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COWPER AND BLAKE
M ^aptt
Read at the 13th Annual Meeting of the
COWPER SOCIETY,
Held at the Mansion House, London, 25rd April, 1915
BY
Dr. HUBERT J. NORMAN
With a Summary of the other Papers read
on that occasion.
Olney :
Thomas Wright
THE
COWPER SOCIETY
(Founded «5th April, 1900, the C«nten«ry of Cowper's Death.)
First President, the late Earl Cowper.
President : The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham
" God moves in a mysterious way."
Olney Hymns.
" He lives who lives to God alone."
Hill of Mortality Stanzas, 1793,
(gufee.
1. — Object. To increase the public interest in the poet Cowper,
and to encourage the publication of manuscripts or scarce works
relating to him and his circle.
2. — Membership Ticket, Minimum, Seven Shillings every
Two Years. This will entitle the Member to admittance to the
Society's meetings, and a copy of the Society's publications as
issued during the two years.
3. — Life Membership Ticket, Three Guineas.
4. — Place of Meeting. At some town associated with Cowper,
or with his most intimate friends, on Cowper Day (the 25th of
April), every year.
Biet of (WlemBere.
The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham
The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Oxford.
The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Litchfield.
The Right Rev. Bishop Weildon.
The Very Rev. the Dean of Canterbury.
The IMaster of Trinity Coilege, Cambridge.
^tcvttAx^ :
Thomas Wright, Cowper School, Oiney, Buclcs.
Alexander, Miss, Underwood House, Hornsey Lane, Highgate,
N.
Bates, Madison C, M.A., South Dakota State College, Brook-
ings, South Dakota, U.S.A.
Bowyer, Lieutenant-Colonel, Weston Manor, Olney.
Brighton Public Library.
Bull, Miss, Oak Lodge, Newport Pagnell.
Burton, Charles, 13 Westbourne Terrace Road, Paddington, W.
Butterworth, Major S., Cheviot House, Carlisle.
CalliS, Rev. John, M.A., 66 Christchurch Street, Ipswich.
Cameron, F., 24 Matthews Street, Kimberley, South Africa.
Carlile, W. W., J. P., Gayhurst, Bucks.
Coales, J. L., The Lodge, Newport Pagnell.
Cotton, Miss A., 21 East Park Terrace, Southampton.
Couper, Miss Annie, Craigholm, 6 The Ridgeway, Golder's
Green, N.W.
Cowper, Cecil, Barrister of the Inner Temple, J. P., and Editor
of " The Academy," Olney, East Molesey, Surrey.
CulShaw, Rev. G. H., M.A., The Rectory, Iver Heath, Uxbridge.
Doveton, Rev. E., M.A., Aston Sub Edge Rectory, Weston
Sub Edge Broadway, r.s.o., Worcestershire.
Evans, Miss, c/o Mr. S. Laington Evans, J. P., Richmond Hill,
Taunton.
Fry, Joseph Storrs (Life Member), Union Street, Bristol.
Ginn, Mrs. S. R., Brookfield, Trumpington Road, Cambridge.
Gregory, J. H. S., 151 High Street, Harborne, Birmingham
Hainsworth, L., Oakwell Cottage, Parsley, near Leeds.
Harris, J. Rendell, M.A., Litt. D., Chetwynd House, Selly Oak,
near Birmingham.
HIiborne, A. E., Olney.
Hipwell, Mrs. A., Olney.
Hipweli, S. E., Olney.
Holder Brothers, Fingal, Tasmania.
Hooper, Rev. Henry, Harptree, Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent.
Hooper, T. Rowland, Redhill.
Hooper, Wilfrid, LL.D., Market Hill Buildings, Redhill, Surrey.
Howard, Sir Frederick, The Abbey Close, Bedford
LIST OF MEMBERS— CoHtinutd
Hughes, Rev. Arthur, M.A., Bramcote Vicarage, Nottingham.
Hughes, T. Cann, M.A., F.S.A., 78 Church Street, Lancaster,
Jones, Francis, Comber, Ontario, Canada.
Kennaway, L. Mark, St. Helens, Teignmouth, Devon.
Kennaway, Mrs. Mary, St. Helens, Teignmouth.
Latham, Rev. W. J., M.A., Holy Trinity Vicarage, Leonard
Road, Penge, S..E
Lawrence, Dr. J., 5 Hikawa Cho, Akasaka, Tokio, Japan.
Lewisham, The Right Hon. Lord, c/o Messrs. Thynne and
Thynne of Victoria Street, Westminster,
Lillie, Thomas, J. P., Fordel, 6 Westfield Terrace, Aberdeen.
Little, Ernest Muirhead, Collett Hall, Ware, Herts.
Lock, Joseph, Fern Bank, 8 Bromar Road, Denmark Park, S.W.
Lock, T. B., 22 Byrne Road, Balham, S.W.
Lucas, The Right Hon. Lord, 4 St. James' Square, London.
Marston, Rev. H. J. R., M.A., 22 Chapel Street, London, S.W.
Wilier, The Rev. David, The Manse, Armagh
Mountford, Dr., Palmerston House, Chapelizod, Co. Dublin,
Newton, Mrs., 44 Durley Road, Amhurst Park, Stamford Hill,
London, N.
Norman, Dr., Camberwell House, Peckham Rd., London, S.E,
Northampton, The Right Hon., The Marquis of Castle Ashby.
Oakes, Walter, 57 West Beech Road, Noel Park, Wood Green,
London, N.
Oke, W. Alfred, B.A,, LL.B., F.S.A. (Life Member), 32 Denmark
Villas, Hove.
Oldham, T. Staveley, M.A., 440 Strand, London.
Owlett, F. C, c/o Mr. May hew, Bookseller, Charing Cross
Road, London
Pearson, Rev. Samuel, Percy Park, Tynemouth.
Priestman, T., Westcott House, Hull.
Rogers, Frederick, 29 Bousfield Road, New Cross, London, S.E.
Roy, James A., m.a., The University, St. Andrew's
Samways, Dr. D. W., Knowle Clyst, St. George, Topsham,
Shand, A. Allan, 77 Lombard Street, London, E.C. [Devon.
Sneiling, W. W., 14 Semley Road, Brighton.
Sowman, Mr. J. W., Olney.
Sowman, Mrs. J. W., Olney.
Spencer, T., St. Neots, Hunts.
Stokes, Rev. Dr., St. Paul's Vicarage, Cambridge.
Styles, Rev. W. Jeyes, Elmscroft, 10 Melrose Road, West
Wandsworth, S.W.
Tanner, Lawrence E., M.A., 2 Little Dean's Yard, Westminster,
S.E.
Tomkins, Miss, Rees Cottage, Kempston, Beds.
TredgOld, Miss, 128 Holland Road, London, W.
Tregastis, James, Lawn House, Hampstead Square, Hamp-
stead, N.W,
Unwin, T, Fisher, i Adelphi Terrace, London, W,C,
Wells, Prof. J. E., 911 Park Avenue, Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
West, Walter, The Vane, Northwood, Middlesex.
LIST OF MEMBERS— CoH««MMe<i
Wetherfieid, Fred, i Gresham Buildings, Guildhall, E.G.
Whyte, Mrs. Alexander, 7 Charles Street, Edinburgh.
Williams, Dr. Geo. Rowland, Sinclair Lodge, i Sinclair Gardens,
Kensington, W.
Williamson, Dr. G. C., Burgh House, Well Walk, Hampstead,
N.W.
Wood, Herbert G., 56 St. John's Park, London, N.
Worth, Ernest H., Pond View, Chislehurst, Kent.
Wright, J. C, Holmedene, Arundel Road, Eastbourne.
Wright, Thomas, The Orchard, Sharnbrook, Beds.
Wright, Miss Bessie, Margery Hall, 15 Margery Park Road
Forest Gate, E.
Wright, Wm., 52 Church Road, Moseley, Birmingham.
Meetings.
1901— Olney 1908— Edmonton
1902— St. Albans 1909— Cambridge
1903 — Huntingdon 1910 — Lincoln's Inn, London
1904 — Westmintter School 1911 — Northampton
1905— Dereham 1912— Weston Underwood
1906 — Berkhamsted 1913 — The Mansion House, London
1907— Olney 1914— Bedford
The following works have b«en published und*r ths
auspices of the Society :
" Teedon's Diary," 2/6
" Cowper's Memorials," 3/6
" Cowper in London," 2/6
" Olney Hymns." edited by His Honour Judge Willis, 2/6
"Cowper and Blake, ' by Dr. H. J. Norman, 2/6
Anyone wishing to join the Society should write to the Secretary,
Mr. Thomas Wright, Cowper School, Olney, from whom copies
of the Society's publications can be obtained.
The Cowper Museum » Olney.
The Cowper Museum, at Olney (Cowper's House), presented to
the town and nation by Mr. W. H. Collingridge, is open every
day. Secretary, Mr. Thomas Wright, Olney.
The William Wright Library.
The William Wright Library was presented to the Museum by
Mr. William Wright of Moseley, near Birmingham. The books
are of a miscellaneous character. The Secretary will at any time
be pleased to receive gifts of books (which need not have any
connection with Cowper) for this library.
▼i
CONTENTS.
PAOB
Rules of the Society .... 2
Speech of the Lord Mayor of London (Sir David Burnett) 9
Address of the Secretary of the Cowper Society
(Mr. Thomas Wright) ... 10
Cowper and Blake, by Dr. Hubert Norman - 18
The Urbanity of Cowper. by Sir W. Ryland Adkins. M.P. 38
Cowper as a Letter Writer, by Mr. Cecil Cowper, J. P. - 58
Concluding Remarks by the Lord Mayor - - 39
Appendix - - - - - 61
pOR the correction of certain errors and
inadvertent mis-statements in this brief
survey of the relationship between Cowper
and Blake, and for assistance generally during
the writing of this essay and its preparation
for the press, I am much indebted to Mr.
Thomas Wright, the indefatigable Secretary
of the Cowper and of the Blake Societies.
At the same time I feel that in fairness to
Mr. Wright it should be stated that mine is
the responsibility for the opinions expressed
in this essay, and that Mr. Wright is in no
way to blame for those opinions, nor for the
manner in which they are expressed,
Hubert J. Norman
I'oi/hiH hv Koiiiiwy
WILLIAM GOWPER
From Hayley's Life of Cowper
Euiiravfd by II'. liiake
Pliotoiiyafh by Emery Walker
WILLIAM BLAKE
From a Paiiitiiin (iSoy) by Thomas Phillips. R.A. Orig^iiial in the
Xalioiial Portrait Gallery,
THE
Meeting of the Cowper Society
AT THE
Mansion House, London, 23rd April, 1913
The thirteenth annual meeting of the Cowper Society
was held at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor, Sir David
Burnett, being in the chair. There were about 300 present.
The Lord Mayor said:
It gives me great pleasure to meet those who
read with delight the writings of one of the most
distinguished poets of the eighteenth century — one
who has done so much to enrich English literature.
In particular, Cowper's hymns are a joy and an inspiration
to multitudes. Some years ago the poet's house at Olney
was acquired, through the generosity of the late Mr. W. H.
CoUingridge, of the City Press, London, and the object
of this meeting is to provide the necessary funds to restore
the interior, and to provide for future maintenance on a
wider basis. I earnestly hope that the result of the
meeting will be the achievement of that object.
