Printed by J. Swan, No. 76, Fleet Street, AND PUBLISHED BY VERNOR AND HOOD, POULTRY; CHAPEL STREET, PENTONVILLE. 1804. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF COWPER. AMONG the literary characters that, in the present age, have attained celebrity by the extent of their genius and excellence of their productions, must be ranked the poet Cowper; who, uniting piety to talent, and devotion to principle, employed the graces of poesy to strengthen the bands of morality, and give energy to the precepts which direct the heart to religion and to virtue. The general tendency of his writings is, undoubtedly, to excite and give permanence to the feelings which promote reflection, and incline the thoughts to another and a better state; yet, though chiefly emanating from this principle, they exhibit a variety seldom the produce of a single mind; and we cannot but admire the versatility of his powers, which, engaged in all the diversity of diction, was in all equally successful. WILLIAM COWPER, the subject of the present sketch, was born on the 26th of November, N.S. 1731; his father, the Rev. John Cowper, D. D. was rector of Great Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire, and chaplain to King George II. His grandfather, Spencer Cowper, was appointed chief judge of Chester in 1717: he afterwards became a judge in the court of Common Pleas; and the family may be traced, of respectable rank, through many ages. The poet's mother was Ann, the daughter of Roger Donne, esq. of Ludham Hall, in Norfolk, who died when her son William was about six years old; and her early death, it is presumed, contributed in a great degree to the dark colouring of his subsequent life; for, though bereft of her at so tender an age, her maternal affection left such impressive traces on his memory as were never eradicated, and the sight of her picture, nearly fifty years afterwards, occasioned one of his most exquisite poems, in which he celebrates, with ardor this guardian of his early years. When Cowper first quitted the house of his surviving parent, he was sent to a respectable school in Market Street, Hertfordshire; from which he appears to have been removed to the house of a celebrated female oculist, for the benefit of his eyes, but without experiencing any essential relief. From her he went to Westminster school, where he caught the small-pox, which entirely removed his complaint. During his stay at Westminster, he experienced much of the tyranny of the elder boys, which served still more to depress a mind unassuming and timid in the extreme; yet, notwithstanding these disadvantages, he there acquired great reputation as a scholar. At the age of eighteen, he was removed to the office of Mr. Chapman, an attorney, to whom he was articled for three years. This connection was formed contrary to his inclination, and tended to increase his natural melancholy, which, as he advanced in years, imbittered his existence, and rendered life a burthen. After quitting the house of Mr. Chapman, he settled himself in the Inner Temple, as a regular student at law, where he cultivated the friendship of his old Westminster schoolfellows, Bonnel Thornton, |