The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-04-24
WHOLE NO. 225.

in the hope Of giving some salutary employment
to his mind. At the age Of ffty, therefore, Cow
per began to write, with the view Of diyerting his
own melancholy, and OF subscribing the cause Of
morality. Whether his writings benefited tho
world or not, il is certain they were most bene-
fetal TO himself In a letter TO his cousin he said
Detection Of spirits, which, | suppose may
have prevented many man from becoming an
author, made me one. | find constant employ
ment necessary, and therefore take care to be
constantly employed. Manual occupations do not
engage the mind sufficiently, as | know by expe-
rience, having tried many. Bat composition, es-
pecially Of verse, absorbs it wholly la this ex-
| ample We find q mind that oscilated between the
total eclipse Of dreadful insanity and the clear
radiance of an illuminated genius We see how
little would beclOud il, and how essential was
constant employment TO the supremacy of his no
BILE powers. How deep must have been that mel
ancholy which settled in thick darkness over his
spirit and how weak must have been the organs
Of hope TO encourage, Of selfrelance to sustain,
and Of combativeness TO embolden him
In this case, too, we see the necessity Of action,
mental employment for sefpreservation, to have
been the hsrbipger Of Cowper's greatness. He
| learned, when past the middle Of life, that he
must "be constantly employed" in order to pre-
serve his sanity. la the following facts We find
another fortuity Of that excellence he attained in
the conception and composition of poems which
will live as long the English language shall
endure.
His first volume appeared at the close Of 1851,
but was not popular in consequence of being too
serious for one class too satiricsl and witty for
another, and of too harsh and negligent versi6ca-
ton for the public generally. About this time
he became acquainted with the widow Of Sir
Thomas Austin, who became his warm friend,
and to whose suggestion are due many of his eel
ebrated productions. John Gilpin" was suggest
ed by this lady, the story Of which was told him
from the recoections of her childhood, TO dissi-
pate the gloom Of the passing hour The laugh
ter il accustomed kept him awake most of the night
and he converted the story into ballad. In 1888
this lady also suggested 1.-THE Task" which. -
said to have been the best ana most popular OF his
performances The anecdote is thus related
"This lady happened, as an admirer of Milton,
to be partial to blank verse, and often requested
her particular friend to try his powers in that
species Of composition. After repeated solicita-
tions he promised, if she would furnish n subject,
to comply with her request COP she replied,
1" you can never be in want Of q subject-can write
upon any-write upon this sofa!n The poet
obeyed her command, and from the lively repartee
of familiar conversation arose poem of many
thousand verses, unexampled, perhaps, both in its
| origin and its exceencen*
The next case | have marked for this connec-
tion is that Of Alferi, who was born in Piedmont,
in l749 The extreme susceptibility of his spirit
is evidenced in the powerful impression which
music made upon his mind When We notice the
influence Of the divine art in his case, how brill
liantly does his spirit contrast with our dull
capabilities! He attended the opera, and thus
described the effect upon himself
This varied and enchanting music sunk deep
into my soul, and made the most astonishing i'm
pressions upon my Imagination ! am
fully convinced that nothing acts so powerfully
on my mind as all species Of music, and particu-
lary the sound of female voices, and Of contrO-
alto. Nothing excites more varied or terrific SEN
sations in my mind. Thus the plots of the great
cst number Of my tragedies were either formed
while listening or few hours sfterwardn
Music is not often valued as a powerful spur to
greatness. 1t is generally regarded one of the
gentle and serene arts the practice Of which will
do for an accomplishment but is of little account
as manifestation ofthose faculties which lead to
renown and immortality. But here VIC find the
latent energies of great mind awakened from
their slumber by the potency Of its charms and
the inspiration of its harmonies Under its in
huence we nnd the faculties Of Al6eri so aroused
and attuned that he could conceive the whole
compass Of q tragedy during a brief concert
Wonderful, too that the soothing, refining, and
spiritual strains of music should so stir up the
terrible in his soul, as to carry his mind over the
track Of tragical life! Music, whose office seems
generally to be to cheer the afflicted to revive the
dropping, to cure the sick, to console the impris-
oned, to alay the passions, and TO bind the fero-
cious beasts with its spell, seems in this case, to
have aroused the lion of the human soul, enabled
it to feel its might, and carried it in triumph
through one of the most difficult channels Of
greatness
The third example is no less than the Bard Of
Avon, the mere mention OF whose name is sufii-
cient to call out the hearty applause of the peo-
| pie Of any cline, and Of any language. In the
middle Of the sixteenth century the stage was
mere play house that Fsndered TO the vilest tastes
and passions Of mankind. Little Of true excel
lence or dignity appeared on the boards. II
groaned for delverer, and humanity sighed for
a saviour from its corruptions All at once, the
people we're delighted with the appearance Of the
boy Shakespeare at play house OF London. This
thing of the stage was, to his mind suggestive of
mighty intellectual achievements and thus was a
| life Of poetic glory commenced that has never
| been collapsed and, IL IL were not RASH would
say IL never will be. Shakespeare elevated and
digni6ed the stage, infused an exsl,ng spirit Of
virtue into Its entertainments, and filled the act
ors tongues with those noble sentiments, 80 ex-
quisitely and subiimely expressed, that the vulgar
were moved to some lofter conceptions of the
true life But, as our curiosity Ia somewhat ex-
cited by this man, Shakespeare, how came he at
London play house Why in that period of
youthful vgor, while the spirits ran high, and
when the mind had no positive enjoyments Will
liam thought IL would be nice sport to have an
adventure, with n band of deer.stealers, in rob
bling the park Of Sir Thomas Lacy, near STRAIT
ford. But, all at once, the enjoyment Of this ad-
venture was interrupted, when he found himself
detected as partieeps eyiminis in that which he had
not even dreamed to be anything but good sport.
To escape the punishment Of the law, William
had energy enough to fly from his family, and
bury himself In the great city Of London, until
Sir Thomas should forget the loss of his deer
Thus did a crime make William the full-sized
Shakespeare that we see him to be In his works;
and every year, for nearly three centuries, has
added to the monument Of his renown
'Hayey's Life OF Cowper.