed by Bishop Lowth, on the death of his beloved daughter, which seem to have suggested some hints, in the composition of the above epitaph to Northcote.Cara, vale, ingenio præstans, pietate, pudore,Et plus quam natæ nomine cara, vale.Cara Maria, vale: at veniet felicius ævum,Quando iterum tecum, sim modo dignus, ero.Cara redi, lætâ tum dicam voce, paternosEja age in amplexus, cara Maria, redi.

Cara, vale, ingenio præstans, pietate, pudore,Et plus quam natæ nomine cara, vale.Cara Maria, vale: at veniet felicius ævum,Quando iterum tecum, sim modo dignus, ero.Cara redi, lætâ tum dicam voce, paternosEja age in amplexus, cara Maria, redi.

[60]Private correspondence.

[61]The alarm taken at the concessions made in favour of the Catholics was such, that many persons formed themselves into an association, for the defence of Protestant principles.—Ed.

[62]These lines are founded on the suspicion, prevalent at that time, that the fires in London were owing to French gold, circulated for the purposes of corruption.

[63]Three poets in three distant ages born,Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd;The next in majesty, in both the last.The force of Nature could no further go,To make a third she joined the other two.

[63]

Three poets in three distant ages born,Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd;The next in majesty, in both the last.The force of Nature could no further go,To make a third she joined the other two.

[64]Lord Chief Justice Mansfield incurred the loss, on this occasion, of one of the most complete and valuable collections of law books ever known, together with manuscripts and legal remarks, the result of his own industry and professional knowledge.

[65]Private correspondence.

[66]Private correspondence.

[67]This distinguished lawyer was a connexion of Cowper's, having married Mary, daughter of William Cowper, of the Park, near Hertford, Esq. After having successively passed through the offices of Solicitor and Attorney General, he was advanced to the dignity of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and subsequently elevated to the Peerage by the title of Baron Walsingham.

[68]Verses on a Goldfinch, starved to death in a cage.

[69]Private correspondence.

[70]The Verses alluded to appear to have been separated from the letter.

[71]This letter concluded with the poetical law case of Nose, plaintiff—Eyes, defendants, already inserted.

[72]Private Correspondence.

[73]The loss of his excellent wife. Mr. Barham was the intimate friend of Newton, and Cowper, and of the pious Lord Dartmouth, whose name is occasionally introduced in these letters in connexion with Olney, where his lordship's charity was liberally dispensed. Mr. Barham suggested the subject of many of the hymns that are inserted in the Olney collection, and particularly the one entitled "What think ye of Christ?" He was father of the late Jos. Foster Barham, Esq., many years M.P. for the borough of Stockbridge. The editor is happy in here bearing testimony to the profound piety and endearing virtues of a man, with whose family he became subsequently connected. He afterwards married the widow of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., and lived at Hawkestone, in Shropshire.

[74]The late Rev. Thomas Scott, so well known and distinguished by his writings.

[75]Private correspondence.

[76]This alludes to his attendance on a condemned malefactor in the jail at Chelmsford.

[77]Private correspondence.

[78]This season was remarkable for the most destructive hurricanes ever remembered in the West Indies.

[79]He alludes to the humorous verses on the Nose and the Eyes, inserted in a preceding letter.

[80]Private correspondence.

[81]Private Correspondence.

[82]Private correspondence.

[83]Private correspondence.

[84]Vide Poems, where, in the next line, the epithetunshakenis substituted forthe noblest, in the letter.

[85]Private correspondence.

[86]Private correspondence.

[87]The privilege of franking letters was formerly exercised in a very different manner from what is now in use. The name of the M.P. was inserted, as is usual, on the cover of the letter, but the address was left to be added when and where the writer of the letter found it most expedient.

[88]The classic beauty and felicity of expression in the Latin compositions of Bourne have been justly admired; but a doubt will exist in the mind of the classical reader, whether the praise which exalts his merits above those of a Tibullus, to whom both Ovid and Horace have borne so distinguished a testimony, does not exceed the bounds of legitimate eulogy.

[89]Private correspondence.

[90]Mr. Newton's voyage to Africa, and his state of mind at that period, are feelingly described by himself in his own writings, as well as the great moral change which he subsequently experienced.

