another and more serious attack of the same nature. From this also she rallied sufficiently to be able to accompany Cowper on the return-visit to Hayley, at Eartham, near Chichester. Here they remained six weeks, enjoying the society of their accomplished host, and of several of his literary friends, whom he invited to meet the hero of his worship. They returned to Weston in September, and from that time Mrs. Unwin declined rapidly into a state of second childishness. Now it was, that Cowper began to repay in kind the affectionate tendance which he had so constantly received at her hands. He watched over her with the tenderness of a woman; he laid himself out to indulge her every whim, and to anticipate all her real needs; he was the only person of those about her who made no complaints of the querulous and exacting temper of the poor invalid.

The anxiety and fatigue arising from such close attendance on Mrs. Unwin soon began to tell upon the sympathetic nature of Cowper himself; and he sank into that pitiable condition of mind, from which it was ordained that he should never fully emerge. There were times indeed when the cloud lifted, and he was able to enjoy communion with friends, and to throw off occasional verses during his lucid intervals. He received visits in the course of 1793 from Lady Hesketh, J. Johnson, Rose, and Lawrence (who took his portrait); and in the autumn of the same year he wrote those affecting stanzas 'To Mary,' of which Hayley says, 'I question if any language on earth can exhibit a specimen of verse more exquisitely tender.' Yet all this while he was sinking into lower and lower depths. There was a new element of superstition in his delusions, too humiliating to be dwelt on. At length came the tardy recognition of his literary claims, in the form of a pension from the Crown of £300 a year (July 5, 1794); but Cowper was too far gone to appreciate it, or even to be sensible of the fact.

At this juncture Dr. Willis, the physician who had been of so much service to King George III, was consulted on behalf of the sufferer. Change of scene was all that could be

prescribed. Cowper's affectionate kinsman Johnson accordingly conveyed him, with his now helpless fellow-sufferer Mrs. Unwin, into Norfolk, in July, 1795 first to North Tuddenham; then to Mundesley, on the coast, near Cromer; next to Dunham Lodge, near Swaffham; then, in the summer of 1796, to Mundesley again; and finally, in October of that year, to East Dereham. Here the Angel of Death brought a welcome release to Mary Unwin, December 17, 1796, at the age of seventy-two. It may be doubted whether Cowper was in a condition to realise the fact of this separation: in any case he never mentioned her name again. At various intervals he was enabled to apply himself to the revision of his Homer, and took pleasure in hearing his own poems and other books read to him. But for the most part the cloud lay dark and chill upon his spirit. His last original piece was written on December 20, 1799. He called it 'The Castaway.' There is in it nothing to horrify the reader, as the title might suggest; but much to 'engender sacred pity.' It is not the appalling shriek of the tortured soul, still struggling fiercely with the powers of darkness; it is rather the plaintive wail of one who has from sheer exhaustion given up the contest, and resigned himself to an uncontrollable destiny.

At length, through God's great mercy, the physical health which had continued unimpaired throughout the mental conflict, gave signs of failure. In February, 1800, dropsy appeared in the feet and ankles. A few weeks longer, and the poor shattered vessel, so long buffeted by tempestuous billows on the sea of life, drifted into the peaceful haven of rest. On the 25th of April, 1800, and in his sixty-ninth year, William Cowper died. And if strong men, pilgrims to the church of Dereham, have dropped tears of brotherly sympathy while standing before the tomb raised by the loving hands of Harriet Hesketh, in the Chapel of St. Edward, have not the angels rejoiced?

SUMMARY

OF THE CHIEF EVENTS IN

COWPER'S LIFE.

Born at Berkhampsted, Herts, Nov. 26, 1731 (N. S.)
Loses his mother, Feb. 13, 1737.

Is sent to school at Market Street, 1737.

Enters Westminster School, 1741.

Is entered at the Middle Temple, April 29, 1748.
His first attack of despondency, 1753 or 1754.

Is called to the Bar, June 14, 1754.
Loses his father, Aug. 3, 1756.

Removes to the Inner Temple, 1759.

Is confined at St. Alban's, Dec. 7, 1763.

Removes to Huntingdon, June 22, 1765.

Becomes an inmate of Mr. Unwin's house, Nov. 11, 1765. Settles at Olney, Bucks, Sept. 14, 1767.

Is deranged for the third time, Jan., 1773.

The 'Olney Hymns' are published, Feb. 15, 1779.
Publishes his first volume of Poems, March 1, 1782.
Publishes 'The Task,' July, 1785.

Removes to Weston Underwood, Nov. 15, 1786.
Is deranged for the fourth time, Jan., 1787.
Publishes his translation of Homer, June, 1791.
Receives a pension of £300 from the Crown, July 5, 1794.
Is removed into Norfolk, July, 1795.

Loses Mrs. Unwin, Dec. 17, 1796.

Dies at East Dereham, Norfolk, April 25, 1800.