10 SECRETARY'S ADDRESS
The Secretary
(Mr. THOMAS WRIGHT) said :
My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Will you permit me first to observe that it is a very
great pleasure to the trustees of the Cowper and Newton
Museum, and to the members of the Cowper Society, to
be able to meet in this historic place ; to see your lordship
in the chair this afternoon ; and to see gathered here so
many lovers of literature — so many lovers of William
Cowper. They are glad to be supported on this occasion
by Mr. John Collingridge, one of the sons of the munificent
donor of the Cowper Museum, Sir Ryland Adkins, M.P.,
Mr. Cecil Cowper, and others. Our President, the
Bishop of Durham, is unable to attend, but he sends warm
greetings and hearty good wishes for the success of the
gathering. The late Bishop of Lichfield had hoped to
be with us. He told me so in a letter which I received
on March 15th ; but at the very moment I was reading
it, its writer was passing away. His Master had called
him. He left the Cowper Society in order to go into the
company of Cowper himself, and into the company of
those other holy men whom he loved so well, and whose
memory you and I so dearly love. We always get a
number of artists at our meetings, partly on account of
the connection between those two sweet Williams —
William Cowper and William Blake. One who is some-
times with us, and whose pictures are often seen in
London, Mr. Walter West, has gone abroad, with the
object, in Cowper's words, of throwing " Italian light on
English walls." He sends us greetings, however, and
reminds me that the artist Constable had an intense
admiration for Cowper. Constable wrote, " I have all
Cowper's works on my table. I mostly read his letters.
SECRETARY'S ADDRESS 11
He is an author I prefer to almost any other, and when
with him I always feel the better for it How
delighted I am that you are fond of Cowper. But how
could it be otherwise ? For he is the poet of religion and
nature."
With Cowper's name will for ever be linked that of the
noble and holy John Newton, and perhaps you will allow
me to remind you that the hall in which we are now
assembled is in the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth, John
Newton's church. It is not for me to praise Newton's
hymns, " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds," " Begone
unbelief," " Glorious things of thee are spoken," and
others, for they are loved of all Christians. I came across
the other day, a reference to Newton in the Letters of
William Huntington, author of The Bank of Faith, who,
by the by, married the widow of a Lord Mayor of London,
and the centenary of whose death is to be celebrated on
July 1st of this year. It emphasises the fact that ;
Huntington was greatly impressed with " old Newton,"
as he calls him, because Newton was in the habit of
warning his hearers against " dead formalists," and of
advising them to hold fast to that which is good. You
will visit St. Mary Woolnoth's presently, and when there
you may imagine, if you like, John Newton, who was then
close on eighty, holding forth on this subject, and William
Huntington listening with delight in one of the pews —
that is to say, the greatest Nonconformist preacher of
the day listening with approval to the greatest Anglican
preacher of the day. The fact that John Newton preached
the pure gospel (his church was always crowded) did not
prevent him from being vituperated. But that was good
for him ; for how is a man to know that he is a prophet
if he is not stoned ! It is unnecessary for me to praise
John Newton's prose works, The Authentic Narrative and
12 SECRETARY'S ADDRESS
Letters to a Wife, for Edward FitzGerald, one of the finest
of literary critics has been before me. I referred just
now to William Blake. Of the links between Cowper and
Blake, Dr. Norman, whose papers have been the delight
of previous Cowper Society meetings, will presently have
something to tell you. In the meantime let me say that
Mr. Frank Palmer, of Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, has
promised to publish a Blake Calendar, and I hope that
a Cowper Calendar will follow.
I now come to the principal object of this meeting.
Thirteen years ago, Mr. William Hill CoUingridge, of the
City Press, Aldersgate Street, London, presented to the
town of Olney and the nation the house at Olney in which
the poet Cowper resided for nineteen years, and in which
he wrote The Task, John Gilpin, many other poems, and
very many of his charming letters ; and with the house
Mr. CoUingridge presented a very valuable collection of
Cowper and Newton manuscripts and relics. On the
same day was founded the Cowper Society. Cowper's
House at once became the Cowper and Newton Museum.
Two of the rooms were filled with manuscripts and relics
of Cowper, Newton, Mrs. Unwin, Lady Hesketh, Lady
Austen, the Rev. William Bull, and other members of
Cowper's circle. There you may see the originals of many
of the letters of Cowper and Newton, of Cowper's poem
on Yardley Oak, and the lines " To Mary." the diaries
of Newton and Teedon, and a whole host of relics of the
poet and his friends. The remainder of the house was
occupied by the curator. In 1908 funds were raised,
and the exterior of the building was restored. It is now
proposed to restore the interior and to devote the whole
of the house to the use of the public. Up to the present,
things have gone on admirably, for though the endowment
is only £18 a year, derived from the rents of two cottages,
SECRETARY'S ADDRESS 13
yet on the other hand the curator was willing to give the
whole of his time — ^that is seven hours a day — -without
any charge whatever. For the whole of those thirteen
years, from January ist to December 31st, he has been
at his post. And not only so, but he has painted and
presented to the Museum a number of pictures. My
father (it is to my father I refer) is now eighty-one years
of age, and he will continue his labour of love as long as
his strength allows ; but it would be difficult to find
anyone — I do not think it would be fair to ask anyone —
to take his place on the same moderate terms. Therefore
the trustees are endeavouring to raise £2,000 in order to
provide the institution with a small endowment. The
Bishop of Durham, who, I reminded you, is president of
the Cowper Society, wrote to me a few weeks ago as
follows : —
" With much interest and pleasure I learn that it is
proposed to restore the interior of the Cowper Memorial
at Olney, and to dedicate the whole of the house to the
purpose of the Museum. To all lovers of the poet, and
to his friends, and to all who have seen the admirable use
made of the present restricted premises for the Exhibition
o* the Collection, this will be welcome news.
" The result will be that the house will be a worthy
counterpart of Dove Cottage, Grasmere, so admirably
restored to the state in which Wordsworth knew it, and
filled with collections intensely interesting, but not more
interesting, I venture to say, to students of English
literature and English religion than those at Olney.
" I understand that £2000 is required to secure a
small endowment for maintenance. For such a purpose
this should surely be no formidable task, and I earnestly
14 SECRETARY'S ADDRESS
hope that through the proposed meeting at the Mansion
House and otherwise you may soon have the pleasure of
reporting the receipt of at least that sum."
Colonel F. T. H. Bernard wrote : " Dear Mr. Wright, — I
go into the Museum whenever I am in Olney with
a few minutes to spare, and I have always felt that
it was not quite adequate. At the same time it is simple,
with an atmosphere of the poet about it, and I hope this
will not be changed. There is a great charm to me in
Olney and the country round, which blends itself naturally
with the life of Cowper."
In regard to the proposed restoration of the interior,
let me assure you that nothing that existed in Cowper's
time will be altered. The main features of the house are
as he left them. The rooms are precisely the same in
shape. The staircase, which ascends from the parlour, is
unaltered. Nearly all the old doors retain the original
L-shaped hinges ; the old cupboards and parts of the
floors are just as they were in Cowper's time, and in the
top storey are the original fire-grates. In the parlour
may be seen the original panelling, and the actual shutters
referred to in the lines :
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
The walls are covered with modern wall-paper. This
we propose to remove, in the hope of discovering beneath
it remains of the original colouring, which we shall
endeavour to imitate. Then, too, wherever deal has
been used to repair the oak floors, etc., it should, I judge,
give place to oak. I will not weary you with other
SECRETARY'S ADDRESS 15
particulars, but I will simply say that everything will be
done with loving care, and that our architect considers
that the cost would be about a hundred pounds.
I mentioned that we have in the Museum several
unpublished letters of Cowper. It may give you pleasure
to hear one — -and I always think that an unpublished
letter reads like a voice from the dead. It is to Joseph
Hill, who lived in London ; it bears the date 30th Nov-
ember, 1792, and, as there are a number of admirers of
Blake here to-day, I may observe that it contains a
reference to Cowper's visit to Hayley — -the visit during
which was made the well-known sketch which Romney
drew and Blake idealised. The letter runs : —
Weston, 30th Nov., 1792.
To Mr. Joseph Hill,
I find myself in want of many things but chiefly of money,
and shall be obliged to you for a draft to such amount as my
budget will supply. Among other extraordinaries incidental
to the present year I have found it necessary to be my own
dairyman and to purchase cows. For your great city devours
everything, so that it is impossible any longer to find a pound
of butter or cream to our tea in all the country.
I have found that it is possible to change the air and the
scene, and to derive no benefit from either. In the hope of it,
however, both to Mrs. Unwin and myself, I journeyed last
summer into Sussex, as probably you have heard. I was
extremely low in spirits when I went and had been so for some
time, and my poor fellow-traveller had been almost deprived
of the use of her limbs by something like a paralytic stroke in
the spring. There we spent 6 weeks breathing the purest air, in
the neighbourhood of the sea, and in a country most magnifi-
cent. But I returned the miserable thing I went, and poor
Mrs. Unwin little better. My spirits, however, have improved
within the last week or ten days, quite contrary to my
expectations, for I assured myself that as we sunk deeper into
the winter I should grow worse. December and January have
long been my terrors, for when I have plunged into greater
depths of melancholy than usual, these months have always
been the fatal season. It will give me true pleasure to hear
that you are well and cheerful and that Mrs. Hill is so likewise.
I beg my compliments to her and remain sincerely and
affectionately yours, ^,^_ Cowper.
16 SECRETARY'S ADDRESS
Another unpublished letter, which is written to his
cousin, Mrs. Cowper, is also on the subject of money. He
says : —
2 1st Jan., 1789.
I thank you for your congratulations on the subject of my
annuity. I was bom to subsist at the expense of my friends ;
in that and in that alone God knows, resembling my Lord
and Master. I shall ever, I hope, retain a grateful sense of the
kindness of Lord Cowper, to whom I was entirely a stranger ;
but his bounty is a proof that he did not account me one.
It would be easy for me to deliver many eulogiums on
Cowper's works, whether in poetry or prose, but their
praise is in all the books on English literature and in all
the churches. Let us not, however, in regarding Cowper's
life and work, lose sight of the first Great Cause.
God performs a work, and man gets the credit for it.
Cowper, however, was one who regarded himself as only
an instrument. Then the thought intrudes — ^How about
God's attitude to Cowper and to us. We know that
Cowper did not attain to the summit of his wishes. We
know that we cannot attain to the summit of ours. Let
us bear in mind, however, that we are not necessary to
Omnipotence. God regards our intentions, not our
achievements.
I observed that the living praise Cowper. Many
distinguished men and women who have passed into
eternity have praised him too. Just now I mentioned
Constable ; but Robert Burns, Carlyle, Macaulay, George
Eliot and a host of others paid tributes to his genius.
Cowper has been loved by the humble as well as by the
great. Dying men have repeated, and have been cheered
in repeating, the lines of his beautiful hymn : —
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform ;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
SECRETARY'S ADDRESS 17
To return to the Cowper Museum. I am sure you will
agree with me that an institution of this kind ought not
to suffer for want of the moderate amount which we are
asking. A few minutes ago I read you a letter from
Cowper, in which he said, " I find myself in want of many
things, but chiefly in want of money." It is perhaps a
curious coincidence that we, the trustees of the Cowper
Museum, should find ourselves, 120 years afterwards, in
precisely the same predicament.