[91]An obscure part of Olney, adjoining to the residence of Cowper, which faced the market-place.

[92]Lady Austen's residence in France.

[93]Private correspondence.

[94]Private correspondence.

[95]Private correspondence.

[96]Private correspondence.

[97]Private correspondence.

[98]Private correspondence.

[99]Private correspondence.

[100]It is recorded of the Rev. Mr. Cecil, that, being passionately fond of playing on the violin, and, finding that it engrossed too much of his time and thoughts, he one day took it into his hands and broke it to pieces.

[101]Private correspondence.

[102]Author of the popular poem, "De Animi Immortalitate," written in the style of Lucretius. The humorous poem alluded to by Cowper, in praise of smoking, is entitled "The Pipe of Tobacco." It is remarkable as exhibiting a happy imitation of the style of six different authors—Cibber, Ambrose Philips, Thomson, Pope, Swift, and Young. The singularity and talent discoverable in this production procured for it much celebrity. An edition of his Poems was published by his son, Isaac Hawkins Browne, Esq.

[103]Private correspondence.

[104]Private correspondence.

[105]Goldsmith used to say of Johnson, that he had nothing of the bear but the external roughness of its coat.

[106]Private correspondence.

[107]Private correspondence.

[108]Private correspondence.

[109]Marquis Caraccioli, born at Paris, 1732. It is now well known that the letters of Pope Ganganelli, though passing under the name of that pontiff, were composed by this writer. These letters, as well as all his writings, are distinguished by a sweet strain of moral feeling, that powerfully awakens the best emotions of the heart; but there is a want of more evangelical light. He is also the author of "La Jouissance de soi-même;" "La Conversation avec soi-même;" "La Grandeur d'Ame," &c.; and of "The Life of Madame de Maintenon."

[110]Private correspondence.

[111]Private correspondence.

[112]"There is a solitude of the gods, and there is the solitude of wild beasts."

[113]Private correspondence.

[114]The surrender of the army of Lord Cornwallis to the combined forces of America and France, Oct. 18th, 1781. It is remarkable that this event occurred precisely four years after the surrender of General Burgoyne, at Saratoga, in the same month, and almost on the same day. This disastrous occurrence decided the fate of the American war, which cost Great Britain an expenditure of one hundred and twenty millions, and drained it of its best blood, and exhausted its vital resources.

[115]Private correspondence.

[116]NOTE BY THE EDITOR.The lines alluded to are the following, which appeared afterwards, somewhat varied, in the Elegant Extracts in Verse:If John marries Mary, and Mary alone,'Tis a very good match between Mary and John.Should John wed a score, oh! the claws and the scratches!It can't be a match: 'tis a bundle of matches.

[116]NOTE BY THE EDITOR.

The lines alluded to are the following, which appeared afterwards, somewhat varied, in the Elegant Extracts in Verse:

If John marries Mary, and Mary alone,'Tis a very good match between Mary and John.Should John wed a score, oh! the claws and the scratches!It can't be a match: 'tis a bundle of matches.

[117]Private correspondence.

