do so, and I believe it to be impossible to love heartily those who do not. People must not do me good in their way, but in my own, and then they do me good indeed. My pride, my ambition, and my friendship for you, and the interest I take in my own dear self, will all be consulted and gratified, by an arm-in-arm appearance with you in public; and I shall work with more zeal and assiduity at Homer; and when Homer is finished, at Milton, with the prospect of such a coalition before me. I am at this moment, with all the imprudence natural to poets, expending nobody knows what, in embellishing my premises, or rather the premises of my neighbor Courtenay, which is more poetical still. Your project, therefore, is most opportune, as any project must needs be, that has so direct a tendency to put money into the pocket of one so likely to want it.

"Ah, brother poet! send me of your shade,
And bid the zephyrs hasten to my aid;
Or, like a worm unearthed at noon, I go,
Dispatched by sunshine to the shades below."

It is deeply to be regretted that the pleasing anticipations of both Mr. Hayley and Cowper, respecting this joint production, were never realized. Had this poem been written, it would in all probability, have been equal to any that had ever been published. Cowper was, however, at this time, rapidly sinking into that deep and settled melancholy which it now becomes our painful duty to relate, and in which he continued during the remaining period of his life, notwithstanding the united and indefatigable exertions of his friends to afford him relief.

CHAPTER XVII.

Mr. Hayley's second visit to Weston-Finds Cowper busily engagedGreat apprehensions respecting him—Mrs. Unwin's increasing infirmities-Cowper's feelings on account of it-Vigor of his own mind at this period-Severe attack of depression-Deplorable condition to which he was now reduced-Management of his affairs kindly undertaken by Lady Hesketh-Mr. Hayley's anxieties respecting him-Is invited by Mr. Greathead to pay Cowper another visit-Complies with the invita. tion-Arrival at Weston-How he is received by Cowper-Inefficiency of the means employed to remove his depression-Handsome pension allowed him by His Majesty-His removal from Weston to Norfolk, under the care of the Rev. J. Johnson-Death of Mrs. Unwin-How it affected Cowper-Recovers sufficiently to resume his application to HomerFinishes his notes-Letter to Lady Hesketh descriptive of his feelingsComposes some original poems-Translates some of Gay's fables into Latin-Rapid decay of his strength-Last illness-Death.

In the beginning of November, 1793, Mr. Hayley made his second visit to Weston. He found Cowper in the enjoyment of apparent health; and though incessantly employed, either on Homer or Milton, pleasing himself with the society of his young kinsman, from Norfolk, and his esteemed friend Mr. Rose, who had arrived from the seat of Lord Spencer, in Northamptonshire, with an invitation from his lordship to Cowper and his guests, to pay him a visit. All Cowper's friends strongly recommended him to avail himself of this mark of respect from an accomplished nobleman whom he cordially respected. Their entreaties, however, were entirely in vain; his constitutional shyness again prevailed, and he commissioned his friends, Rose and Hayley, to make an apology to his Lordship, for declining so honorable an invita

tion.

The manner in which Cowper employed his time during the continuance of his friend Mr. Hayley at Weston, is pleasingly described in the following extract from a letter to Mrs. Courtenay, 4th November, 1793:-"I am a most busy man, busy to a degree that sometimes half distracts me; but if complete distraction be occasioned by having the thoughts

too much and too long attached to any single point, I am in no danger of it, with such perpetual whirl are mine whisked about from one subject to another. When two poets meet, there are fine doings, I can assure you. My 'Homer' finds work for Hayley, and his 'Life of Milton' work for me; so that we are neither of us one moment idle. Poor Mrs. Unwin in the meantime sits quiet in her corner, occasionally laughing at us both, and not seldom interrupting us with some question or remark, for which she is continually rewarded by me with a 'hush!' Bless yourself, my dear Catherina, that you are not connected with a poet, especially that you have not two to deal with!"

During Mr. Hayley's visit, he saw, with great concern, that the infirmities of Mrs. Unwin were rapidly sinking her into a state of the most pitiable imbecility. Unable any longer to watch over the tender health of him whom she had guarded for so many years, and unwilling to relinquish her authority, her conduct at this period presented that painful spectacle, which we are occasionally called to witness, of declining nature seeking to retain that power which it knows not how to use nor how to resign. The effect of these increasing infirmities on her whom Cowper justly regarded as the guardian of his life, added to apprehensions which he now began to feel that his increasing expenses, occasioned by Mrs. Unwin's protracted illness, would involve him in difficulties, filled him with the greatest uneasiness; and the depressing influence it had upon his mind, became painfully evident to all his friends. So visibly was such the case, that Mr. Hayley felt fully persuaded that, unless some speedy and important change took place in Cowper's circumstances, his tender mind would inevitably sink under the multiplicity of its cares. To effect this desirable object, as far as was in his power, he embraced the earliest opportunity, after leaving Weston, of having an interview with Lord Spencer, and of stating to him the undisguised condition of the afflicted poet. His lordship entered feelingly into the case, and shortly afterwards mentioned it to his majesty. It was owing to this that his majesty, some time afterwards, granted to Cowper such a pension as was sufficient to secure to him a comfortable competence for the remainder of his life. It is, however, deeply to be regretted that this seasonable and well-merited bounty was not received till the poet's mind was enveloped in that midnight gloom from which it never afterwards wholly emerged.

The increasing infirmities of Mrs. Unwin did not, in the slightest degree, diminish Cowper's regard for her; on the contrary, they seemed rather to augment it, as the following beautiful poem, written about this time, will show:

But well thou play'dst the huswife's part,
And all thy threads, with magic art,
Have wound themselves about my heart,
My Mary!

And should my future lot be cast
With much resemblance of the past,
Thy worn-out heart will break at last,
My Mary!

Cowper retained his admirable powers in their full vigor, during the whole of 1793, and till the middle of January, of the following year. His letters, written subsequently to Mr. Hayley's visit, though but few, afford unquestionable proofs, that his talents had not suffered the slightest diminution. The following extract, in reply to some remarks on a disputed passage in his Homer, will show that his faculties were then unimpaired. To Mr. Hayley, 5th January, 1794, he writes: "If my old friend would look into my preface, he would find a principle laid down there which perhaps it would not be easy to invalidate, and which, properly attended to, would equally secure a translation from stiffness, and from wildness. The principle I mean is this-Close, but not so close as to be servile! free, but not so free as to be licentious! A superstitious fidelity loses the spirit, and a loose deviation the sense of the translated author-a happy moderation in either case is the only possible way of preserving both.'

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Imlac, in Rasselas, says I forget to whom, 'You have convinced me that it is impossible to be a poet.' In like manner, I might say to his Lordship, you have convinced me