£2,000 would satisfy all needs. The editor of a London
illustrated weekly once observed in its columns that he
was quite sure we should get the money we require, but
that it would be the gift of one man. That was five years
ago, but as that one munificent person has not yet
revealed himself, the trustees feel that they must ask
many men to contribute. Donations should be sent to
me at Olney, and they will be officially acknowledged.
Mr. Frank Littleboy of Messrs. Barclay's Bank, Newport
Pagnell, is treasurer.
In the name of Cowper, who has conferred benefits
on every lover of our best literature — in the name of him
whose letters are admired wherever the English language
is spoken ; whose poems are among the most precious
heirlooms of the race ; whose hymns are sung in all the
churches — in the name of religion which breathes in
everything he wrote — I most earnestly trust that our
appeal to this audience — ^that our appeal to the British
nation — will not be made in vain.
Dr. HUBERT J. NORMAN then read a paper on
Cowper and Blake
It is not difficult to imagine what would be the sentiment
of a disciple of the school of Samuel Smiles if he were
asked to deal with the biographical presentment of two
such men as William Cowper and William Blake. They
would probably be consigned with all s^^eed to the limbo
of the unsuccessful, as men who had failed to achieve
that standard of material prosperity whereto the heroes
who helped themselves so strenuously attained. From
a strictly utilitarian point of view, it must be confessed
that there is little to be said in their defence : though
taking that doctrine in its ethical aspect, it might well be
be maintained that both Cowper and Blake in their
writings did much to add to the happiness of large numbers
of their readers. In any case, we may refuse to judge
them by such a criterion as that of pecuniary success :
indeed it is almost axiomatic that the value of literary
work is inversely proportionate to the reward popularly
adjudged to it. Nor is this true of literature only : it
may be observed in many other spheres of activity. The
inadequate reward is, however, one of the least regrettable
facts : though as Huxley cogently remarked when
(and just then he was in straitened circumstances)
certain awards, not of a pecuniary nature, had been made
to him, " Man cannot live by praise alone ! " : the matter
COWPER AND BLAKE 19
for greatest sorrow is the persistent disregard of the
value of the aesthetic and intellectual factors in human
life. On the other hand it may be said that a more
optimistic attitude is justifiable ; and that, instead of
lamenting the paucity of those who are fully cognisant
of the worth of higher intellectual activity, we should
rather rejoice that their number is comparatively so great,
when there are taken into consideration the efforts
required of the individual by society barely to attain the
means of subsistence. The struggle for individual
existence and for that of the family leaves the majority
of the people with little leisure to cultivate higher things :
and even when a respite from toil comes, the energy
absorbed in the labour of the day has been so great that
the body fails to supply the requisite increase of power.
There is a pernicious doctrine — enunciated originally, one
may be sure, by affluence — that poverty has provided
the stimulus for all the finest achievement the world has
known. " Poverty," says Heine, " sits by the cradle of
all our great men, and rocks them up to manhood ": but
into how many cradles does Poverty pass her skinny
hand and draw forth the shrunken occupants — dead.
Johnson spoke a truer word when he said, " This mournful
truth is everywhere confessed,
SLOW RISES WORTH
by poverty depressed." And Johnson knew, if ever a
man did, the baleful influence of penury. There may
have been rare instances where poverty has been the
parent of high intellectual effort, as the lily will spring
from the rottenness and decay around it : but many a
fair flower of the intellect has been blighted by the
mephitic vapours of the Slough of Despond of poverty,
or the blossoms have been perverted and evil.
so COWPER AND BLAKE
Neither for Cowper nor for Blake had the world any
adequate pecuniary reward to offer : both well knew
what straitened circumstances meant, and, indeed,
for Blake there was certainly for a time stringent poverty.
Both were alike in this, that they knew not the efficient
instrument for opening that oyster, the world. But as
will be seen, they differed in this that, whereas
Blake was able strenuously to front adversity and
to wrest from it his pittance, Cowper, timorous as
one of the hares he loved so much, had to flee from the
world and to trust to the support of his faithful friends.
Without such aid, poverty, it is likely, would have been
Cowper's lot : and poverty would have broken him.
With all the tender solicitude and fostering care, Cowper
was just able to continue as he did, and to produce so
relatively large an amount of literary work. He was,
however, unfitted by his nervous instability from making
the constant and strenuous effort which the need of
earning his living would have entailed ; and it is a well-
known fact that the thought of undertaking official work
was sufficient to prostrate him. Nor was poverty the
efficient factor in so far as Blake's literary and artistic
work were concerned : what he did was done in spite of
it and in the face of it. And it may safely be surmised
that easier circumstances would have made possible
better results for Blake. Blake said to Crabb Robinson
that he hated money, and in a certain sense perchance he
did — in a sense that all reasonable men hate money because
so many people spend their lives in striving to heap up
material wealth to the exclusion of all other interests,
and because of the dire results which wealth may bring
to those who are unable to make a right use of it. But
THE REASONABLE MAN LIKES MONEY
because it will buy food for his family and for himself,
COWPKR AND BLAKE II
because with it he can purchase the materials on which
he wants to work in order to produce his books, his
pictures, or whatever he may decide to do, and because
with it he may satisfy those importunate demands of the
community of which he is a member, which are like the
voices of the daughters of the horse-leech !
That is a poor conception of genius which holds that
the stimulus of poverty must be present in order that
brilliant results may be achieved, and there is certainly
slight evidence that such a factor was in any way res-
ponsible for the best work either of Cowper or of Blake.
What may have been the cause that brought about the
reaction against the stilted and artificial style in poetry
towards the end of the eighteenth century, it is not needful
here to discuss. This much is, however, certain, that no
mercenary considerations were responsible for it : it was
as if some crystal spring had suddenly welled forth
where previously none but sluggish streams were known.
In the poetry of Cowper and of Blake, of Burns and of
Crabbe, the beginning of the new movement is well
exemplified. " The natural style of the Elizabethan
poets had passed," says Stopford Brooke, " into a style
which erred against the simplicity of natural expression.
In reaction from this the critical poets set aside natural
feeling, and wrote according to intellectual rules of art.
Their style lost life and fire ; and losing these, lost art
and gained artifice."
THE MUCH-ABUSED HAYLEY,
in his " Triumphs of Temper," illustrates very well the
versifier who wrote according to the rules ; and the
instance is the more interesting in that Hayley was so
intimate a link between Cowper and Blake. It is an
edifying and instructive occupation to peruse the
aa COWPER AND BLAKE
adventures of the fair Serena as set forth by Wilham
Hay ley and thence to pass to the " Songs of Innocence "
or to the shorter poems of Cowper ! At the same time it
may safely be asserted that many writers have done less
than justice to Hayley both as poet and as man : and the
partisans of Blake have been the worst offenders in this
respect.
" The fact of a new idea having come to one man is
a sign that it is in the air," says Morley : and there is
little doubt but that the idea of a less hampered movement
in versification was very much in the air in the latter
part of the eighteenth century. The new methods found
their chief adherents, as has been stated, in Cowper,
Crabbe, and Blake ; while from the utterances of the
gifted Ayrshire peasant came fire and fervour and even
amorous abandonment to make more sure the advance
of poetry into the realms of simplicity and naturalness.
I n the earlier poetry of Blake and generally in the poems
of Burns, the characteristic feature is
SPONTANEITY.
even to a greater degree than in the rather more mannered
writings of Crabbe and Cowper ; though the difierence
arose rather from dissimilarity of culture than from
deviation in tendency.
It is interesting to recall the fact that it was in the
eighth decade of the eighteenth century that these four
authors first published poetry which brought them fame,
which, it is likely, will endure. Cowper, the eldest of
the four by about a quarter of a century, did not see the
volume entitled Poems in print until 1782 ; Blake's
Poetical Sketches appeared in 1783 ; Crabbe's The Village
also in 1783 (his poem entitled The Library had been
published in 1781) ; while the famous Kilmarnock
COWPEK AND BLAKE 23
edition of Burns' poems was dated 1786. Truly a remark-
able decade, and one which will stand as an epoch in
English poetical literature. At the risk of mentioning
it in the same breath with the others, it may be stated
that Hayley's The Triumphs of Temper appeared in 1781 ?
But for the nervous instability which was the prime
factor in bringing about Cowper's retiral from the busy
scenes of London, it is probable that the relationship
between him and Blake would have been of a more intimate
and personal character. As it was, the seclusion in which
Cowper lived at Olney, and later at Weston, and his
disinclination to make even the comparatively short
journey to London, precluded him from becoming a
member of any of the literary coteries which were then so
flourishing. Had Cowper been in the habit of visiting his
publisher Johnson in St. Paul's Churchyard, it is almost
certain that he would have met Blake there among
others who have since become famous, and some of whom
were indeed even then notabilities.
" BOOKSELLER JOHNSON,"
says Gilchrist, " was a favourable specimen of a class of
booksellers and men now a tradition : an open-hearted
tradesman of the eighteenth century, of strict probity,
simple habits, liberal in his dealings, living by his shop
and in it, not at a suburban mansion. He was, for
nearly forty years, Fuseli's fast and intimate friend, his
first and best ; the kind patron of Mary Wollstonecraft
and of many another. He encouraged Cowper over
The Task, after the first volume of the poems had been
received with indifference. To Blake, also, Johnson was
friendly, and tried to help him, as far as he could help so
unmarketable a talent."
t4 COWPER AND BLAKE
It was in the year 1871 that Cowper first came into
touch with Johnson, who pubUshed for him the volume
which included " Table Talk." " Expostulation," and
other poems : and in 1785 Johnson it was who published
The Task. Writing of Johnson in March, 1793, after
the winding up of the accounts for the Homer, Cowper
says, " Few of my concerns have been so happily con-
cluded. I am now satisfied with my bookseller, as I
have substantial cause to be, and account myself in good
hands ": while in April he writes, " He has made me a
present, an act of liberality which I take every opportunity
to blazon, as it well deserves." Hayley also pays a tribute
to Johnson in his magniloquent way, and after designating
him as " the literary merchant," goes on to say, " The
great author of the Rambler has said, ' That a bookseller
is the only Mecaenas of the modern world.' " Without
assenting to all the eulogy and all the satire implied in
this remarkable sentiment, we may take a pleasure in
observing that in the class of men so magnificently and
sportively commended there are several individuals,
each of whom a writer of the most delicate manners and
exalted mind may justly esteem as a pleasing associate,
and as a liberal friend. In this light Cowper regarded
his bookseller, Mr. Johnson."*
Had Cowper been in London about this period, it is
likely that he would have attended some of Johnson's
" plain but hospitable weekly dinners " to which came
" Drs. Price and Priestley, and occasionally Blake"; and
among others Fuseli, Godwin, and Tom Paine, Carlyle's
" rebellious needleman."t He was not, however, at all
disposed at this time in particular to leave the quietude
of the country : rather was he praying for a " lodge in
* The Life of Cowper, by William Hayley, vol. III., p. 310.
t Gilchrist's Life of Blake, vol. I., p. 92.
WILLIAM HAYLEY
From the enj^ravitifl by Caroline Watson, after a portrait by Romney.
