Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-09-08
VOL. IS, NO. PIP.
sketch of Cowper the Poet.

ants. Cowper's mother died while he was vet
child, aud his youth was unhappy. His
sensitive nature deeply felt the want of ma
ternal care, and he appears not to have been
kindly treated at the school in Hertfordshire,
whittier he was sent at the age Of six. He
was most unhappy at this school, where, no
doubt, was laid the foundation Of that gloom
which more or less saddened his whole life.
He completed his education at Westminster
school, where, a shy and silent boy, he was
made miserable by the tyranny of his elder
and stronger companions. Nearly half a cen.
fury after he poured out his mind against the
wrongs of which he was the early victim in
that bitter and powerful satire entitled ''Tiro-
cinicum; or, Review of Schools"
AT the age of eighteen, Cowper was arti-
cled for three years to an attorney in London
who neglected his own business and gave
minimum. of instruction to his pupils. When
he had served his time, Cowper entered him
self as law student at the Middle Temple and
was called to the bar in 1854. At that time
no knowledge of the principles or practice of
law was required as qualification for admis-
sion to the bar as ''counsel learned in tn .
law" To have had his name on the books of
one of the inns Of court, TO have eaten GER
tain number of dinners in the hall of said inn
during an appointed number of 'ternis," and
to have paid the required fees constituted the
sole qualifications then demanded. Perhaps
Cowper. with three years experience, how
ever slight, in an attorneys office, knew
more of the law than half of the young men
of the time who were admitted as Gutter and
outer barristers." He never did practice, how
ever. In 1856, when his father died. leaving
him small property, Cowper was only TWEEN
ty'tive years old, and he decided to live upon
f.,,lti lit,r
ty-though he was afflicted with maucdtss
homie which made him dull companion for
lades-and generally pass his time as a
young man about town"
In 1852, Wien he was thrty-one, he de-
clared his strong attachment to his fair cous-
IN theodore Cowper (sister to Lady Hesketh,
who afterwards showed him much kindness,)
but her father objected to their union on the
ground of the lovers want of sufficient in
come, and also because of their nearness in
blood. This was the first and last great pas
sion that agitated Cowpers mind-a heart
quake that is believed to have contributed to
his subsequent insanity, which in few
. months became apparent, and he was placed
in an asylum at st. Alban's his friends sub
scriblng sufficient to provide him with an IN
come which, though not large, was sufficient
for single man. His mania took the form
Of religious despair and mental remurse, and
though he soon recovered from the worst
stage of his disease, he was victim, during
the rest Of his life, to religious gloom, donbt,
and despair
In 1865, he removed from st. Adams to
Huntingdon, where he entered the house of
the Unwin family, as a boartler. When Mrs
Unwin removed to Olney, on the death of her
husband two ye RS after this, Cowper accom-
panied her, and they occupied nous next
that Of the Rev. John Newton, then curate of
the parish, but afterwards a well-endowed
rector in London, and Calvinist leader of
the evangelical party in the English church.
In January, 1913, when on visit to Mr..
Newton, Cowper's mental nalady returned,
hut he was taken great care OF, chiefly by Mrs.
Unwin Gan excellent old lady, the ''Mary" OF
his poems), and on his recovery employed
himself in conjunction with Mr.. Newton, in
writing the "Olney Hymns"
From that time, though poetry was not able
to dispel the gloom that had settled on his
mind, it drew his thoughts from the srf-con-
temptation and self-reproach that had render
ed him miserable. Mrs. Unwin suggested
"The Progress of Error" as a subject for his
muse, and he quickly took it up. In four
months, in I7S0-Sl, this poem was composed,
lis well as ''Truth," 'Table Talk" and "Ex-
postulation," and his first volume of poems
was published in 1882, at which time he had
passed the age of fifty. The volume was suf
ficiently successful to warrant the poets
making further efforts. Ay this time he had
become acquainted with Lady Austen, wo-
man of very cultivated tastes, who suggested
1.-The Task, Ga poem on sofa y urged him
to translate Homer, and told him the amusil e
incident on which, in the course of one eve
ming, he wrote the ballad of John Gilpin."
He keptit by him for time, impressed with
the idea that it was almost sinful to have writ
ten comic piece, but finally allowed it to be
seen and even printed. 1t was neglected for
three years, when Henderson, the actor, re-
cited it with great effect to crowded audiences
in London, and its popularity became great
"The Task" was published in 1885, and at
once placed Cowper at the head of the living
poets Of England. Cowper's translation of
Homer was commenced in 1884, and publish.
ed in 1871. 1t was the last great effort of
great but disordered mind. His relative Lady
Hesketh, went to him to take charge of his lit
tie household, Mrs. Unwn having become
paralytc, but he removed from Olney, first
TO Triddenham and thence to East Dereham.
Through the solicitation of William Hawley, a
man of some poetic talent, and the pOssessor
of a large private fortune, George III. settled
a pension of $1,000 a year on Cowper, who
was then scarcely sensible of the favor. Mrs.
Unwin died in 1876, but Cowper appeared
scarcely conscious of her loss. After this
came lucid interval, in 1893, during which he
corrected, but did not improve his Homer. At
this time, too, he wrote 1.-The Cast-away," a
melancholy effusion of gloom and despair. He
was attacked by dropsy, which made rapid
progress, and died in April, 1900, in his six
ty-ninth year.
The nature of CoWper's Illness which af-