it occasioned the renewal of old friendships. "When I lived in the Temple," he says to his cousin 25, "I was rather intimate with a son of the late Admiral Rowley, and a younger brother of the present admiral. Since I wrote to you last, I received a letter from him in a very friendly and affectionate style. It accompanied half a dozen books which I had lent him five and twenty years ago, and which he apologized for having kept so long, telling me that they had been sent to him at Dublin by mistake, for at Dublin it seems he now resides. Reading my poems, he felt, he said, his friendship for me revived, and wrote accordingly." That Mr. Rowley had always entertained a just opinion of Cowper's talents, and cherished an affectionate remembrance of him, appears by his having preserved the two earliest 26 of his letters which as yet have been discovered. And Cowper, who knew Rowley to be "one of the most benevolent and friendly creatures in the world," replied" to his unexpected reintroduction as cordially as he could have desired.

MY DEAR ROWLEY,

Weston Underwood, Feb. 21, 1788.

I have not, since I saw you, seen the face of any man whom I knew while you and I were neighbours in the Temple. From the Temple I went to St. Alban's, thence to Cambridge, thence to Huntingdon, thence to Olney, thence hither. At Huntingdon I formed a connexion with a most valuable family of the name of Unwin, from which family I have never since been divided. The father of it is dead; his only son is dead; the daughter is married and gone northward; Mrs. Unwin and I live together. We dwell in a neat and comfortable abode in one of the prettiest villages in the kingdom, where, if your Hibernian engagements would permit, I should be happy to receive you. We have one family here, and only one, with which we much associate. They are Throckmortons, descendants of Sir Nicholas of that name, young persons, but sensible, accomplished, and friendly in the highest degree. What sort of scenery lies around us I have already told you in verse; there is no need, therefore, to do it in prose. I will only add to its printed eulogium, that it affords opportunity of walking at all seasons, abounding with beautiful grass-grounds, which encompass our

25 Dec. 19, 1787. 26 Pp. 24. 28. 27 Some of the letters to Mr. Rowley are wanting in the collection with which I have been entrusted, and among them is the first after the renewal of their correspondence.

village on all sides to a considerable distance: These grounds are skirted by woods of great extent, belonging principally to our neighbours above mentioned. I, who love walking, and who always hated riding 26, who am fond of some society, but never had spirits that would endure a great deal, and could not, as you perceive, be better situated. Within a few miles of us, both to the east and west, there are other families with whom we mix occasionally; but keeping no carriage of any sort, I cannot reach them often. Lady Hesketh (widow of Sir Thomas, whose name, at least, you remember,) spends part of the year with us, during which time I have the means of conveyance, which else are not at my command.

So much for my situation. Now, what am I doing? Translating Homer. Is not this you will say, actum agere? But if you think again, you will find that it is not. At least, for my

own part, I can assure you that I have never seen him translated yet, except in the Dog-Latin, which you remember to have applied to for illumination when you were a school boy. We are strange creatures, my little friend; every thing that we do is in reality important, though half that we do seems to be push-pin. Not much less than thirty years since, Alston and I read Homer through together. We compared Pope with his original all the way. The result was a discovery, that there is hardly the thing in the world of which Pope was so entirely destitute, as a taste for Homer. After the publication of my last volume, I found myself without employment. Employment is essential to me; I have neither health nor spirits without it. After some time, the recollection of what had passed between Alston and myself in the course of this business struck me forcibly; I remembered how we had been disgusted; how often we had sought the simplicity and majesty of Homer in his English representative, and had found instead of them, puerile conceits, extravagant metaphors, and the tinsel of modern embellishment in every possible position. Neither did I forget how often we were on the point of burning Pope, as we burnt Bertram Montfitchet 29 in your chambers. I laid a Homer before me. 28 See p. 25. 29 Some liquid has fallen upon the letter, and completely obliterated all but the initial and last syllable of this word. But the Monthly Review, for April, 1761, notices "The Life and Opinions of Bertram Montfitchet, Esq. written by himself," as an humble imitation of Tristram Shandy.

I translated a few lines into blank verse; the day following a few more; and proceeding thus till I had finished the first book, was convinced that I could render an acceptable service to the literary world, should I be favoured with health to enable me to translate the whole. The Iliad I translated without interruption. That done, I published Proposals for a subscription, and can boast of a very good one. Soon after, I was taken ill, and was hindered near a twelvemonth. But I have now resumed the work, and have proceeded in it as far as the end of the fifteenth Iliad, altering and amending my first copy with all the diligence I am master of. For this I will be answerable, that it shall be found a close translation: in that respect, as faithful as our language, not always a match for the Greek, will give me leave to make it. For its other qualifications, I must refer myself to the judgement of the public, when it shall appear. Thus I have fulfilled my promise, and have told you not only how I am at present occupied, but how I am likely to be for some time to come. The Odyssey I have not yet touched. I need not, I am confident, use any extraordinary arts of persuasion to secure to myself your influence, as far as it extends. If you mention that there is such a work on the anvil in this country, in yours perhaps you will meet somebody now and then not disinclined to favour it. I would order you a parcel of printed proposals, if I knew how to send it. But they are not indispensably necessary. The terms are, two large volumes, quarto, royal paper, three guineas; common, two.

