A sight surpass'd by none, that we can shew!

A father blest with an ingenuous son,

Father, and friend, and tutor, all in one.

Had the constitutional shyness and timidity of Cowper been gradually dispelled by the rare advantage that he describes in these verses, his early years would certainly have been happier; but men, who are partial to public schools, will probably doubt, if any system of private tuition could have proved more favourable to the future display of his genius, than such an education as he received at Westminster. There, indeed, the peculiar delicacy of his nature might expose him to an extraordiary portion of juvenile discomfort, yet he undoubtedly acquired the accomplishment, and the reputation of scholarship; with the advantage of being known and esteemed by some aspiring youths of his own age, who were destined to become conspicuous, and powerful, in the splendid scenes of the world.

With these acquisitions, he left Westminster at the age of eighteen, in 1749; and as if destiny had. determined, that all his early situations in life should be peculiarly irksome to his delicate feelings, and tend rather to promote, than to counteract his consti

tutional tendency to melancholy, he was removed from a public school to the office of an attorney. He resided three years in the house of a Mr. Chapman, to whom he was engaged by articles for that time. Here he was placed for the study of a profession, which nature seemed resolved that he never should practice.

The law is a kind of soldiership, and like the profession of arms, it may be said to require for the constitution of its heroes

"A frame of adamant, a soul of fire."

The soul of Cowper had indeed its fire, but fire so re fined and ætherial, that it could not be expected to shine in the gross atmosphere of worldly contention. Perhaps there never existed a mortal, who possesing, with a good person, intellectual powers naturally strong, and highly cultivated, was so utterly unfit to encounter the bustle and perplexities of public life. But the extreme modesty, and shyness of his nature, which disqualified him for scenes of business and ambition, endeared him inexpressibly to those who had opportunities to enjoy his society, and faculties to appreciate the uncommon excellence of his interesting character.

Reserved as he was, to an extraordinary and painful degree, his heart and mind were yet admirably fashioned by nature for all the refined intercourse, and confidential delights both of friendship and love: but though apparently formed to possess, and to communicate, an extraordinary portion of mortal felicity, the incidents of his life were such, that, conspiring with the peculiarities of his nature, they rendered him, at different times, the most unhappy of mankind. The variety and depth of his sufferings in early life, from extreme tenderness of heart, are very forcibly displayed in the following Verses, which formed part of a letter to one of his female relations, at the time they were composed. The letter has perished, and the verses owe their preservation to the affectionate memory of the lady to whom they were addressed.

Doom'd, as I am, in solitude to waste

The present moments, and regret the past;
Depriv'd of every joy I valued most,

My friend torn from me, and my mistress lost;
Call not this gloom I wear, this anxious mien,
The dull effect of humour, or of spleen!
Still, still, I mourn, with each returning day,
Him snatch'd, by fate, in early youth away.

Sir William Russel, the favourite friend of the young poet.

And her---thro' tedious years of doubt and pain,
Fix'd in her choice, and faithful---but in vain!
0 prone to pity, generous, and sincere,

Whose eye ne'er yet

refused the wretch a tear;

Whose heart the real claim of friendship knows,
Nor thinks a lover's are but fancied woes;

See me---ere yet my destin'd course half done,
Cast forth a wand'rer on a wild unknown!
See me neglected on the world's rude coast,
Each dear companion of my voyage lost!
Nor ask why clouds of sorrow shade my brow,
And ready tears wait only leave to flow!
Why all that soothes a heart from anguish free,

All that delights the happy---palls with me!

When he quitted the house of the solicitor, where he was placed to acquire the rudiments of litigation, he settled himself in chambers of the InnerTemple, as a regular student of law; but although he resided there to the age of thirty-three, he rambled (according to his own colloquial account of his early years) from the thorny road of his austere patroness, Jurisprudence, into the primrose paths of literature and poetry. Even here his native diffidence confined him to social and subordinate exertions: He wrote and printed both verse and prose, as the concealed assisB

VOL. 1.

tant of less diffident authors. During his residence in the Temple, he cultivated the friendship of some eminent literary characters, who had been his schoolfellows at Westminster, particularly Colman, Bonnel Thornton, and Lloyd. His regard to the two first induced him to contribute to their periodical publication, entitled the Connoisseur, three excellent papers, which the reader will find in the Appendix to these volumes, and from which he will perceive, that Cowper had such talents for this pleasant and useful species of composition, as might have rendered him a worthy associate, in such labours, to Addison himself, whose graceful powers have never been surpassed in that province of literature, which may still be considered as peculiarly his own.

The intimacy of Cowper and Lloyd may have given rise perhaps to some early productions of our poet, which it may now be hardly possible to ascertain; the probability of this conjecture arises from the necessities of Lloyd, and the affectionate liberality of his friend. As the former was tempted by his narrow finances to engage in periodical works, it is highly probable that the pen of Cowper, ever ready to second the charitable wishes of his heart, might be de-voted to the service of an indigent author, whom he