To the Rev. John Newton, Jan. 13, 1787. Inscription for Mr. Unwin's tomb; government of Providence in To Lady Hesketh, Jan. 18, 1787. Suspension of his his health; kindness of the Throckmortons To the same, Sept. 4, 1787. Delay of her coming; Mrs. Throckmorton's uncle; books read by Cowper To the same, Sept. 15, 1787. His meeting with her friend, Miss J-; new gravel-walk To the Rev. John Newton, Oct. 2, 1787. Cowper con- fesses that for thirteen years he doubted Mr. N.'s identity; acknowledgments for the kind offers of the Newtons; preparations for Lady Hesketh's coming To the Rev. John Newton, Oct. 20, 1787. His miserable state during his recent indisposition; petition to Lord Dartmouth in behalf of the Rev. Mr. Postlethwaite 265 To Lady Hesketh, Nov. 10, 1787. On the delay of her To the Rev. Walter Bagot, Dec. 6, 1787. B.'s sister at Chichely; Bishop Bagot; a case of ridi- dence between a piece of his own and one of Mr. Merry's; The Poet's New Year's Gift;" compulsory To the Rev. Walter Bagot, Jan. 5, 1788. Translation To Lady Hesketh, Jan. 19, 1788. His engagement with To the Rev. John Newton, Jan. 21, 1788. Reasons for To Lady Hesketh, Jan. 30, 1788. His anxiety on ac- To the same, Feb. 1, 1788. 280 his Homer; visit from Mr. Greatheed Causes of Cowper's correspondence with Mrs. King To Mrs. King, Feb. 12, 1788. Reference to his de- To Samuel Rose, Esq., Feb. 14, 1788. A sense of the value of time the best security for its improvement; Hannah More's poem on the Slave Trade; extract from To Lady Hesketh, Feb. 22, 1788. Remarks on Burke's 300 305 Cowper is solicited to write in behalf of the negroes To General Cowper. 1788. Songs written by him on the condition of negro slaves THE LIFE OF COWPER. Part the Second-Continued. THE Completion of the second volume of Cowper's poems formed an important period in his literary history. It was the era of the establishment of his poetical fame. His first volume had already laid the foundation; the second raised the superstructure, which has secured for him à reputation as honourable as it is likely to be lasting. He was more particularly indebted for this distinction to his inimitable production, "The Task," a work which every succeeding year has increasingly stamped with the seal of public approbation. If we inquire into the causes of its celebrity, they are to be found not merely in the multitude of poetical beauties, scattered throughout the poem; it is the faithful delineation of nature and of the scenes of real life; it is the vein of pure and elevated morality, the exquisite sensibility of feeling, and the powerful appeals to the heart and conscience, which constitute its great charm VOL. III. B |