Frotitispiece to the 2nd volume of ' Hayley's Memoirs
JOSEPH JOHNSON, the Bookseller
From an engraving by W. Sharpe of the portrait by Moses Houghton
(By permission of the Authorities' at the British Museum)
COWPER AND BLAKE 25
some vast wilderness " where he might be even further
isolated from the reports of carnage and of horror which
were coming from France. Among those who met at
Johnson's at this time there was for a time at least, much
sympathy with the Revolutionary movement. Paine, as
is well known, had issued the first part of his Rights
of Man in 1791 ; and the manuscript of this was offered
to Johnson, who, however, " prudently declined to
publish it." In 1792 the second part appeared, and
thereafter it became necessary for Paine to leave England
with all possible speed : and according to Gilchrist, it
was Blake who gave that ardent republican timeous
warning of his danger of arrest.* Priestley was shortly
to be mobbed for his revolutionary ideas, and compelled
likewise to flee the country, the clamourers for freedom
of speech for themselves taking very good care as usual
that a like freedom should not be allowed to those whose
opinions ran counter to their own. To Blake also
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
was " the herald of the millenium, of a new age of light
and reason. He courageousl}^ donned the famous symbol
of liberty and equality — the bonnet-rouge — in open day,
and philosophically walked the streets with the same on
his head." Not only this : he celebrated the occasion
in an epic which fell coldly on the world. " In 1791,"
says Gilchrist, " he even found a publisher for the first
and last time in his life, in Johnson of St. Paul's Church-
yard, to whom Fuseli had originally introduced him, and
for whom he had aheady engraved. Johnson in this year
— the same in which he published Mary Wollstonecraft's
Rights of Women — issued, without Blake's name, and
unillustrated, a thin quarto by Blake, entitled The
French Revolution." f
* Life of Blake, vol. I., p. 95. t Life of Blake, p. 91, et seq.
M COWPER AND BLAKE
Later Johnson was to publish Hayley's Life of Cowper,
for which Blake did the engravings, in 1802 : and this
forms another link between the two poets. Johnson
lived until 1809, when, Gilchrist informs us, he died of
asthma, and ended an arduous and benevolent career.
Crabb Robinson knew Johnson, and shared in the
general good opinion which appears to have been enter-
tained in regard to him. " I called on Johnson several
times," he says, " and profited by his advice. He was
a wise man, and his remarks on the evil of indulging in
melancholy forebodings were applicable to a habit of
my own."*
HENRY FUSELI,
another frequenter of the meetings at Johnson's, had
become friendly with Blake in 1780. " Fuseli, then
thirty-nine, and just returned from eight years' sojourn
in Italy, became a neighbour "f: and the friendship then
initiated continued until Fuseli's death in 1825. Indeed
it was one of the few amicable associations which remained
unimpaired for so long a period in Blake's life. With
many of his other friends, as his biographers have noted,
friction arose which was certainly due in certain instances
to Blake's impetuosity and to the irritability which arose
from ideas of persecution to which he was at times subject,
and from the influence of " voices," as for instance at
Felpham. But in regard to Fuseli an exception was
made, because, says Mr. Ellis, " he had original powers of
imagination Fuseli, like Blake, had dignity,
impressiveness, massive movement in his art, the poetic
style, knowledge of the nude, a power of serious and
♦ Diary and Reminiscences, of Henry Crabb Robinson, vol. I., p. 32.
I Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 34.
COWPER AND BLAKE 27
almost sublime composition."* It was of Fuseli, too, that
Blake wrote the appreciatory lines, more forcible than
polite, but still quite characteristic of a certain aspect
of Blake's character, which are well-known to students of
the painter-poet.
It was at a later date, in 1786, that the acquaintance of
COWPER AND FUSELI
began, and the occasion was the writing by Fuseli of some
criticisms of Cowper's Homer. " Upon perusal of the
criticisms, Cowper discovered that the learning and ability
of their author, whose name he did not yet know, bad not
at all been overrated, and willingly consented to submit
to him the whole of his MS With Fuseli, who at
first teased sadly with his numerous criticisms, Cowper
by and by got on admirably. The Swiss had scarcely his
equal in "an accurate and familiar acquaintance with
the original "; moreover, " foreigner as he is," says the
poet, " he has an exquisite taste in English verse. The
man is all fire, and an enthusiast in the highest degree
on the subject of Homer, and has given me more than
once a jog when I have been inclined to nap with my
author. By his assistance I have improved many
passages, siipplied many oversights, and corrected many
mistakes, such as will of course escape the most diligent
and attentive labourer in such a work."t Surely a
remarkable talent is indicated by such a tribute from so
discriminating a critic as Cowper himself was ; for,
though he was unwilling to give pain to anyone by word
or by deed, yet was he no praiser of puerilities, and he
had a caustic comment for the necessary occasion.
* The Real Blake, by Edward J. Ellis, p. 47.
f The Life of William Cowper, by Thomas Wright, p. 412.
M COWPER AND BLAKE
There is apparently no record of Cowper and Fusel i
having met, and the association between them is, therefore,
slight compared with that which existed between Fuseli
and Blake ; but there is little doubt that Cowper's name
must have been frequently mentioned by the two artists
in the course of their conversations, and it is quite possible
that they may even have discussed the Homer among
their other topics.
" As a painter," it has been said, " Fuseli had a daring
invention, was original, fertile in resource, and ever
aspiring after the highest forms of excellence. His mind
was capable of grasping and realizing the loftiest con-
ceptions, which, however, he often spoiled on the canvas
by exaggerating the due proportions of the parts, and
throwing his figures into attitudes of fantastic and over-
strained contortion. He delighted to select from the region
of the supernatural, and pitched everything upon an ideal
scale, believing a certain amount of exaggeration necessary
in the higher branches of historical painting." The
candid critic is bound to admit that such a criticism might
in certain instances have been written as applicable to
Blake as well as to his friend ! The writer continues :
" His general powers of mind were large. He was a
thorough master of French, Italian, English, and German,
and could write in all these tongues with equal facility
and vigour, though he preferred German as the vehicle of
his thoughts. His writings contain passages of the best
art criticism that English literature can show." The
conclusion is also exceedingly suggestive of the descrip-
tions which we have of Blake. " He was a man of abrupt
temper, sharp of tongue, energetic in all his ways, in stature
short, but robust, with a head full of fire and character."*
*Encyclopadia Britannica (ninth edition) Article "Fuseli"
COWPER AND BLAKE 29
Bookseller Johnson had a keen interest in Cowper and
in his work — from a financial as well as a literary point
of view — and it is certain that he would introduce such
a topic among the other subjects discussed in his shop
and round his hospitable table. It is not difficult to
imagine the two friends, Blake and Fuseli, stepping home-
wards together after some such causerie at the house in
St. Paul's Churchyard.
About the same period at which Blake became
acquainted with Fuseli, Stothard introduced him to one
who, as Gilchrist says, " proved — despite some passing
clouds which for a time obscured their friendship at a
later era — one of the best and firmest friends Blake ever
had."* This was
JOHN FLAXMAN.
one of the greatest — if not indeed the greatest — sculptors
England has ever produced. In the early days of their
friendship both Blake and Flaxman worked for a time
for Wedgwood, Blake doing " the illustrations to a
show-list of Wedgwood's productions," while " for twelve
years, from his twentieth to his thirty-second (1775 — 1787)
Flaxman subsisted chiefly by his work for the firm of
Wedgwood," says Sidney Colvin. The same authority
informs us that after Flaxman was married in 1782, he
and his wife " set up house in Wardour Street
spending their summer holidays once and again in the
house of the hospitable poet Hayley, at Eartham in
Sussex. "t It was, of course, not until later that Cowper
visited Hayley in Sussex ; for he did not make the
journey, which caused him so much trepidation in
anticipating it, until 1792. When he did, he met at
* Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 33, vol. I.
t Encyclopadia Britannica (ninth edition) ; article on " Flaxman."
30 COWPER AND BLAKE
Eartham an old friend and helper of Flaxman,
GEORGE ROMNEY.
This meeting was of exceeding interest in that it was on
this occasion that Romney made his admirable portrait of
Cowper — ^the portrait which evoked Cowper's sonnet to
the painter. Cowper thought it a faithful presentment
of himself, and in this opinion he was in agreement with
his friends, though with his suggestion in the sonnet that
no signs of sorrow or of mental stress are apparent they
could not so readily concur.
But this I mark, that symptoms none of woe
In thy incomparable v.ork appear :
Well ! I am satisfied, it should be so,
Since on maturer thought, the cause is clear ;
For in my looks what sorrow could 'st thou see.
While I was Hayley's guest, and sat to thee ?
Hayley, writing of this portrait in his Life of Romney,
says that the artist " worked with uncommon diligence,
zeal, and success, producing a resemblance so powerful
that spectators, who contemplated the portrait with the
original by its side, thought it hardly possible for any
similitude to be more striking, or more exact."*
It was this portrait which Blake engraved for Hayley's
Life of Cowper which appeared in 1802, the year in which
Romney, decrepit and disordered in mind, died. Both
artist and subject were the victims of their defective
nervous organisations, and were both at times during
their lives prostrated by attacks of morbid melancholy.
Romney 's history is indeed a strange one. Born in the
year 1734, the son of a carpenter, he married at the
age of twenty-two : five years later he left his wife and
two children in Kendal and journeyed to London to
enter upon the profession of a portrait painter.
• Life of Romney, by William Hayley, p. 177.
COWPER AND BLAKE 31
Many weary years elapsed before he returned to his
home again ; but during his long absence he continued
to provide for his wife and children, for, in spite of the
rivalry of such men as Reynolds and Gainsborough, and
although his fits of depression militated against his working
steadily, he achieved, as is well known, great success.
" According to his friend Hayley, the painter laboured
under a frequent dread that his talent would utterly
desert him, and in the height of his fame his depression
was such that he thought of relinquishing his art
altogether. Romney, in his letters, speaks of his own
' distempered mind and body,' and in view of his friend's
irexplicable fits of depression, Hayley remarks : ' What
can be more pitiable than to see great talents rendered
frequently inactive by those wonderful variations in the
nervous system that throw a shadowy darkness over the
mind and fill it with phantoms of apprehension ! ' "
About the age of sixty, Romney had a paralytic stroke
which affected both his eye and his hand, and from this
time impairment of his faculties proceeded rapidly. He
built
A WHIMSICAL DWELLING
at Hampstead, acting as his own architect ; but this
indulgence of an eccentric fancy brought him neither rest
nor satisfaction. His dejection increased, and although
he still busied himself with his paints and brushes, it was
noticed that his skill had departed. By-and-by he ceased
to recognise his friends or relatives, and thenceforward
until his death at sixty-eight remained, as Hayley puts
it, "in that state of existence which is infinitely more
afflicting to the friends who behold than to the mortal
who endures it."*
* The Insanity of Genius, by J. F. Nisbet, p. i8o : Life of Romney,
by William Hayley.
32 COWPER AND BLAKE
It was only in his later days that he returned to the
north of England. " After seven and thirty years of
desertion he returned to Kendal," says Southey, " an old
man, famous indeed and rich, but broken in health and
spirits, and perhaps at heart, to be nursed by her [his
wife] during eighteen months of bodily decay, and two
years more of mental imbecility."* Truly if indeed it be
as the Turkish proverb says that " Patience is the key of
Paradise," there was a woman in Kendal then who had
found that key !