I rejoice that you have a post, which, though less lucrative than the labours of it deserve, is yet highly honourable, and so far worthy of you. Adieu, my dear Rowley. May peace and prosperity be your portion.

Yours, very affectionately,

WM. COWPER.

Mr. Rowley, as might be expected, after this renewal of intercourse, took no little interest in procuring subscribers for his friend; and he met with good success. "I am very sensible of your kindness," says Cowper, "and considering our long separation, am sensible of it the more. Thou art the only one of all my Temple connexions who have, or seem to have, adverted to me since I left them, seven and twenty years ago. From many others I have received numerous acts of kindness, but none from them."

At this time also it was that Mrs. King, whose name frequently appears among Cowper's correspondents, introduced herself to him by letter, as having been intimately acquainted with his brother. This lady was the wife of the Rev. John King 30, rector of Pertenhall 30, in Bedfordshire, who was at Westminster with Cowper, but had had little acquaintance with him there, being three years his senior. He replied to it 31 mournfully, but with cordial kindness, expressed a desire to become better acquainted with one who had been his brother's friend, and subscribed himself, "early as it might seem to say it,' hers affectionately. Mentioning this communication to Mr. Newton, he said, "she is evidently a Christian, and a very gracious one. I would she had you for a correspondent rather than me. One letter from you would do her more good than a ream of mine."

Cowper seems to have taken little pleasure in conversing with Mr. Newton's immediate successor in the curacy of Olney; it was therefore no loss to him when Mr. Scott was removed to the chaplaincy of the Lock Hospital, which in those days was a post of honour for preachers of his description. The curate who succeeded him is only mentioned as having let part of the vicarage to Lady Hesketh on her first visit to these parts. Moses Browne was then, at eighty-four, so confident in the unimpaired vigour of his hale old age, that he promised himself, as has before been said, a lease of ten years longer; before two had elapsed, his life-tenure was at an end, and the living was given to Mr. Bean, who, with more ability than Mr. Scott, and more discretion than Mr. Newton, was not inferior

30 Not Dr. King, nor Perton-Hall, as erroneously printed by Dr. J. Johnson and Mr. Grimshawe.

It has been asserted, that "the perusal of Cowper's poems had been the means of conveying impressions of piety to this lady's mind, and it was to record her gratitude and to cultivate his acquaintance that she wrote to him." Certain readers might infer from these words, that Mrs. King was converted by Cowper's poems. But if any such insinuation be intended, it is merely gratuitous. Mrs. King was a pious and excellent woman, and had then been five and thirty years the happy wife of a clergyman.

More will be said of this lady in the notes to Cowper's Correspondence; the Rev. Dr. Gorham, of Maidenhead, to whom the letters addressed to her at this time appertain, having obligingly enabled me to print them from the originals, correctly and without mutilation, and favoured me with two which have not before been published. 31 Feb. 12, 1788.

in piety to either. Cowper said of him, as soon as they had exchanged visits on his arrival, "he is a plain, sensible man, and pleases me much -a treasure for Olney, if Olney can understand his value 32." Three months later, he writes to Mr. Newton, small as the distance from Olney is, it has too often the effect of separation between the Beans and us. He is a man with whom, when I can converse at all, I can converse on terms perfectly agreeable to myself; who does not distress me with forms, nor yet disgust me by the neglect of them; whose manners are easy and natural, and his observations always sensible. I often, therefore, wish them nearer neighbours."

34

But Cowper had now no lack of society, and he was fully employed. In the preceding October, Johnson, who had probably been advised that it was expedient so to do, called his attention once more to the business of translation; a task to which he applied himself forthwith, and with such resolution, that he said to his young friend Mr. Rose 33 "the_necessity of applying myself with all diligence to a long work that has been but too long interrupted, will make my opportunities of writing rare in future. Ten months have passed since I discontinued my poetical efforts. I do not expect to find the same readiness as before, till exercise of the neglected faculty, such as it is, shall have restored it to me." Hill and Lady Hesketh were both apprehensive that he might resume his work too soon, and pursue it too closely. To the former he said in reply "I thank you for the solicitude that you express on the subject of my present studies. The work is undoubtedly long and laborious, but it has an end; and proceeding leisurely, with a due attention to the use of air and exercise, it is possible that I may live to finish it. Assure yourself of one thing, that though to a by-stander it may seem an occupation surpassing the powers of a constitution never very athletic, and at present not a little the worse for wear, I can invent for myself no employment that does not exhaust my spirits more. I will not pretend to account for this; I will only say that it is not the language of predilection for a favourite amusement, but that the fact is really so. I have even found that those playthingavocations, which one may execute almost without any attention, fatigue me, and wear away, while such as engage me 32 To Lady Hesketh, March 12, 1788. 33 Oct. 19, 1787.

34 Nov. 16.