OF WILLIAM COWPER. HIS LIFE AND LETTERS. BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ. NOW FIRST COMPLETED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF COWPER'S PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. EDITED BY THE REV. T. S. GRIMSHAWE, A.M. RECTOR OF BURTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, AND VICAR OF BIDDENHAM, BEDFORDSHIRE, AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. LEGH RICHMOND. Letters, such as are written from wise men, are, of all the words of men, in my VOL. VIII. LONDON: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM TEGG AND Co., 73, CHEAPSIDE; R. GRIFFIN AND CO., GLASGOW ; CUMMING AND FERGUSON, DUBLIN. 1847. PR ठ्ठ 1 A Portrait of the Editor's lamented brother-inlaw, and Cowper's kinsman, the Rev. Dr. Johnson, (so often referred to in the course of the present work,) being prefixed to this volume, it may be proper to state, that by the maternal line of the Donnes he was cousin to the Poet, by one remove, which was the reason why he was usually designated as Cowper's kinsman, his mother having been the daughter of the Rev. Roger Donne, rector of Catfield, Norfolk, own brother to Cowper's mother. His unremitting and watchful care over the poet, for several successive years, and during a period marked by a painful and protracted malady, his generous sacrifice of his time, and of every personal consideration, that he might administer to the peace and comfort of his afflicted friend-his affectionate sympathy, and uniform forgetfulness of self, in all the various relations of life—these virtues have justly claimed for Dr. Johnson the esteem and love of his friends, and the honourable distinction of being ever identified with the endeared name of Cowper. He was rector of the united parishes of Yaxham and Wel. borne, in the county of Norfolk, where he preached the doctrines of the Gospel with fidelity, and adorned them by the Christian tenor of his life and conduct. He married Miss Livius, daughter of the late George Livius, Esq., formerly at the head of the Commissariat, in India, during the government of Warren Hastings. The Editor was connected with him by marrying the sister of Mrs. Johnson. He departed in the autumn of th year 1833, after a short illness, and was followed to the grave by a crowded assemblage of his parishioners, to whom he was He left his estimable endeared by his virtues. widow and four surviving children to lament his loss. Cowper was engraved on his heart, and his Poems minutely impressed on his memory. Both, therefore, became a frequent theme of conversation; and it is to these sources of information, that the writer is indebted for the knowledge of many facts and incidents that are incorporated in the present Edition. In the view of East Dereham, prefixed to the Seventh Volume, the house seen in the centre of the Market-place is that in which Dr. Johnson resided and in which Cowper died. |