[118]As the reader may wish to see the lines to Sir Joshua, they are here supplied from the documents left by Dr. Johnson. Those to the Queen of France are not found.TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.Dear President, whose art sublimeGives perpetuity to time,And bids transactions of a day,That fleeting hours would wait awayTo dark futurity, survive,And in unfading beauty live,—You cannot with a grace declineA special mandate of the Nine—Yourself, whatever task you choose,So much indebted to the Muse.Thus says the Sisterhood:—We come—Fix well your pallet on your thumb,Prepare the pencil and the tints—We come to furnish you with hints.French disappointment, British glory,Must be the subject of my story.First strike a curve, a graceful bow,Then slope it to a point below;Your outline easy, airy, light,Fill'd up, becomes a paper kite.Let independence, sanguine, horrid,Blaze like a meteor on the forehead:Beneath (but lay aside your graces)Drawsix and twenty rueful faces,Each with a staring, stedfast eye,Fix'd on his great and good ally.France flies the kite—'t is on the wing—Britannia's lightning cuts the string.The wind that raised it, ere it ceases,Just rends it into thirteen pieces,Takes charge of every flutt'ring sheet,And lays them all at George's feet,Iberia, trembling from afar,Renounces the confed'rate war.Her efforts and her arts o'ercome,France calls her shatter'd navies home:Repenting Holland learns to mournThe sacred treaties she has torn;Astonishment and awe profoundAre stamp'd upon the nations round;Without one friend, above all foes,Britannia gives the world repose.[119]Private correspondence.[120]The poem afterwards entitled "Heroism."—Vide Poems.[121]Private correspondence.[122]Mr. Smith, afterwards Lord Carrington.[123]The lines alluded to are entitled "The Flatting Mill, an Illustration."[124]Private correspondence.[125]Cowper, though a Whig, vindicates the American war, keenly as he censures the inefficiency with which it was conducted. The subject has now lost much of its interest, and is become rather a matter of historical record. Such is the influence of the lapse of time on the intenseness of political feeling! The conduct of France, at this crisis, is exhibited with a happy poignancy of wit."True we have lost an empire—let it pass.True; we may thank the perfidy of France,That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown,With all the cunning of an envious shrew.And let that pass—'twas but a trick of state."Task, book ii.Cowper subsequently raises the question how far the attainment of Independence was likely to exercise a salutary influence on the future prospects of America. He anticipates an unfavourable issue. Events, however, have not fulfilled this prediction. What country has made such rapid strides towards Imperial greatness? Where shall we find a more boundless extent of territory, a more rapid increase of population, or ampler resources for a commerce that promises to make the whole world tributary to its support? Besides, why should not the descendants prove worthy of their sires? Why should a great experiment in legislation and government suspend the natural course of political and moral causes? May the spiritual improvement of her religious privileges keep pace with the career of her national greatness! What we most apprehend for America is the danger of internal dissension. If corruption be the disease of monarchies, faction is the bane of republics. We add one more reflection, with sentiments of profound regret, and borrow the muse of Cowper to convey our meaning and our wishes."I would not have a slave to till my ground,To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,And tremble when I wake, for all the wealthThat sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart'sJust estimation priz'd above all price,I had much rather be myself the slave,And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."Task, book ii.

[118]As the reader may wish to see the lines to Sir Joshua, they are here supplied from the documents left by Dr. Johnson. Those to the Queen of France are not found.

TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

Dear President, whose art sublimeGives perpetuity to time,And bids transactions of a day,That fleeting hours would wait awayTo dark futurity, survive,And in unfading beauty live,—You cannot with a grace declineA special mandate of the Nine—Yourself, whatever task you choose,So much indebted to the Muse.Thus says the Sisterhood:—We come—Fix well your pallet on your thumb,Prepare the pencil and the tints—We come to furnish you with hints.French disappointment, British glory,Must be the subject of my story.First strike a curve, a graceful bow,Then slope it to a point below;Your outline easy, airy, light,Fill'd up, becomes a paper kite.Let independence, sanguine, horrid,Blaze like a meteor on the forehead:Beneath (but lay aside your graces)Drawsix and twenty rueful faces,Each with a staring, stedfast eye,Fix'd on his great and good ally.France flies the kite—'t is on the wing—Britannia's lightning cuts the string.The wind that raised it, ere it ceases,Just rends it into thirteen pieces,Takes charge of every flutt'ring sheet,And lays them all at George's feet,Iberia, trembling from afar,Renounces the confed'rate war.Her efforts and her arts o'ercome,France calls her shatter'd navies home:Repenting Holland learns to mournThe sacred treaties she has torn;Astonishment and awe profoundAre stamp'd upon the nations round;Without one friend, above all foes,Britannia gives the world repose.

[119]Private correspondence.

[120]The poem afterwards entitled "Heroism."—Vide Poems.

[121]Private correspondence.

[122]Mr. Smith, afterwards Lord Carrington.

[123]The lines alluded to are entitled "The Flatting Mill, an Illustration."

[124]Private correspondence.