Southey thus describes him as he appeared about the
time when he met Cowper. " His countenance was
intellectual, with strong marks of feeling, and a cast of
melancholy. His eyes were large, quick, and significant.
At the sight of distress or at a pathetic tale his lips would
quiver. He was indeed sensitive to excess."t This
hypersensitiveness appears strange when we consider the
fact that it was an attribute of one who could so desert
his wife and family ; but it is not inexplicable for anyone
who is acquainted with the strange conduct exhibited
by those with unstable nervous equilibrium. Cowper^
in spite of his deep religious convictions, yet attempted
his life on more than one occasion ; and many other
distinguished men have exhibited eccentricity of behaviour
which has indubitably arisen from the same morbid
instability.
Flaxman, as it has already been noted, was also a
visitor at Hayley's house in Sussex ; but at the time of
Cowper's visit there he was still in Rome. It was about
that date that Flaxman produced his magnificent series
of illustrations to the Iliad and to the Odyssey ; and in
1793 " Hayley suggested that Cowper's forthcoming
* Life and Worhi of Cowper, by Robert Southey, vol. III., p. 82,
t Southey : op. cit., vol. III., p. 80.
COWPER AND BLAKE 33
second edition of Homer should be illustrated with the
engravings from them."* This was not, however, carried
out, as Cowper thought that their shape and size were
such that " no book of the usual form could possibly
receive them, save in a folded state." The objection
does not seem a very cogent one, and it is indeed to be
regretted that Hayley's suggestion was not carried out.
Flaxman did, however, at a later date, in 1808, furnish
some designs in outline for Cowper's commentary on the
first three books of Paradise Lost, which was published
by Hayley for the benefit of the second son of Samuel
Rose.t
Flaxman remained friendly to Blake, and just to his
genius throughout his life, Gilchrist informs us, though
Blake did not always choose to think so.f* The association
between the painter and the sculptor was an intimate
one ; whereas with Cowper the connection was but slight
as far as Flaxman is concerned. Flaxman continued to
do whatever lay in his power to accomplish in the way of
helping Blake, and as late as 1816 Gilchrist notes that
he obtained work for Blake from Longman's. Of Flaxman
Blake writes for the most part enthusiastically, calling
him " Dear Sculptor of Eternity," and anon describing
him as a " sublime archangel "; whilst in a letter which
he wrote to the sculptor in 1800 he addresses a poem to
him which commences :
I bless thee, O Father of Heaven and Earth, that ever I saw
Flaxman 's face. ft
Gilchrist relates a characteristic incident of Flaxman's
staunch attitude in regard to Blake. Gary (the translator
♦Wright: op. cit., p. 611.
t Wright : op. cit., p. 623.
t* Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 246.
It Letters of William Blake, pp. 71, 74, 76.
34 COWPER AND BLAKE
of Dante) chanced to remark to him once of Blake, " But
BLAKE IS A WILD ENTHUSIAST. ISN'T HE ? "
Ever loyal to his friend, the sculptor drew himself up,
half offended, saying, " Some think me an enthusiast."*
From the same source we learn that until the year of
Flaxman's death, 1826, Mr. and Mrs. Blake were " in
the habit of exchanging visits as of old."t
In view of these facts it is difficult to understand the
perverse attitude of one of the biographers of Blake in
regard to Flaxman ; and because he has failed to under-
stand the irregular workings of Blake's mental processes
at certain times, he has thought well to blame indiscrimin-
ately certain associates of Blake^ — Flaxman and Hayley
in particular. Mr. Ellis disparages Flaxman for intro-
ducing Blake to Hajdey without first explaining to him
Blake's peculiarities ; but, apart from the fact that
Hayley was certain to have heard about Blake and his
ways, the normal and sane person is supposed to make
the endeavour to adapt himself to his surroundings.
Consequently it is difficult to see why it should have been
necessary for such a warning to be sent to Hayley, for
Mr. Ellis labours the point of Blake's sanity. Again
Hayley is attacked because, according to Mr. Ellis, he did
not understand Blake, for the reason that he (Hayley) was
unacquainted with Swedenborgianism : while Flaxman
does not escape under that heading, for " His tasteless
and sodden Swedenborgianism probably did not dare to
venture into daylight. If Hayley ever heard of it, he
only had to put up his eyebrows. Flaxman would have
been quite certain never to renew the subject. Not having
• Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 246.
I Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 353.
COWPER AND BLAKE 33
been born a gentleman, he was always peculiarly at the
mercy of a superior look from any one above him in
position."*
Mr. Ellis's strictures in this instance can certainly not
be described as " tasteless "; and no further comment
will be made upon them other than simply to quote the
opinion of Henry Crabb Robinson in regard to Flaxraan,
whom he knew intimately. He is speaking of Flaxman's
dislike to Southey, and this he says " originates in the
latter's account of Swedenborg and the doctrines of the
sect in his Espriella. Flaxman cannot forgive derision
on such a subject."t ^"^ another place he remarks that
" One of the salt of the earth will be lost whenever this
great and good man leaves it."t*
These statements, taken in conjunction with the Gary
incident, are surely sufficient to show that Flaxman
certainly had the courage of his convictions.
No one who associated with Blake has, however,
received such rough handling at the hands of his critics
as William Hayley, friend and biographer of Cowper,
friend also of many of the distinguished men of the period.
Born in the year 1745, Hayley was consequently fourteen
years younger than Cowper, while he was twelve years
older than Blake : Cowper and Hayley were respectively
sixty-one and forty-seven when they first became
acquainted in 1792. In the spring of that year Hayley
wrote to Cowper regarding Milton, on which they were
both engaged. Certain newspapers had represented that
Cowper and Hayley were rivals, whereupon the generous
Hayley, " as soon as he found what was hinted abroad,
wrote a graceful sonnet addressed to Cowper, and inclosed
* The Real Blake, by Edwin J. Ellis, pp. 188-189.
f Diary and Reminiscences of Henry Crabb Robinson, vol. II., p. 6.
\* Crabb Robinson : op. cit., vol. I., p. 413.
36 COWPER AND BLAKE
it with a letter which contained the assurance that till
the present moment he was unaware upon what work
Cowper was engaged, and that their two works would be
so different in character that it was impossible they could
clash — a letter written in the most friendly and even
affectionate terms.*" The friendship thus inaugurated
was further strengthened when Hayley visited Cowper
at Weston in May of the same year. In August, Cowper
and Mrs. Unwin made their way to Hayley^s house at
Eartham in Sussex, which Southey describes as a delightful
spot, and which, he says, Gibbon called the little Paradise
at Eartham. " His place, said the historian, though
small, is as elegant as his mind, which I value much more
highly." t Cowper himself described it as " the most
elegant mansion that I ever inhabited, and surrounded
by the most delightful pleasure grounds that I have ever
seen."
During this visit
HAYLEY'S ILL-FATED SON,
Thomas Alphonso, was at Felpham, and Cowper records
how the child helped to draw the chair in which Mrs.
Unwin, who had earlier in the year suffered from a
paralytic stroke, journeyed about the grounds ; while,
he also states, it was " pushed behind by me or my cousin
Johnson." The latter is the Johnson familiar to readers
of Cowper's letters as " Johnny of Norfolk," an intimate
friend of Hayley and editor of his Memoirs.
Young Hayley was for a time an articled pupil of
Flaxman, but, his health becoming impaired, it was
found necessary that he should return to Sussex, where,
" after two years' more suffering, he died of the accumu-
lated maladies engendered in a weakly constitution by
♦Wright: op. cit., p. 554.
■j- Southey : op. cit., vol. III., p. 66.
COWPER AND BLAKE 37
sedentary habits." He survived Cowper only by a week.
The poet became much attached to the delicate child ;
and, as Mr. Wright expresses it, " perhaps the most
pleasing incident in connection with this visit to Eartham
was the interest excited in Cowper's mind by Hayley's
son Tom, whose talents and sweetness of disposition made
such an impression on Cowper that he invited him to
criticise his Homer."* On the 14th of March, 1793,
Cowper wrote a delightful letter to his " Dear little
Critic," thanking him for his observations, "on which
I set a higher value, because they have instructed me
as much, and entertained me more, than all the other
strictures of our public judges in these matters."
In 1794, when Hayley paid his third visit to Weston to
see Cowper, who was then plunged in the depths of
dejection, Tom Hayley was present also for a time. " I
had hoped," says Hayley, " that his influence at this
season might be superior to my own to the dejected spirit
of my friend ; but though it was so to a considerable
degree, our united efforts to cheer and amuse him were
utterly frustrated by his calamitous depression."! Hayley
had made this journey at considerable inconvenience to
himself, and he states that he even had to borrow money
for the journey ; and his kindness to the poet in his
affliction is typical of many similar acts which characterised
the " Hermit " of Eartham.
It was, too, during this third visit to Weston that news
arrived of the granting of a pension to Cowper by the
Crown — a welcome addition to his income, which Hayley
had been chiefly instrumental in obtaining.
♦Wright: op. cit., p. 581.
f The Life and Letters of William Cowper, by William Hayley,
vol. IV., p. 137.
38 COWPER AND BLAKE
In the year in which Tom Hayley died, his father
published his Epistles to Flaxman. To this work there
were three illustrations, and " two of these were engraved
by Blake — * The Death of Demosthenes,' after a bald
outline by Hayley junior, and a portrait of the
' Young Sculptor,' after a medallion by his master,
Flaxman, the drawing of which was furnished Blake by
Howard."*
Hayley's liberality and lavish expenditure had, towards
the close of the century, involved him in financial
difficulties, and " seriously incumbered the handsome
estate inherited by his father." The entertainment of
the numerous guests who visited Eartham entailed heavy
outlays : and they were numerous, for Hayley " held
.... an honoured place in contemporary literature;
his society eagerly sought and obtained, by lovers of
letters People of distinction and ' position in
society,' princesses of the blood, and others, when visiting
Bognor, would, even many years later, go out of their
way to see him, as if he had been a Wordsworth. "f It
was, therefore, necessary for Hayley by some means to
economise, and he took a step in this direction by moving
to
FELPHAM,
a few miles away from the house at Eartham with which
he had so long been associated. It was at Felpham
that Hayley was residing when Blake came to Sussex
in September, 1800. At this time Hayley had in con-
templation his Life of Cowper, and the idea occurred to
him that he might assistv Blake, akeady known to him
through Flaxman, by employing him to engrave the
illustrations for that work. So Blake migrated from
* Gilchrist : op. cit., vol. I., p. 146.
I Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 145, vol. I.
COWPER AND BLAKE 39
London to Felpham, and took up his residence there for
the space of nearly four years.
While at Felpham Blake did engrave the
ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE LIFE OF COWPER,
as Hayley had suggested. They are six in number, and
their chief interest lies in the association which they form
between Blake and Cowper. They cannot be said to
have any great artistic value : in the engraving of the
portrait of Cowper, by Romney, there is, Gilchrist thinks,
" no hint of the refinement of Romney's art," and that
" industry of hand is more visible than of mind."*
Another illustration to the first volume is after the portrait
of Cowper's mother, by D. Heins, which suggested the
" Lines on the Receipt of my Mother's Picture." In the
second volume there are engravings of the portrait of
Cowper done in 1793, and an original design by Blake
of the " Weather House " mentioned in The Task :
Peace to the Artist whose ingenious thought
Devised the Weather-house, that useful toy !
