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    per clungexceedingly td those about liinr and seemed to be haunted with a continual dread that they would leave him alone in his solitary mansion . Sunday , therefore was a day of more than ordinary apprehension to him ; as the furthest of his kinsman ' s churches being" fifteen miles from the Lorlg-e , he was necessarily

    aasent during- the whole of the Sabbath . On these occasions , it was the constant practice of the dejected poet to listen frequently on the steps of the hall-door , for the barking * of dog's at a farm , house , which in the stillness of the nig-ht , thoug-h at nearly the distance of two mites , invariably announced the approach of his companion . " lx .

    We cannot resist the temptation of making a few more extracts : " —in the month of April [ 1796 ] Mr * . Unwin received a visit from her daughter and son-in-law , Mr . and Mrs . Powley . The tender and even filial attention which the compassionate invalid had never ceased to exercise towards his ae-ed and infirm

    companion , was now shared by her affectionate relatives ; to whom it could not but be a gratifying spectacle to see their venerable parent so assiduously watched over by Cowper , even in his darkest periods of depression . The visit of these exemplary persons was productive also of advantage to their friends , as their

    salutary custom of reading- a chapter in the Bible to their mother , every morning before she rose , was continued by the writer of this Memoir , whoj as the dejected poet always visited the chamber of Bis poor old friend , the moment he had finished his breakfast , took care to read the chapter at that time . ** Ixi .

    • —Being- encourag-ed by the result oi the above experiment , the conductor of the devotions of this retired family ventured in the course of a few days , to let the members of it meet for prayers in the room where Cowper was , instead of assembling in another apartment , as they hi * therto had done , under the influence , a «

    it proved , of a misconception , with reg'ard to his ability to attend the service . On the first occurrence of this new arrangement , of which no intimation had been previously g-iven him , he was preparing" to leave the room , but was prevailed on to resume hia seat , by a word of soothing aud whispered entreaty . ' * lxii .

    We pass over the narrative of the occasion of Cowper ' s engaging in a revisal of his Homer : the account ii deeply interesting , but has long been in possession of the public *

    * Preface to the 2 nd ed . of Cowp # r ' * Translation of the Iliad .

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    I ( 54 jReiriew . ' —Cotvpers Poems *

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    Nept ' s , near Eaton , afforded as convenient a resting * place for the party as could have been devised ; and the peacefulmoon-lig-ht scenery of the spot , as Cowper walked with his kinsman up and down the churchyard , had so favourable an effect on his spirits , that he conversed with him , with much composure , on the subject of Thomson ' s Seasons , and the circumstances under which they were probably written . ^

    In August , 179 % the , two invalids , together with Dr . Johnson , went " to the village of Mundsley , on the Nor folk Coast ; having previously resided , for a very short time , * at North

    Tuddenham , in that county . " However , " the effect of air and exercise on the dejected poet being by no mean ' s such as his friends had hoped , change of scene was resorted to as the next expedient : " lvii .

    " About six miles to the south of Mundsley , and also on the coast , is a village called Happisburg *!! , or Hasboro ' , which in the days of his youth Cowper had visited from Catfield , the residence of his

    mother ' s brother . An excursion therefore to this place was projected , and happily accomplished , by sea ; a mode of conveyance which had at least novelty to recommend it ; but a g * ale of wind having sprung up soon after his arrival there , the return by w . ater was unexpectedly precluded , and he was under the necessity of effecting it on foot through the neighbouring * villages . To the agreeable surprise of his conductor , this very considerable walk was performed with scarcely any fatigue to the invalid . ' The party afterwards took up their residence at Dunham Lodge , in the vicinity of SwafFham . Here ( Hx ) , " As the season advanced , the amusement of walking" being * rendered impracticable , and his spirits being * by no means sufficiently recovered to admit of his

    resuming either his pen or his books , the only resource which was left to the poet , ¦ w as to listen incessantly to the reading- of his companion . The kind of books that appeared most , and indeed solely to attract him , were works of fiction ; and so happy

    was the influence of these in rivetting" his attention , and abstracting * him , of course , from the contemplation of his miseries , that he discovered a peculiar satisfaction when a production of fancy of more than ordinary leng * th , was introduced by his kinsman . This was no sooner perceived , than he was furnished with the voluminous pages of Richardson , to which he listened with the greater interest , as he had been personally acquainted with that ingenious writer , " " At this time , the tender spirit of Cow .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1816, page 164, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2450/page/36/