[125]Cowper, though a Whig, vindicates the American war, keenly as he censures the inefficiency with which it was conducted. The subject has now lost much of its interest, and is become rather a matter of historical record. Such is the influence of the lapse of time on the intenseness of political feeling! The conduct of France, at this crisis, is exhibited with a happy poignancy of wit."True we have lost an empire—let it pass.True; we may thank the perfidy of France,That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown,With all the cunning of an envious shrew.And let that pass—'twas but a trick of state."Task, book ii.Cowper subsequently raises the question how far the attainment of Independence was likely to exercise a salutary influence on the future prospects of America. He anticipates an unfavourable issue. Events, however, have not fulfilled this prediction. What country has made such rapid strides towards Imperial greatness? Where shall we find a more boundless extent of territory, a more rapid increase of population, or ampler resources for a commerce that promises to make the whole world tributary to its support? Besides, why should not the descendants prove worthy of their sires? Why should a great experiment in legislation and government suspend the natural course of political and moral causes? May the spiritual improvement of her religious privileges keep pace with the career of her national greatness! What we most apprehend for America is the danger of internal dissension. If corruption be the disease of monarchies, faction is the bane of republics. We add one more reflection, with sentiments of profound regret, and borrow the muse of Cowper to convey our meaning and our wishes."I would not have a slave to till my ground,To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,And tremble when I wake, for all the wealthThat sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart'sJust estimation priz'd above all price,I had much rather be myself the slave,And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."Task, book ii.

"True we have lost an empire—let it pass.True; we may thank the perfidy of France,That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown,With all the cunning of an envious shrew.And let that pass—'twas but a trick of state."

Task, book ii.

Cowper subsequently raises the question how far the attainment of Independence was likely to exercise a salutary influence on the future prospects of America. He anticipates an unfavourable issue. Events, however, have not fulfilled this prediction. What country has made such rapid strides towards Imperial greatness? Where shall we find a more boundless extent of territory, a more rapid increase of population, or ampler resources for a commerce that promises to make the whole world tributary to its support? Besides, why should not the descendants prove worthy of their sires? Why should a great experiment in legislation and government suspend the natural course of political and moral causes? May the spiritual improvement of her religious privileges keep pace with the career of her national greatness! What we most apprehend for America is the danger of internal dissension. If corruption be the disease of monarchies, faction is the bane of republics. We add one more reflection, with sentiments of profound regret, and borrow the muse of Cowper to convey our meaning and our wishes.

"I would not have a slave to till my ground,To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,And tremble when I wake, for all the wealthThat sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart'sJust estimation priz'd above all price,I had much rather be myself the slave,And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."

Task, book ii.

[126]This remark is inaccurate. Prior's Solomon is distinctly mentioned, though Johnson observes that it fails in exciting interest. His concluding remarks are, however, highly honourable to the merit of that work. "He that shall peruse it will be able to mark many passages, to which he may recur for instruction or delight; many from which the poet may learn to write, and the philosopher to reason."—Life of Prior.—Editor.

[127]Private correspondence.

[128]The retention of the American colonies was known to be a favourite project with George III.; but the sense of the nation was opposed to the war, and the expense and reverses attending its prosecution increased the public discontent.

[129]Dr. Johnson.

[130]The language in the original is as follows: "His expression has every mark of laborious study; the line seldom seems to have been formed at once; the words did not come till they were called, and were then put by constraint into their places, where they do their duty, but do it sullenly."—SeeLives of the Poets.