Fearless of humid air and gathering rains
Forth steps the man — an emblem of myself !
More delicate his timorous mate retires. f
Below this delicately drawn and quaint picture is another
showing, " A cottage .... perched upon the green hill
top," and "close environed with a ring of branching elms "
called by Cowper the " Peasant's Nest "; while in the
foreground are seen the poet's tame hares. Puss, Tiney
and Bess.
In the third volume there is an engraving from a
drawing by Francis Stone — " A view of St. Edmund's
Chapel in the Church of East Dereham, containing the
* Gilchrist : op. cit., vol. I., p. 164.
t The Task, book. I., lines 200 et. seq.
40 COWPER AND BLAKE
Grave of William Cowper, Esq."; and also a " Sketch of
the monument erected in the Church of East Dereham
in Norfolk."
The first and second volume of the Life, with the four
plates, were published in 1802, and the " four copper-
plates were entirely printed off by Blake and his wife at his
own press, a very good one for that day, having cost
forty pounds when new — a heavy sum for him."* The
third volume was commenced towards the latter end of
1803 '• " Hayley, prompted by the unexpected success
of Cowper 's Life." prepared this additional volume,
which was finished and published in 1804.
In regard to the monument to Cowper, which forms
the second illustration to the second volume, the following
account is given by Gilchrist : " The references in our
next extract to Cowper's monumental tablet at East
Dereham, then under discussion, and Blake a party to it,
are sufficiently amusing, surely, to warrant our staying
to smile over the same. Consider what ' the Design '
actually erected is. An oblong piece of marble, bearing
an inscription, with a sculptured " Holy Bible " on end
at top ; another marble volume, lettered " The Task "
leaning against it ; and a palm leaf inclined over the
whole, as the redeeming ' line of beauty.' Chaste and
simple ! "f The extract is from a letter written by
Hayley to Johnson {" Johnny of Norfolk "), in which
the inception of the design is described. " I thank you,"
says Hayley, " heartily for your pleasant letter, and I
am going to afford you, I hope, very high gratification in
the prospect of our overcoming all the prejudices of our
good Lady Hesketh against simple and graceful ornaments
for the tomb of our beloved bard. I entreated her to
* Gilchrist : vol. I., p. 168.
t Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 167, vol. I.
Proui a medallion hv Flaxinaii
Eniliavcd by lilake
THOMAS ALPHONSO HAYLEY
(William Hayley's Son)
This plate appeared in Hayley's work, ■■in Essay on Sculpture. 1800
After the Poiiinit by Laurence
SAMUEL ROSE
COWPER AND BLAKE 41
suspend her decision till I had time to send her the simply
elegant sketches that I expected from Flaxman. When
these sketches reached me, I was not myself perfectly
pleased with the shape of the lyre introduced by the
sculptor, and presumptuously have tried myself to
out-design my dear Flaxman myself on this most ani-
mating occasion. I formed, therefore, a device, the
Bible upright supporting The Task, with a laurel leaf of
Palms, such as I send you, neatly copied by our kind
Blake If her ladyship and Flaxman are as
much pleased with my idea as the good Blake and Paulina
of Levant are, all our difficulties on this grand monumental
contention will end most happily. Tell me how you, my
dear Johnny, like my device. To enable you to judge
fairly, even against myself, I desired the kind Blake to
add for you, under the copy of my design, a copy of
Flaxman's also, with the lyre whose shape displeases me."
" In the sequel," says Gilchrist, " the Lyre was elimin-
ated, and the amateur's emendation, in the main adhered
to. The Task, however, being made to prop the Bible,
instead of vice versa, as at first the Hermit heedlessly
suggests."*
One can but feel amazed that their united intelligences
could evolve only such a very modest result : parturiunt
monies, nascetur ridiculus mus ! Yet Hayley, writing
to Lady Hesketh at a later date was able to say, " Blake
assures me the plaister model of the monument, now in
Flaxman's study, is universally admired for its elegant
simplicity, "t
* Gilchrist : op. cit., vol. I., p. 167.
t Southey : op. cit., vol. III., p. 238.
42 COWPER AND BLAKE
It was in January, 1802, that
JOHN JOHNSON
came to visit Hayley, bringing with him " the wished-for
anecdotes of the poet's last days." His acquaintance
with Hayley had been brought about in the first place
through the interest which they had both taken in Cowper.
With Cowper, Johnson had claimed relationship in 1790,
and from that time onwards until the poet's death he
remained his devoted and attentive friend, and numerous
letters were interchanged between them until 1795, when
the poet went to live with Johnson in Norfolk. These
letters from Cowper have provided " Johnny of Norfolk "
with a fame which his own literary efforts would certainly
have been quite unable to assure.
Much correspondence, too, there was between Hayley
and Johnson, some of which was duly set forth in the
Memoirs of Hayley and of his Son, to which the clergyman
added his share of dulness when he acted as editor.
Hayley had been urging Blake about the time of
Johnson's visit " to attempt the only lucrative walk of
art in those days — portraiture ; and during Johnson's
stay, the artist executed a miniature of him, which
Hayley mentions as particularly successful." We may
certainly agree with Gilchrist that " It would be an inter-
esting one to see, for its painter's sake, and for the subject
— the faithful kinsman and attendant with whom the
Letters of Cowper have put on friendly terms all lovers
of that loveable poet."* It has, however, disappeared,
no one knows where ; and whether it has been destroyed
in the process of time, or whether it still exists in some
private collection, it is impossible to say.
* Gilchrist : op. cit,, vol. I., p. 165.
COWPER AND BLAKE 43
In 1823 appeared the Hayley Memoirs, which Johnson
edited ; and in the same year was published the " Private
Correspondence of William Cowper, Esq., with several of
his most intimate friends," for which work Johnson,
then Rector of Yaxham with Welborne in Norfolk, was
also responsible. He died in 1833 at Yaxham.
While Blake was residing at Felpham, he did for
Hayley's library,
17 HEADS OF THE POETS,
life size, and among these was one of Cowper. They are
now preserved in the Art Gallery in Moseley Street,
Manchester. In addition Blake made two designs for
supports of a chimney-piece in Hayley's house. They
were illustrations of The Task, and the subjects were
" Winter," represented as a bearded old man, and
" Evening," a female spirit bearing a poppy wand.*
Between the period of the publication of the first two
volumes of the Life of Cowper, and of the third volume,
there occurred the episode of Blake's encounter with the
drunken soldier,
SCOFIELD ;
and this event it was which led to Blake's becoming
acquainted with another intimate friend of Cowper's,
Samuel Rose, the " Couleur de Rose " of the correspond-
ence. Scofield having made himself objectionable, Blake
ejected him from the garden in front of his house. While
doing so, Blake not unnaturally vented certain expletives
appropriate to the occasion. The soldier and a
companion, with a poorness of spirit which says little fOT
their sporting instinct, brought a charge against Blake
of having uttered seditious language, though the lengthy
* Gilchrist : op. cit., vol. I., p. 166.
They are reproduced in Methuen's edition of Cowper's Poems.
44 COWPER AND BLAKE
statement with which they credited him, partaking as it
does of the volubility which one associates with alcoholic
tendencies, seems very poor evidence to have convinced
the magistrate before whom the charge was made that
Blake must stand his trial for high treason. Yet so it
fell out ; and Hayley, zealous of his friend's interest,
engaged the services of
SAMUEL ROSE,
at that time a barrister on the home circuit, as Blake's
counsel.
Rose, now in his thirty-eighth year, had made con-
siderable progress in his profession, and his prospects for
the future were bright. Born at Chiswick in 1767, he
migrated to Glasgow in 1784 in order to attend the
University. After three winters spent there, he went to
Edinburgh in order to study law, and while there he
become acquainted with Adam Smith, who was at that
time resident in that town. " Smith was so highly
pleased with the lively English student," says Hayley,
" young as he was, that as long as he resided in Edinburgh
he was constantly invited to the literary circle of that
eminent philosopher,"* It was while returning from the
north in January, 1787, that Rose called on Cowpef —
just before the poet was prostrated for the fourth time by
his recurring mental trouble. The friendship between
them remained unbroken ; " Cowper's cordial esteem and
tender solicitude for the prosperity of his young friend
have been extensively displayed in the letters addressed
to him "; while " the gratitude and veneration of Rose
towards the poet of Weston were like the feelings of an
excellent son to a most affectionate and illustrious father.
Whenever the talents and reputation of Cowper were
•Hayley's Life of Cowper, vol. III., p. 427. Edition of l8i2 (4 vols,).
COWPER AND BLAKE 45
mentioned in his presence, his eyes used to sparkle with
a fond, enthusiastic delight."* Thus Hayley, who says
further, " Our mutual attachment to Cowper led us to
become intimate and confidential friends, to each other."
No one can read Cowper's letters without realising the
depth of affection which he felt for Rose, and the intimacy
which was initiated by the visit in 1787 was rendered
still more close by the subsequent visits which Rose was
able to pay the poet at Weston. It was Rose who helped
to lighten the burden of the journey to Eartham ; and
it was "Mr. Rose's door " at which Cowper and Mrs.
Unwin called a halt on their way back again to Weston,
In 1794, when the King granted the pension of £300 a
year to Cowper, it was made payable to Rose as his
trustee ; and finally, in the early days of April, 1800,
Rose was one of the last of Cowper's circle of friends to
see him shortly before his death.
Rose was called to the Bar in 1796, so that when he
appeared at the Sussex sessions to defend Blake, he had
already had nearly eight years of professional experience.
He was constitutionally delicate, and at this time he was
beginning to exhibit evidences of the insidious disease
from which he suffered. Even while he was engaged in
his speech on behalf of Blake, weakness compelled him
to desist for a time, and he concluded his speech with
difficulty. He succeeded, however, in obtaining a verdict
for his client, and proved to be, in Hayley 's phrase,
" the eloquent and successful advocate of innocence."
He is reported to have caught a severe cold on this
occasion, and from this time his health rapidly deterior-
ated. Later in the year Hayley met him on his way to
the sessions at Horsham, and says that " being greatly
shocked by his emaciated appearance, I earnestly entreated
• Hayley : op. cit., p. 440.
46 COWPER AND BLAKE
him to suspend his hazardous intention ; but impaired
as he was in bodily strength, his mind retained all its
energy without a particle of apprehension."* Rose, in
fact, exhibited, as we readily gather from Hayley's
account, what the older physicians denominated the
spet phthisici — for it was indeed pulmonary tuberculosis
or " consumption " from which Rose was suffering.
Poor Rose lingered until the end of the year (1804), when,
in the month of December, his fell disease overcame him.
Writing to Hayley just after Rose's death, Blake says,
" The death of so excellent a man as my generous advocate
is a public loss, which those who knew him can best
estimate, and to those who have an affection for him like
yours, is a loss that can only be repaired in eternity.
Farewell, sweet Rose ! Thou hast got before
me into the celestial city. I also have but a few more
mountains to pass ; for I hear the bells ring and the
trumpets sound to welcome thy arrival among Cowper's
glorified band of spirits of just men made perfect. "f
Hayley seems justly to have summed up his friend's
character when he says of him that he exhibited
Learning, and wit, and eloquence, and truth,
The patient thought of age, the zeal of youth. f*
Hayley's career had nearly been brought to a premature
conclusion just before the trial of Blake took place. He
was pitched from his horse, and, his head coming into
contact with a stone by the wayside, he sustained a rather
severe injury : to his doctor who came to his assistance,
however, he said very cheerfully, " My dear Machaon,
you must patch me up very speedily, for, living or dying,
I muat make a public appearance within a few days at
* Hayley : op. cit., vol. IIL, p. 432.
t The Letters of William Blake, edited by H. G. B. Russell, p. 1 54.
i* The Memoirs of William Hayley, vol. IL, p. 46.
