For, could I view nor them, nor thee, Partakers of thy sad decline, Thy hands their little force resign, My Mary. Yet, gently press'd, press gently mine, My Mary. In the summer of this year, in hopes of the removal being beneficial to her health, he attended her to Eartham, in Sussex, on a visit to his friend Hayley, and the change of air, or other circumstances, occasioned flattering symptoms of amendment, which gave him unspeakable satisfaction, and relieved his mind from those gloomy apprehensions he had entertained of her speedy dissolution. During their stay at Eartham, their party was increased by the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Hurdis, a gentleman well known in the literary world; and, perhaps, it has rarely happened, that three persons, of similar pretensions, should meet and enjoy that social intercourse and mutual good will, which were here experienced in a superlative degree. In the autumn Cowper and Mrs. Unwin returned to Weston, and there, while health permitted, he attended closely to his revision of Homer, and Commentary on Milton. In the latter part of 1793, Mr. Hayley again visited Weston, where he continued several weeks, and, on his return home, passed through London, and laid before the particular friends of Cowper, the slender state of his finances, in hopes, through their interest, of obtaining from His Majesty some provision for his declining years. Cowper's income was not very liberal, and the generosity of his disposition had no tendency to augment it. His discriminating benevolence was so well known, that he was distinguished as the ready instrument of one, whose restless goodness waited not to be implored; we mean the philanthropic Mr. Thornton. The native diffidence of the poet prevented his immediate application on this occasion, and the highest encomiums are due to those who so cordially exerted themselves to procure him that support which, it is painful to observe, was not bestowed (from delays in office, or other causes) till he was past the power of acknowledgment; for the increasing debility of Mrs. Unwin was bringing on that dejection, from which he never thoroughly recovered. A few months before this period, his thoughts were engaged in the composition of a poem, under the title of the Four Ages; but his depression had so overpowered his reason, that he was unable, except in a few transient intervals, to contemplate on any subject; and though he wrote a part, his mind was never sufficiently at ease to complete it. His increasing melancholy, and the total debility of Mrs. Unwin, made it highly necessary that the kind offices of a friend should be exerted, to render them that attention which each required, and neither could bestow; and, Lady Hesketh, generously foregoing her own comfort, undertook the charge. Thus situated, he would willingly have remained, and died, at Weston, as his attachment to that village was extreme. Far from the busy world, it was calculated, by its pleasing solitude, to captivate a mind like his. For the recovery of his health and spirits, however, it was proposed to try the effect of changing air; accordingly he was removed, though with much reluctance on his part, on the 28th of July, 1795, under the care of his relative, the Rev. Mr. Johnson, to North Tuddenham, in Norfolk. Here they resided till the end of August, when the latter gentleman conducted them to Mundsley, a place situated by the sea side, in the same county; in hopes the bracing gales from the ocean might invigorate the languid systems of his aged friends. From Mundsley, in October, they removed to Dereham Lodge, where his kinsman took every opportunity of diverting his mind; and, though he was not sufficiently tranquil to proceed with any of his engagements, yet the reading of his friend afforded him a temporary relief. In the summer of the following year, his health seemed much amended, and the hopes of his friends were revived, by his ability to pursue his favorite subject, the new edition of Homer, which now employed all his reasoning powers; but, his intervals of convalescence were few, and frequently interrupted by his oppressive malady. In the autumn, they once more removed to Mundsley, but its invigorating air was now of no avail, and in the latter part of October they retired to Mr. Johnson's house at Dereham, where Mrs. Unwin closed a life of vicissitude and care, and, by a gradual decay, expired without a groan. She died on the 17th of December, 1796, and was |