when he formed these wishes, seemed distant and improbable, some of them indeed impossible. Among other wishes that he had indulged, one was that he might be connected with men of genius and abilityand, in my connection with this worthy gentleman,” said he, turning to me, that wish, I am sure, is amply gratified.' You may suppose that I felt the sweat gush out upon my forehead when I heard this speech; and if you do you will not be at all mistaken. So much was I delighted with the delicacy of that incense."

From these extracts it will be seen that Cowper at first regarded Teedon as somewhat of a bore, though a decidedly amusing one; and it is quite certain that when he wrote the passages in "Conversation" about the teller of long-winded stories and the reciter of prodigies and complaints, he had Teedon in his eye. (See also to Newton, December 31, 1781.) At the same time, from the very first there was something in Teedon that both Cowper and Mrs. Unwin liked. They pitied and often relieved his poverty; and as for his weaknesses—his vanity and obtrusiveness—they good-naturedly got what amusement they could out of them, and passed them over.

About this time the religious part of the community were much exercised on the subject of Sunday-schools, which had lately been inaugurated by Mr. Robert Raikes, and were now becoming general. The honour of establishing a Sunday-school at Olney belongs to the Rev. Thomas Scott, and Cowper thus refers to it (September 24, 1785): "Mr. Scott called upon us yesterday; he is much inclined to set up a Sunday-school, if he can raise a fund for the purpose. Mr. Jones has

had one some time at Clifton, and Mr. Unwin writes me word that he has been thinking of nothing else, day and night, for a fortnight. It is a wholesome measure that seems to bid fair to be pretty generally adopted, and, for the good effects that it promises, deserves well to be so. I know not, indeed, while the spread of the gospel continues so limited as it is, how a reformation of manners in the lower class of mankind can be brought to pass; or by what other means the utter abolition of all principle among them, moral as well as religious, can possibly be prevented. Heathenish parents can only bring up heathenish children; an assertion nowhere oftener or more clearly illustrated than at Olney; where children, seven years of age, infest the streets every evening with curses and with songs, to which it would be unseemly to give their proper epithet. Such urchins as these could not be so diabolically accomplished, unless by the connivance of their parents. It is well, indeed, if, in some instances, their parents be not themselves their instructors. Judging by their proficiency, one can hardly suppose any other. It is therefore doubtless an act of the greatest charity to snatch them out of such hands, before the inveteracy of the evil shall have made it desperate. Mr. Teedon, I should imagine, will be employed as a teacher, should this expedient be carried into effect. I know not at least that we have any other person among us so well qualified for the service. He is indisputably a Christian man, and miserably poor, whose revenues need improvement, as much as any children in the world can possibly need instruction."

It may be noted that in the early days of Sundayschools the teachers were paid.

109. Various other Olney Folk.-May, 1785.

Previous biographers of Cowper have erred in ignoring Cowper's relations with his humbler neighbours at Olney. They have said much about his works, much about the history of poetry, much about his better-to-do contemporaries and his critics; but they seem to have lost sight of the fact that Cowper was a man as well as a poet. He continually took a keen interest in the little world around him-the little world of Olney. And not only so, but the very best passages in his poems are those descriptive of the simple folk amongst whom he dwelt. When Cowper takes upon himself to describe the Millennium his flight is by no means a satisfactory one; when he attacks Frederick the Great and other "royal mastiffs" he is apt to be dull; when he lunges at Thelyphthora he makes himself look foolish, and even his descriptions of cucumber-rearing, skilled as he was in that occupation, are only very mediocre reading. When, however, he touches upon the joys and sorrows of those about him, his verse has something of the divine fire. "Crazy Kate" and the "Lacemaker" are brilliants of the first water. "The Postboy," "The Woodman and his Dog," and "The Thresher" are second only to them; while as for the figures in his letters, "Mr. Ashburner," the Herculean draper; wrong-headed Nathan Sample, thirsty Geary Ball, poor Jenny Raban, James Andrews (my " Michael Angelo "), Tom Freeman the gingerbread baker, Wilson the barber, "the junior son of Molly Boswell," and a whole host besides, are they not as cleverly cut and as

familiar to lovers of Cowper as the characters in Dickens?

In May, 1785, three of these well-known figures were carried to their grave. On the 19th Cowper speaks of Geary Ball as a neighbour of ours "whose sole occupation, although he too is naturally ingenious, has centred in filling his glass and emptying it. He is now languishing in a dropsy, and in the prime of life, labouring under all the infirmities of age. He solaces. himself, I am told, with the recollection of somewhat that passed in his experience many years ago, which, although it has been followed by no better fruits than will grow at an alehouse, he dignifies by the name of 'conversion.' Sows are so converted when they are washed, and give the same evidence of an unchanged nature by returning to the mire. Mr. Perry, whose daughter he married, often visits him, but declares that of all the insensibles he ever saw, poor Geary is the most completely stupid. So long as he was able to crawl into the street, his journey was to the Royal Oak' and home again; and so punctual were we both, I in cleaning my teeth at my window, and he in drinking his dram at the same time, that I seldom failed to observe him. But both his legs are now blistered, and refuse to assist him in poisoning himself any longer."

In May Geary Ball died. At Geary's door, Cowper, looking out of his window, saw Mr. Ashburner standing "with a bundle of gloves and hatbands under his arm." The following day, again looking out of his window, Cowper saw Mr. Ashburner "march before the coffin, and lead the procession that attended Geary to the

grave." "He might be truly said to march, for his step was heroic, his figure athletic, and his countenance as firm and confident as if he had been born only to bury others, and was sure never to be buried himself." A week later and Cowper had to chronicle the death of Mr. Ashburner. "Mr. Ashburner, the elder, went to London on Tuesday se'nnight in perfect health and spirits, so as to be remarkably cheerful, and was brought home in a hearse the Friday following. When I first heard the tidings I could hardly credit them; and yet have lived long enough myself to have seen manifold and most convincing proofs, that neither health, great strength, nor even youth itself, afford the least security from the stroke of death. It is not common, however, for men at the age of thirty-six to die so suddenly."

On June 7, 1785, Cowper informs Newton of the death of "wrong-headed Nathan Sample" (the maltster), the same who had made himself conspicuous at the prayer-meetings at the Great House, but who had dulled his otherwise excellent character by the too eager pursuit of mammon. "We inquired," said Cowper, "but could not learn, that anything memorable passed in the last moments of poor Nathan. I listened in expectation that he would at least acknowledge what all who knew him in his more lively days had so long seen and lamented-his neglect of the best things, and his eager pursuit of riches. But he was totally silent upon that subject. Yet it is evident that the cares of this world had choked in him much of the good seed. I believe with you, however, that he is safe at home. He had a weak head and strong passions,