New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-24


Mead & Co
We are warned against looking a gift horse
IN The mouth. and hence have no intention OF
dwelling upon the eccentrlcities OF Mr.. wright
as an editor, especially since they are NOT OF
serious consequence. and were TO be expected
Of the author Of the mechanically executed but
valuable biographies OF Cowper and Defoe NOT
shall we quarrel with the publishers for hav-
sng given Us Cowper's inimitable letters in four
stately octayos instead Of in small volumes, IN
riting 10 the intimacy a great letter writer de-
serves. II have some fear that, Cowper no'
being so well known to-day as he used TO BE-
his correspondence in its present form VIII not
allure so many readers as it should. We shall at
least do our best 10 disabuse as many persons
as we can Of the idea that these letters. writ
ten more than a century ago, ought to be
treated like the classics they are admitted to be
that IS admired at 4 safe distance
Mr.. Wright begins his preface by asserting
That William Cowper IS universally acknowl-
edged TO be the greatest Of English letter writ
ers." Perhaps some admirers Of Gray, Horace
walpoIe Byron and Edward FitzGerald might
with Justice question the words universally ac-
knowledged": perhaps they might go 1urtheE
and smile at Mr. Wright's old fashioned limo
cence in supposing that The pioUs recluse OF
Oiney takes precedence of writer's who are the
subjects Of latter day cults. Without supposing
for a moment that such question Of literary
precedence can ever be satisfactorily settled,
we unhestatingly cast our vote with Mr.
Wright. Cowper IS the easiest. most natural,
most equally charming and interesting Of all
the great English letter writer's No other of
them is so capable Of treating in just the right
tone any subject, whether trivial or serious that
one friend may wish TO discuss with or lay be-
fore another. That Cowper could interest men
md in ba o,r+a- with Ipyhf
and the happenings of his quiet life. and that
living in another century and in far away
regions should through his letters be led TO
take as vivid an interest in him and his little
group Of friends as though they were personal
acquaintances, and this without the aid OF
scandal gossip about great and conspicuous
persons. or the charm of exotic lands. the
fascination OF q dazzling career-that he could
do all this seems to prove that, when Cowper
wrote letter. he consummate literary
artist, making of a form Of expression per-
fectly fitted TO his genius.
This is great deal to claim for any writer.
especially for one who has plainly declined in
popularity. Cowper's letters were republished
by instruments in the chief American literary
magazine at the beginning of the nineteenth CEN
fury, but We doubt if they were much read when
The twentieth began For our great-grand-
fathers he ranked as a great poet: to-day most
space
90 his poetry in Wards English Poets" are in
Clined to be astonished Yet a close study Of
his work in both it's phases reveals. we think,
the fact that our ancestors judged Cowper with
greater acumen than We DO. No other English
snan OF letters IS a more interesting study for
the psychological biographer Few poets have
kept such an excellent level Of achievement In
such variety OF poetic forms. He was an
nrbsne. but far from ineffective. satirist; an
Bsrly devotee of nature. a not clearly surpassed
Landscape etcher in words: hymn writer Of
distinguished merit: the author OF the best ami
mai poems our literature affords: a great humor-
est in verse; notable writer Of verse de socete,
of heroic odes and Of reflective lyrics TO say
nothing Of his TRANSACTIONS and Of the fact that
he is the author Of two OF the most pathetic
poems IN E1glish-"The Castaway" and the
famous lines the receipt of his mothers pict-
We read these two poems and those on
Mrs Irwin and a few others and fancy we
Rave done our duty by Cowper; but it is our own
loss II we let a silly pun absove US from read
ing THE Task and should not waste our
time II We read his other long poems But this
excellent poet is also one of the easiest masters
Of familiar prose He could have written good
essays, as an extant specimen serves to show,
but he preferred 10 lavish his genius upon his
friends IN the way Of letters and we have 10
occasion 10 regret his choice. He lived apart
from the world, he sunk in melancholy and
often acutely insane: his religion seems TO US in
conceivaby narrow. but wherever we ind him
either in his letters IL his poems Cowper has
over and above his genius or talents. an indie
Enable charm which cannot be better described
than by the statement that there is no more per
feet gentleman than he among English authors.
If any ore is inclined 10 doubt the truth of this
Statement he is respectfully referred TO these
four volumes Of Cowpers correspondence on
which Mr.. Wright has bestowed such loving edi-
torial care.
MI Wright's is the fourth important colIec-
Eon OF Cowpers letters-or the fifth II we count
The Private Correspo much the
hest Hayley and Grimshawe for VARYING rea-
sons, mUtated the letters they printed: Southev
whose edition Of the works Of Cowper has long
been the standard one was greatly hampered
81 his task, owing TO copyright difficulties. and
made a confused Job Of the correspondence
Mr. Wright has been able to restore the oms-
Fions Of the earlier editors and also to secure
many letters of the existence Of which they were
not aWsle After ten years af labor he has
made collection probably complete as will
ever be possible. He has gathered 1O41 letters
JOB OF which are now first printed and 1872 now
first printed in their entirety. About one-third
Of the total number Of letters passed under his
eyes; for the eXactitUde Of the text Of the re-
1nsinder he is Of course not Responsible He
has divided the correspondence into eight parts
according TO Cowper's various places of resi-
dence. and in an elaborate list ne has Fi,-e,
dates. persons addressed. catchwords of the
letters and the source from which he obtained
those previously printed From this last we see
tlat exactly four hundred items were written
from Olney between September. 1867. and April
11S6. and that the nearly six hundred remaining
belong q ha