[131]The severity of Johnson's strictures on Milton, in his Lives of the Poets, awakened a keen sense of indignation in the breast of Cowper, which he has recorded in the marginal remarks, written in his own copy of that work. They are characteristic of the generous ardour of his mind, in behalf of a man whose political views, however strong, were at least sincere and conscientious; and the splendour of whose name ought to have dissipated the animosities of party feeling. From these curious and interesting comments we extract the following:—Johnson—"I know not any of the Articles which seem to thwart his opinions, but the thoughts of obedience, whether canonical or civil, roused his indignation."Cowper—"Candid."Johnson—"Of these Italian testimonies, poor as they are, he was proud enough to publish them before his poems; though he says he cannot be suspected but to have known that they were said,Non tam de se, quam supra se."Cowper—"He did well."Johnson—"I have transcribed this title to show, by his contemptuous mention of Usher, that he had now adopted a puritanical savageness of manners."Cowper—"Why is it contemptuous? Especially, why is it savage?"Johnson—"From this time it is observed, that he became an enemy to the Presbyterians, whom he had favoured before. He that changes his party by his humour, is not more virtuous than he that changes it by his interest. He loves himself rather than truth."Cowper—"You should have proved that he was influenced by his humour."Johnson—"It were injurious to omit, that Milton afterwards received her father and her brothers in his own house, when they were distressed, with other Royalists."Cowper—"Strong proof of a temper both forgiving and liberal."Johnson—"But, as faction seldom leaves a man honest, however it may find him, Milton issuspectedof having interpolated the book called 'Ikon Basilike,' &c."Cowper—"A strange proof of your proposition!"Johnson—"I cannot but remark a kind of respect, perhaps unconsciously paid to this great man by his biographers. Every house in which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury to neglect naming any place that he honoured by his presence."Cowper—"They have all paid him more than you."Johnson—"If he considered the Latin Secretary as exercising any of the powers of Government, he that had showed authority either with the Parliament or with Cromwell, might have forborne to talk very loudly of his honesty."Cowper—"He might, if he acted on principle, talk as loudly as he pleased."Johnson—"This darkness, had his eyes been better employed, had undoubtedly deserved compassion."Cowper—"Brute!"Johnson—"That his own daughters might not break the ranks, he suffered them to be depressed by a mean and penurious education. He thought women made only for obedience, and man only for rebellion."Cowper—"And could you write this without blushing?Os hominis!"Johnson—"Such is his malignity, that hell grows darker at his frown."Cowper—"And atTHINE!"

Johnson—"I know not any of the Articles which seem to thwart his opinions, but the thoughts of obedience, whether canonical or civil, roused his indignation."Cowper—"Candid."

Johnson—"Of these Italian testimonies, poor as they are, he was proud enough to publish them before his poems; though he says he cannot be suspected but to have known that they were said,Non tam de se, quam supra se."Cowper—"He did well."

Johnson—"I have transcribed this title to show, by his contemptuous mention of Usher, that he had now adopted a puritanical savageness of manners."Cowper—"Why is it contemptuous? Especially, why is it savage?"

Johnson—"From this time it is observed, that he became an enemy to the Presbyterians, whom he had favoured before. He that changes his party by his humour, is not more virtuous than he that changes it by his interest. He loves himself rather than truth."Cowper—"You should have proved that he was influenced by his humour."

Johnson—"It were injurious to omit, that Milton afterwards received her father and her brothers in his own house, when they were distressed, with other Royalists."Cowper—"Strong proof of a temper both forgiving and liberal."

Johnson—"But, as faction seldom leaves a man honest, however it may find him, Milton issuspectedof having interpolated the book called 'Ikon Basilike,' &c."Cowper—"A strange proof of your proposition!"

Johnson—"I cannot but remark a kind of respect, perhaps unconsciously paid to this great man by his biographers. Every house in which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury to neglect naming any place that he honoured by his presence."Cowper—"They have all paid him more than you."

Johnson—"If he considered the Latin Secretary as exercising any of the powers of Government, he that had showed authority either with the Parliament or with Cromwell, might have forborne to talk very loudly of his honesty."Cowper—"He might, if he acted on principle, talk as loudly as he pleased."

Johnson—"This darkness, had his eyes been better employed, had undoubtedly deserved compassion."Cowper—"Brute!"

Johnson—"That his own daughters might not break the ranks, he suffered them to be depressed by a mean and penurious education. He thought women made only for obedience, and man only for rebellion."Cowper—"And could you write this without blushing?Os hominis!"

Johnson—"Such is his malignity, that hell grows darker at his frown."Cowper—"And atTHINE!"

[132]See Murphy's "Essay on the Genius of Dr. Johnson."

[133]Ibid.

[134]See "Life of Pope."

[135]Private correspondence.

[136]Dr. Johnson.

[137]Lady Austen.

[138]The nation was growing weary of the American war, especially since the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army at York Town, and the previous capture of General Burgoyne's at Saratoga. The ministry at this time were frequently outvoted, and Lord North's administration was ultimately dissolved.