COWPER AND BLAKE 47
the trial of our friend BlaKe, in your city."* He had
indeed sufficiently recovered from his injury to be able to
be present when the trial took place, and " to speak to
the character and habits of the accused." Blake writes
to him from London, whither he had returned immediately
after the trial, imploring him " never to mount that
wretched horse again," and asking Hayley to write him
" a line concerning your health ; how you have escaped
the double blow both from the wretched horse and from
your innocent humble servant. "f
It was not long after this that the association between
Blake and Hayley appears to have come to an almost
sudden termination. Most of the biographers of Blake
have blamed Hayley for Blake's determination to depart
from Felpham, and have poured out the vials of their
wrath on the unfortunate " Hermit " ; though there can
be little doubt that the trouble arose from Blake's
disordered subjective state, and was not due, at any rate,
to the extent which several have maintained, to external
conditions. Hayley' s conduct in regard to Cowper has
earned him the esteem and gratitude of those who realise
the efforts he made to alleviate the almost intolerable
affliction which was the portion of the poet during his
latter days ; and after his death he did what was in his
power to aid in the perpetuation of the fame of his friend.
There are probably few nowadays who read his Life
of Cowper, but it is to be remembered that subsequent
biographers have made use of it, and have rightly done so,
for Hayley was able to record personal impressions of
his friend, and those portions of his book will have a
lasting value.
• The Memoirs of William Hayley, vol. II., p. 46
t Letters of William Blahe, p. 137.
48 COWPER AND BLAKE
SWINBURNE,
in the wild welter of words in which he endeavoured to
delineate the characteristics of Blake, and which, not
without humour, he called " a critical essay," attacked
Hayley : it was extremely unlikely that he would take
the trouble to try to understand him. He certainly did
not understand Blake : and as for Cowper, the following
extracts will give some inkling of the ineptitude of which
Swinburne was capable. " What," he says, " could be
made of such a man [as Blake] in a country fed and
clothed with the teapot pieties of Cowper and the tape-
yard infidelities of Paine."* Or, still on the subject of
Cowper, — " He [Blake] was solicited to help in softening
and arranging for public inspection the horrible and
pitiful narrative of Cowper's life For the rest,
when out of the shadow of Klopstock or Cowper, Blake
had enough serious work on hand."t
A far safer guide than Swinburne, is
Mr. THOMAS WRIGHT,
whose Life of Cowper is the most comprehensive as well
as the best informed biography of the poet : while such
criticisms as those of Swinburne carry with them
their own condemnation ; and there is such an intemperate-
ness of expression generally to be found in this essay as
to shake one's belief in the utility of the poet turned critic.
That is, of course, if the essay was meant to be taken
seriously, or whether it was intended as a contribution
to thr+ species of paradoxical literature which, brilliant
and scintillating in the works of Wilde, is tending to
tiresomeness in the voluminous literary output of Shaw
and Chesterton.
* William Blake, by A. C. Swinburne, p. 5.
I Swinburne : op. cit., pp. 34, 35.
COWPER AND BLAKE 49
Gilchrist, however, who cannot be described as partial
to Hayley, is certainly just. "Blake's life at Felpham,"
he says, " was a happy one. In Hayley he had a kind
and friendly neighbour, notwithstanding disparity of
social position and wider discrepancies of training and
mental character. Hayley, the valued friend of Gibbon
in one generation, of Cowper in the next, whose reputation
then and subsequently was for a time in excess of his
literary deservings, has since been, even from a literary
point of view, just as proportionately despised — sneered
at with excess of rigour."*
" Literary acquirements like his," says Southey, " were
rare at that time, and are not common now ; and these
were not his only accomplishments. All who knew him
concur in describing his manners as in the highest degree
winning and his conversation as delightful. It is said
that few men have ever rendered so many essential acts
of kindness to those who stood in need of them. His errors
were neither few nor trifling ; but his good qualities
greatly preponderated. Hayley was a most affectionate
father, a most warm and constant friend."t
Dr. Garnett, dealing with the relationship between
Blake and Hayley in his monograph on the former, has
the following statement : " Hayley's patronage of so
strange a creature as he must have thought Blake does
him the highest honour. He appears throughout not only
as a very kind man, but, what is less usual in a literary
personage, a very patient one."t*
It will surely be evident that the endeavour to allocate
blame to Hayley for Blake's impetuous withdrawal from
* Gilchrist : op. cit., p. 155.
■f Southey's Cowper, vol. III., p. 66.
I* William Blake, Painter and Poet, by Richard Garnett, LL.D.,
p. 42. (" Portfolio Monographs "), London, 1895.
50 COWPER AND BLAKE
Felpham is certainlj' not justified by the facts. There
is no need to drag Hayley's merits or demerits as a poet
into the discussion, as Swinburne has done in a manner
which is truly pitiable when we consider the querulous
invective of the essay on " Blake." There is a zeal
which, however admirable in the poet, is apt to outrun
the discretion required by the essayist.
Nor is any advance made by another critic — a poet
also — who by attributing " intellectual imbecility " to
Hayley, allows his feeling for alliteration to overpower
the demands of reason. The same critic is, however,
compelled to admit of Blake " that he quarrelled with
many of his friends, with those whom he cared for most,
like Stothard and Flaxman."*
The case for Blake is not so weak that it is necessary
to abuse the other side : but it might be inferred that it
is in a parlous state if one is to judge of the procedure
which has been adopted. It has now come generally to
be believed that the " voices " which told Cowper that
he was lost beyond hope of redemption and impelled him
to repeated acts of self-destruction, were subjective in
their nature ; the alternative theory has proved almost
too horrible even for the most fanatical. Yet, when
Blake specifically informs us that he has been influenced
by " visions " and " voices," there are many who still
refuse to believe him.
There is yet room for
ANOTHER BIOGRAPHY OF BLAKE.f
which shall, while it acknowledges the great merits of its
subject as poet and as painter, deal with his associates
* William Blake, by Arthur Symons, p. 140 ; London, 1907.
t Mr. Thomas Wright, of Olney, secretary of the Blake and the
Cowper Societies, is at present engaged on a new and exhaustive
life of WilUam Blake.
COWPER AND BLAKE 51
more justly than has been done heretofore : and such
justice can only be done when prejudice has been overcome
in regard to Blake in the same manner as it has been in
the case of Cowper.
In regard to mental characteristics, there can be no
question that both Cowper and Blake provide material
for study which is of extreme interest. Though there
exists a certain similarity in so far as they both were
pioneers in the new movement towards simplicity in
poetry as opposed to the more or less stilted, antithetical,
pedantic style which preceded them, yet, apart from this,
they are found to be widely separated. Cowper, though
for the most part he wrote of rural sights and rural
sounds and the beauties of nature, is essentially a stylist,
a polished man of letters and of culture, a precisian in
regard to word and phrase : Blake, the Blake of the
" Songs of Innocence " particularly, is more spontaneous
if less polished, he owes little to culture, he is not always
meticulously careful of his scansion, yet the effect
produced by
SHEER GENIUS
is indubitable — and certainly more so for the majority
than even by the poetry of Cowper. Cowper feared and
shunned the busy haunts of life, craving the relative
solitude which, he felt, he could only find in the country :
Blake was essentially a town-dweller, and, save for the
comparatively brief visit to Sussex, he spent his life as
a denizen of London. Cowper's disposition was essentially
peaceable ; he was little inclined to disputations, preferred
to take the path of least resistance in controversial
questions. Blake was not timorous — ^he was outspoken
and fearless, and, as the trooper Scofield found to his
cost at Felpham, he could on occasion be belligerent.
Cowper appreciated keenly the aesthetic aspect of home-
»2 COWPER AND BLAKE
life, liked comfort, approved the welcoming of peaceful
evening in to the accompaniment of genial society, " the
bubbling and loud-hissing run " and " the cups that cheer
but not inebriate "; Blake cared little, in spite of his
artistic temperament — perhaps because of it — for his
immediate surroundings, as to whether they were elegant
or otherwise. It mattered little to him whether or not
there was even a sufficiency of food in the house, until his
faithful wife, finding the cupboard bare, placed the empty
platter silently before him : and it quite accords with
the general idea which one forms of him when one learns
that he, plain living and high thinking man, was wont
" to fetch the porter for dinner himself."
There were other traits in which they differed even more
radically. Cowper was oppressed by a sense of his own
unworthiness, and, during his melancholic periods, this
took an extremely morbid form. It is only necessary to
have but slight knowledge of his career to realise how
purely subjective this must have been ; for if ever there
grew the pure flower of a blameless life it bloomed in the
being of Cowper. There are many who call themselves
miserable sinners who would resent the aspersion if they
were so described by others : but Cowper, under the
tyranny of his morbid mental organisation, believed in
his unutterable wickedness. Writing in 1763, he says,
" If I was as unfit for the next world as I am unfit for
this — and God forbid I should speak it in vanity ! — I
would not change conditions with any saints in Christen-
dom." Thirty years later there is the same cry when to
Hay ley he says, " I am a pitiful beast " ; and to that
" egotistical pedagogue," Teedon, " I despair of every-
thing, and my despair is perfect, because it is founded on
a persuasion that there is no effectual help for me, even
COWPER AND BLAKE 53
in God." And in the last year of his life, when asked one
day how he felt, he replied, " Feel ? I feel unutterable
despair ! "
It must be remembered, of course, that this is only one
aspect of Cowper's life-history ; for in the intervals, when
free, or comparatively free, from his mental disorder, he
was cheerful and able keenly to appreciate the pleasures
of life, as anyone may easily learn from his correspondence.
Such a statement of the facts is only necessary for those
who, having but a slight acquaintance with the history
of Cowper's life, might be led astray by such misleading
statements as that of Swinburne, in which he describes
it as " horrible and pitiable." It is true that the latter
years of his life are almost entirely characterised by a
settled gloom — ^the period after his removal into Norfolk,
and especially after the death of Mrs. Unwin. In this
last phase the moments of happiness were but fitful ; the
tired brain was beyond the possibility of recuperation ;
and to Cowper, despairing of relief in this world and
hopeless of the future, death came as a relief from his
distress.*
Blake, on the other hand, was in this respect almost
the antithesis of Cowper.
HE BELIEVED IN HIMSELF
and in his powers as an artist and as a poet to a degree
which, in certain instances, his warmest supporters must
feel to have been exaggerated. Writing to Flaxman in
1800, he says, " I am more famed in Heaven for ray
works than I could well conceive those works
• The present writer has dealt at greater length with this aspect
in another place, v., " The Melancholy of Cowper," Westminster
Review, June, 191 1.
