He puts it on, and for decorum sake Beneath the turf that I have often trod. It shall not grieve me then, that once, when call'd To dress a SOFA with the flowers of verse, I play'd a while, obedient to the fair, With that light task; but soon, to please her more, To charm His ear, whose eye is on the heart; TIROCINIUM. 66 THE idea of this poem, which was completed in November, 1784, Cowper appears to have first entertained while corresponding on the subject of education with Unwin, to whom it was dedicated in these terms:- "To the Rev. William Cawthorne Unwin, Rector of Stock, in Essex, the tutor of his two sons, the following poem, recommending private tuition in preference to an education at school, is inscribed by his affectionate friend, William Cowper." In the dedication, as originally written, the words," and of his two sons only," occurred, but were suppressed, though with some reluctance, by the poet, who acknowledges his fears lest, without such insertion, the poem might be regarded as an interested recommendation of a friend's boarding establishment." To neither of the requisites for writing on practical education-freedom from prejudice and enlightened experience-could Cowper lay claim. From his earliest infancy he suffered under a temperament which unfitted him for the active scenes of life; and that which was merely personal in his case, he makes incidental to the system. What to most other boys is a mere passing unhappiness, a momentary cloud on the sun of their joyous hours, and leaving not a trace the memory of the man, settled down in his recollection into rooted antipathy. His actual acquaintance also with public education in England, was, for a professional man, singularly imperfect. Save Westminster, he knew nothing of any seminary of eminence. Of the universities which he censures so freely, he possessed, beyond hearsay, absolutely no information. Accordingly, as a didactic treatise, the "Review of Schools" is a failure; while, as a poem, it displeases by unpoetical sentiments, exhibiting Cowper's peculiarities of genius and manner to the greatest disadvantage. The occasional carelessness of his language and versification, which, in his other works, supported by natural sentiment, assumes the semblance of a graceful negligence, becomes here harshness and obscurity. On the other hand, a general, even painful elaboration of the whole takes away much of upon censure. the wonted airiness and freedom of his effects. As a satirist, he displays here more than infelicity in the application of his The imputed vices of students are reprehended in language which it would be indecent to read in the hearing of youth: teachers are absurdly and meanly blamed for selling their instructions; and parents are accused of sending their children to public schools from motives of personal caprice, or the mercenary hope of their contracting advantageous friendships. On the main question discussed,-the relative advantages of public and private education,—it is sufficient that utility and experience have long since determined it in favour of the system of education which trains the boy for the active concerns of the world where the man is to play a part. Besides, Cowper does not even attempt to make good his abuse of public schools: he gravely assumes, instead of proving the points at issue. True, at a public school a boy may learn some vices which he might not have witnessed at home; but his heart, his morals, and his understanding will be more debased by one day's familiarity with the menials of his father's house or stable, than by years of such intimacies as he is likely to form among his equals at a public seminary. Notwithstanding these defects, the work was a favourite with the writer; and he has prefixed to it the longest, and the only laboured, preface which he ever wrote. "In the poem on Education, he (the author) would be very sorry to stand suspected of having aimed his censure at any particular school. His objections are such as naturally apply themselves to schools in general. If there were not, as for the most part there is, wilful neglect in those who manage them, and an omission even of such discipline as they are susceptible of, the objects are yet too numerous for minute attention; and the aching hearts of ten thousand parents, mourning under the bitterest of all disappointments, attest the truth of the allegation. His quarrel, therefore, is with the mischief at large, and not with any particular instance of it." But whatever objections may be urged against the doctrines of the poem, all must willingly and with pleasure confess that there are passages of great beauty and pathos, where domestic scenes and domestic affections are described. The education of youth is the foundation of all civil government. It is not from his form, in which we trace With truths pour'd down from every distant age; The wisdom of great nations, now no more; When copiously supplied, then most enlarged Thus form'd, thus placed, intelligent, and taught, Finds in a sober moment time to pause, To press the important question on his heart, 66 Why form'd at all, and wherefore as thou art?" |