Evening star., 1930-12-06
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BoOkiOuer

In the clouded. tragic life Of William
Cowpsr the devotion and care Of two
women undoubtedly prolonged his years
, and gave to him the brief periods of
happiness which he was able to enjoy
These women were his Cousin Harriet,
Lady Hesxeth, and Mary Unwin. wife of a
clergyman at Huntingdon, where Ccwper
went To live after his first prolonged at
tack OF insanity. The account of the
benign influence OF these two women
FORMS one of tbs most appealing parts
OF The Stricken Deer; or The Lie OF
cowper." by David Cecil The title is
taken from some lines in Cowper's
Task:
Il was a stricken deer that left the herd
Long since; with many en- arrow deep
MKT
My painting side was charged, when I
withdrew
To seok tranquil death in distant
shades"
Soon after arriving at Huntington.
Cowper met young man named Unwin
ana the two were Immediately drawn to
each other. Cowper was soon visiting
In the Unwin family and was Gained
there. THE father was a scholarly cid
parson, while the mother, much
younger than her husband-in fact, only
eight or nine years older than Cowper-
struck him as having uncommon under
standing, and more polite than q duch-
ess.' Soon an Arrangement was made
by which he went to live with the Unwin
family, and he was never thereafter
separated from Mrs. Unwin until her
death shortly before his own. When
the Rev. Mr.. Unwin fell from his horse
| and fractured his skull and died a few
days later, the home was broken up
but there was no question, indeed, of
his (Cowpers) separating from Mrs
Unwin. Each had become an in
dispensabie condition of the Others
| existence" They removed, however
/ from Huntington to Olney, in Buck
ingnamshirc, where they took a rather
unsttractice house called by an attrac-
tive name, Orchard Side.
X y X X
Before long the Unwin son and daueh-
ter had left home, and though neither
| Cowper nor Mary Unwin cared foolishly
for village gossip, and though Cowper at
least had no desire to marry, they de-
cioed to be married. Always on the
| border line OF mental disorder CoWper
| could stand no disturbance of his simple
routine. A short time before this he
had received shock in the death of his
brother John, and now the proposed
marriage preyed upon his mind. Can
IL De that the prospect of so rnomentous,
| so intimate q change in his life. the
basic horrors of his existence, the
thought Of his mental disease, and per-
haps his physical imperfections. swept
PACK into his mind and thrust his tot
FT1a
IL does not seem unlikely. At any rate
from this time events moved rapidly to
tneir catastrophe. On January "a. i773.
newton Ga clergyman friend) was woken
at In the morning by a messenger
from Mrs. Unwin asking him to come
over to Orchard Side at once. He hlIr-
RED through the raw darkness to find
CoWper in fit of raving madness
brought on by some peculiarly horrible
cream. After some hours the fit passed
put IT recurred. And from this time on
ne was treated as an invalid. He was
moved to the vicarage, where. he had
fancy, he felt more at ease, Doctors
were sent for and Mrs. Unwin never
left him."
MARI age was never again contem-
plated between Cowper and MARY TTn-
WIN, but they remained together and
the devotion of each for the other never
WaVered. For years it was the calm So
ncltuoe OF Mary which kept Cowper as
normal as he was ever able to be; her
Sen-sacrlncing nursing which brought
Ii!In II tnrougn MS periods of mania and
oppression. But the time came when
Things were reversed Mary. with health
weakened by her care of Cowper. sIlf-
ieTed three strokes of apopleYy. at short
nssrVas. Cowper became her devoted
nurse. "Of course, If he had left her
ana made his home with other peonle
In another place, who knows that he
might not have managed to stave of
tne eVil day indefinitely? But even had
Sucn course OF action entered his head,
to repudiate it. How often had she
stood by him during his illnssses-and
now patiently how self-sacrificingly had
Sne done 1t! Was it not her care for
nun, lnoeed, that had brought her to
ner present case? Now it was his turn
TO help her. And if to do SO were IN
rlsk MS life, 1t would only be a small
Iecompense Tor what he owed her. Bit
,t needed no obligation OF gratitude or
loyaIty 10 Keep him at her side. Every
other consideration was swallowed I'm II,
the great tide of Compassion which
Weued UP in him at the sight of her
anllctlon. Mary, his Mary, was suffer-
ing; MS only thought was to relieve her
AND recklessly, unheSitatingly, he poured
out any drop of vitality that remained
70 MIN In order to do it. BY the in
Scrutable DEGREES that govern mortal
uestlny his devotion was his destruc-
ZION. There can be no doubt that It
was tne strain of nursing her that
nnally confirmed his DOOM
The. tyrannical father who suppresses
his children, and of course his wife
usually figures in the novels of Martha
OStenso. Matt Welland, tra-relipious
polnIer: hvlng in small town about
zoo miles from Chicago, plays this mart
OF the suppressive father in 'sThe Waters
Under the Earth" He is not the violent
Du4y IN the home; he rules by gentle
nslstence,. by steady display of supe-
TOT moral and religious principles. by
oeVotlon to his children and trust in
Cnem which he never allows them to
forget. But not one of the seven Wei
iano children is permitted to live his or
ner own life. Mrs. Welland, a stoical
woman, has early made her choice of
ioyalties-loyalty to her husband-so
nsr cnndren find no help in her. David.
tnsrrieo mar early to a domineering woman
VINO brings little money to the print
ing business, lives in a wing of the fam
ny nome and sullenly takes orders from
nus father. Sophie submits when her
1atner dismisses her lover because of his
unorthodox religious views. Paget be-
comes recluse and a misanthrope
When the girl he loves refuses to marry
MN In the face of his fathers oppo-
sition. Jenny makes one dash for lib |
erty, but her courage, sapped by her |
nome lie, fails and she returns to be- |
come her fathers most devoted satellite. |
Ruth n1arries coarse. dissipated farm
er, simply to get away from home, and |
goes to a worse tragedy than she leaves |
Tom. Of iresoluta character which har