54 COWPER AND BLAKE
are the delight and study of the archangels."* To Butts
in 1802, he writes, " The pictures which I painted for you
are equal in every part of the art, and superior in one,
to anything that has been done since the age of Raphael ";
and in the same letter occurs this statement : " Nothing
can withstand the fury of my course among the stars of
God and in the abyss of the accuser."t
In the " misguided prose document," as Mr. Ellis
describes it, entitled " Public Address," which was
written about the year 1810, further instances may be
found of this same characteristic. Herein he describes
himself as "a mental prince "; and throughout this
strange document there is certainly no tendency to self-
abasement .f* It would not be difficult to add many similar
instances of this feeling of exaltation, for passages in the
same strain occur frequently. He is persecuted by
" blotting and blurring demons," but his great powers
enable him to overcome them ; the Almighty is on his
side and helps him — " He lays His hand upon my head,
and gives a blessing to all my work,"tt
The contrast with Cowper is indeed great. On the one
side there was hopelessness, abasement, apprehensiveness,
a "lying down in horror and rising up in despair," a
feeling of being damned beyond the possibility of reprieve,
when the morbid fit was upon him ; and eventually the
passage down into death, wrapped in silence, gloom, a
journey into the Slough of Despond, without the possibility
of Help coming to his aid to enable him eventually to
reach the Wicket Gate.
* Letters of Blake, p. 76.
t Ibid, pp. 102-106.
t* The " Public Address " is printed in Mr. Ellis's The Real Blake
(pp. 302-308).
tt Letters of Blake, p. 116.
COWPER AND BLAKE 35
Blake, on the contrary, was supported by the
BELIEF IN HIS OWN POWERS.
He was seldom troubled by feelings of doubt ; he was
assured of the help of the Almighty, even as Cowper felt
certain of His condemnation ; hardships and poverty
were insufficient to overcome him, and at the last, as he
lay on his death-bed, he sang " songs of joy and triumph."*
Not that he was completely without his periods of
depression. Despondent fits there were, but they were
usually transient, and were inevitably succeeded by the
feeling of exaltation, of satisfaction with his works, and
of self-appreciation.
Of Cowper' s opinion of Blake there is apparently no
record ; yet that he must have heard of him is certain,
for much of Blake's literary work had appeared while
Cowper was yet able to take an interest in such matters.
On the other hand, it is to be remembered that Blake's
poetry can hardly be said to have come into circulation
on account of the manner in which it was issued ; and it
was only at a later date that a wider circle of readers
was formed. We know, however, that Blake was con-
versant with Cowper and his work, and that, although
he did not know him personally, he respected and admired
him. In a letter to Hayley in 1804, he says, " Cowper's
Letters ought to be printed
IN LETTERS OF GOLD,
and ornamented with jewels of Heaven, Havillah, Eden,
and all countries where jewels abound "f : and again to
the same friend he writes, " I have the happiness of seeing
the Divine countenance in such men as Cowper and
Milton more distinctly than in any prince or hero."t*
* See Tatham's Li/e of William Blake.
t Letters of William Blake, p. 146.
\*Ibid, p. 156.
56 COWPER AND BLAKE
ONE OTHER CONTRAST
between the two poets may be noted, namely, that
whereas with Cowper the poetical tendency was late in
developing, in Blake it appeared early. It has already
been stated that Cowper's " Poems " appeared in 1782,
while the " Poetical Sketches " of Blake were published
in the following year ; but Cowper and Blake were
fifty-one and twenty-seven respectively when these
volumes appeared. Blake, too, had written most of
these poems years before they were thus published ; and
we are informed by Gilchrist that the verses which com-
mence, " How sweet I roam'd from field to field," were
written before he was fourteen.* Cowper retained his
poetical power even to the last year of his life, as " The
Castaway " bears witness, and his poetical career was,
as we have seen, after he had reached his fiftieth year.
Before Blake had attained his fortieth year his powers as
a lyrical poet had practically deserted him. His career
thenceforward was characterised by the ascendency of
the artistic and the " prophetic " faculties.
No record of the lives of Cowper and Blake would be
complete that did not contain some reference to the two
faithful women,
MARY UNWIN AND CATHARINE BLAKE,
whose lot it was to care for and to cherish these two gifted
beings. However unlike they were in social position, in
their surroundings, and in their ways, this they had in
common — that the greater part of their lives was passed
in the quiet, unassuming, unpretentious performance of
those duties which lay nearest to them ; in making
smoother the troublous ways along which those who were
* Gilchrist : op. cit., vol. I., p. 10.
COWPER AND BLAKE 57
their care had to pass, and in helping to render possible
those literary and artistic achievements for which we now
are grateful.
It was the sad fate of Mary Unwin, however, broken
in health and paralytic, to add in the last years of her
life to the misfortunes of her beloved poet for whom she
had done so much ; and finally she had to precede him
into the realms of Death, but not before the recollection
of her ministrations and the witnessing of her enfeeblement
had evoked from the poet the beautiful lines to " My
Mary." Catharine Blake, on the other hand, was able
to watch over her husband until the end came ; and one
of his last acts was the drawing of her portrait as he lay
on his death-bed, saying to her, " You have ever been an
angel to me ; I will draw you."
T
58 THE COWPER SOCIETY
Sir W. Ryland D. Adkins, M.P.
who spoke on " The Urbanity of Cowper," observed that
the poet was one of the most real and least artificial of
writers. It might seem curious that a meeting to celebrate
an English poet who wrote essentially of simple and riiral
matters, should be held in the very centre of the City
of London, but through all Cowper's writings ran a
thread of courtesy and true knowledge of the world
which counteracted the apparent incongruity. He was
constantly drawn by his sympathy into the interchange
of opinions ; and his work, especially considered as a
whole, possessed a quality which was lacking in those
who came later — in spite of the undoubted fact that the
great Victorian authors enlarged the scope of literature.
Urbanity was the distinctive characteristic of the
eighteenth century, and Cowper exhibited it to the full.
After reading an amusing extract from a letter to the Rev.
William Unwin, written on July 3rd, 1784, in which
Cowper commented on the increased taxation and the
recently introduced Budget, Sir R. Adkins remarked that
Cowper wrote what he felt, not what he was told he ought
to feel, and observed that his place in English literature
was secure and serene.
Mr. Cecil Cowper, J.P.
Editor of Th* Aoadetnt
dealt with " Cowper as a Letter-Writer," and commented
upon the difficulty of selecting from a storehouse so rich in
treasures. "On a general examination of the correspon-
dence," he said, " we note the extraordinary vivacity,
playfulness, and humour of the letters, written as they
were after periods of mental eclipse." " I am not here
referring," he continued, " to the letters dealing
THE COWPER SOCIETY 59
mainly with religious beliefs and speculations ; I acknow-
ledge their supreme value, their beauty, and the comfort
which they bring, but I am no competent critic to expound
them. I rejoice that they exist, and I think that in this
age their lessons are much needed, if indeed they are not
indispensable." Admitting that many of the letters,
except for literary elegance, are mainly on trivial themes,
Mr. Cowper wished that we had more such trivialities
at present, " in place of postcards and platitudes, or
ladies' postscripts." Cowper 's brilliant abilities were
constantly clouded, and the phases of his mind are
mirrored with extraordinary fidelity in his letters to
Lady Hesketh, William Unwin, and his other intimate
friends. The simple and natural explanation of the
beauty of the whole correspondence is "an innate
attraction and an unconscious sympathy between certain
natures, a quality which does not need difficult or
abstruse definition. Such influences and such sentiments
are easily referable to our common origin, and to the
human impulses which are implanted in us." In con-
cluding, Mr. Cowper expressed the hope that this meeting
of the Society would stimulate inquiry and revive interest
in some of perhaps the purest literature which exists in
our language.
Mist Margaret Omar
recited effectively Mr. John Payne's poem, "Cowper and
Newton."
The Lord Mayor
in summing up, and commending the object of the
gathering to the sympathy of the audience, neatly re-
marked that the measure of the audience's delight
should be indicated by its practical support, and that
60 THE COWPER SOCIETY
the measure of the Committee's dehght at a successful
meeting would be on similar lines. He earnestly hoped
that the £2,000 required for the purposes of the Museum
would be obtained.
After votes of thanks to the Lord Mayor, to those who
had delivered addresses, and to Miss Omar — brief
speeches being made by Mr. GEORGE AVENELL, Mr.
JOHN SOWMAN (one of the Trustees of the Cowper and
Newton Museum), the REV. W. J. LATHAM, and Mr.
FREDERICK ROGERS, the members and their friends
proceeded to St. Mary Woolnoth Church. Here they
examined the memorial to the Rev. John Newton, and
sang Newton's beautiful hymn " How sweet the name of
Jesus sounds." On the proposal of Mr. W. A. OKE, a
vote of thanks was accorded to the Rev. J. M. BROOKE,
M.A., Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, for kindly doing ail
in his power to make the gathering a success.
As the result of the Meeting at the Mansion House The
Cowper Museum Restoration and Endowment Fund, now
stands at £\6Q. This is not much towards the ;^2,000, still
it is a beginning, and the Trustees of the Museum sincerely
hope that many other persons will send donations.
APPENDIX
DR. FRAZER'S EDITION OF THE LETTERS
OF WILLIAM COWPER.
We cannot have too many selections from Cowper's
letters. A little while ago we had to welcome two editions
of Cowper's poems — issued respectively by Messrs.
Methuen and the Pitt Press. We now have the pleasure
of considering two volumes selected from Cowper's
Letters — made by Dr. J. G. Frazer for Messrs. Macmillan's
Eversley series. My edition of Cowper's Letters (4
volumes) published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton
in the spring of 1904, contained 1,041 letters — very many
more than the next largest edition — that by Southey.
But large as was the number in my work, some letters
have come to light since. Some were printed in Notes
and Queries, July and August, 1904, others in the preface
of Messrs. Methuen's edition of the Poems. There are
still a few letters that have not yet been printed. Of
some I have copies. Dr. Frazer has made his selection
entirely from the correspondence in Southey, conse-
quently he omits all the letters discovered during the
last fifty years. This is a pity. Had he asked my per-
61
62 APPENDIX
mission, I would with pleasure have given him leave to use
some of the material of which I own the copyright. Of
those of Cowper's letters printed by Dr. Frazer I shall
say nothing, except that every word that Cowper wrote
is precious.
In the memoir that opens the first volume, Dr. Frazer
has made several mistakes. Olney Church is not dedicated
to St. Mary as he states, but to SS. Peter and Paul (p. xxiv.).
In another place we are told that Moses Browne, Vicar
of Olney, " burdened with a large family, was an absentee
through debt." This is incorrect ; he was an absentee
because he had been presented to a fat living elsewhere
(p.xxvi.). Again, the market place had in Cowper's day
two fine elms, not three as stated on p. xxvi.
Dr. Frazer assumes that Thomas Scott is chiefly known
to fame as the author of an " elephantine commentary "
on the Bible, and that the greatest feather in Scott's cap
is his having "very nearly saved John Henry Newman's
immortal soul." But Scott's chief title to fame is not the
Commentary (of which, however, let no man speak
disparagingly), but the powerful tract The Force of Truth,
which is worth more than all John Henry Newman's
works put together — the absurdly over-rated Apologia
included. Then too. Dr. Frazer does not in the least
understand John Newton. He echoes the foolish old
cuckoo-cry about Newton's influence being deleterious to
Cowper. For the rest Dr. Frazer's memoir is a useful
summary of Cowper's career. The volumes are heartily
welcome, and I end as I began : we cannot have too many
selections from Cowper's letters.
THOMAS WRIGHT.
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