[139]Waller's Panegyric to my Lord Protector, 1654.

[140]Isaiah lii. 7.

[141]Private correspondence.

[142]This letter has been inserted in the preceding pages.

[143]Lord Thurlow.

[144]Private correspondence.

[145]The person here alluded to is Simon Browne, a learned Dissenting minister, born at Shepton Mallet, about the year 1680. He laboured under a most extraordinary species of mental derangement, which led him to believe "that God had in a gradual manner annihilated in him the thinking substance, and utterly divested him of consciousness; and that, although he retained the human shape, and the faculty of speaking, in a manner that appeared to others rational, he had all the while no more notion of what he said than a parrot." His intellectual faculties were not in any way affected by this singular alienation of mind, in proof of which he published many theological works, written with great clearness and vigour of thought. He addressed a Dedication to Queen Caroline, in which he details the peculiarities of his extraordinary case, but his friends prevented its publication. It was subsequently inserted in No. 88 of the "Adventurer." Such was the force of his delusion, that he considered himself no longer to be a moral agent; he desisted from his ministerial functions, and could never be induced to engage in any act of worship, public or private. In this state he died, in the year 1732, aged fifty-five years.

[146]John Thornton, Esq.

[147]Here Cowper transcribed the letter written from Passy, by the American ambassador, Franklin, in praise of his book.

[148]This alludes to the celebrated victory gained by Sir George Rodney over Count de Grasse, April 12, 1782. On this occasion, eight sale of the line were captured from the French, three foundered at sea, two were for ever disabled, and the French Admiral was taken in the Ville de Paris, which had been presented by the city of Paris to Louis XV. Lord Robert Manners fell in this engagement. It was the first instance where the attempt was ever made of breaking the line, a system adopted afterwards with great success by Lord Nelson. Lord Rodney, on receiving the thanks of Parliament on this occasion, addressed a letter of acknowledgment to the Speaker, conveyed in the following terms. "To fulfil," he observed, "the wishes, and execute the commands of my Sovereign, was my duty. To command a fleet so well appointed, both in officers and men, was my good fortune; as by their undaunted spirit and valour, under Divine Providence, the glory of that day was acquired."

[149]Lord Rodney's despatches commenced in the following words: "It has pleased God, out of his Divine Providence, to grant to his Majesty's arms," &c. This was more religious than the nation at that time could tolerate. Lord Nelson afterwards was the first British Admiral that adopted the same language.

[150]Private correspondence.

[151]Dr. Franklin.

[152]Attempts have recently been made to recover this vessel; and some of the guns have been raised, and found to be in excellent order.

[153]See Ellis's "Specimens of the early English Poets, with an historical sketch of the rise and progress of English poetry and language."

[154]Private correspondence.

[155]Lady Austen.

[156]Private correspondence.

[157]Private correspondence.

[158]The well-known author of "The Minstrel."

[159]This letter closed with the English and Latin verses on the loss of the Royal George, inserted before.

[160]Private correspondence.

[161]Private correspondence.

[162]The benevolent character here alluded to is John Thornton, Esq.

[163]Private correspondence.

[164]Preliminaries of peace with America and France were signed at Versailles, Jan. 20th, 1783.

[165]France, Spain, and Holland, all of whom united with America against England.

[166]This passage alludes to the formation of what was called "the Eclectic Society," consisting of several pious ministers, who statedly met for the purpose of mutual edification. It consisted of Newton, Scott, Cecil, Foster, &c. It is still in existence.

[167]Private correspondence.

[168]Lord Shelburne, who made this peace, was taunted in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox with having been previously averse to it, and even of having said that,when the independence of America should be granted, the sun of Britain would have set; and that the recognition of its independence deserved to be stained with the blood of the minister who should sign it. It was in allusion to this circumstance that Mr. Fox applied to him the following ludicrous distich:You've done a noble deed, in Nature's spite,Tho' you think you are wrong, yet I'm sure you are right.

You've done a noble deed, in Nature's spite,Tho' you think you are wrong, yet I'm sure you are right.

Lord Shelburne's defence was, that he was compelled to the measure, and not so much the author as the instrument of it. SeeParliamentary Debatesof that time.

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