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The stone-work of the dial, like that of the pedestal of Homer, was the work of James Andrews.

189. The Portrait by Lawrence and the Lines "To Mary."-October 8, 1793.

Cowper was now to have his portrait taken for a third time. He writes to Hayley on October 5th: "On Tuesday we expect company-Mr. Rose and Lawrence the painter. Yet once more is my patience to be exercised, and once more I am made to wish that my face had been movable, to put on and take off at pleasure, so as to be portable in a band-box, and sent to the artist."

Thomas Lawrence, the artist, afterwards Sir Thomas, was born in 1769; consequently at this time he was a young man of twenty-four. It may be added that he was knighted in 1815, that he became president of the Royal Academy, in succession to Benjamin West, in 1820, and that his death occurred in 1830.

In Lawrence's portrait, as in Romney's, the poet is represented in the cap which he was accustomed to wear in a morning, presented to him by Lady Hesketh, the same immortalized in his lines entitled "Gratitude":

"This cap, that so stately appears,

With ribbon-bound tassel on high,
Which seems by the crest that it rears
Ambitious of brushing the sky;

This cap to my cousin I owe,

She gave it, and gave me beside,
Wreathed into an elegant bow,

The ribbon with which it is tied."

Though Cowper somewhat dreaded the ordeal, yet the presence of the stranger did him good. Writing to Teedon on the 12th, he says: "I am amused; and having been obliged to take laudanum again to quiet my nerves and spirits, somewhat discomposed by their arrival, I have slept more composedly of late, and accordingly have for some days past suffered less from melancholy than I usually do."

Of this picture Lady Hesketh said: "Nothing can equal, as a resemblance (in my opinion) the sketch done by Lawrence! If the painter had not lessened the softness of the resemblance by heightening the animation it would have been perfect." (Unpublished letter, August 1, 1800.)

We may now observe that there exist altogether five different likenesses of the poet of which we know the history, namely

1. The shadow or profile taken by Mr. Higgins. The reduction from this by James Andrews is now in the possession of Mr. Hollingshead, of Olney. (See § 168.)

2. The oil-painting by Abbot. Painted in July, 1792, at Weston. (See § 175.) This painting is now in the possession of the Rev. W. Cowper Johnson, Rector of Northwold, near Brandon, Norfolk.

3. The portrait in crayons by Romney. Drawn in August and September, 1792, at Eartham. (See § 178.) Now in the possession of Henry Robert Vaughan Johnson, Esq., of 1, Elvaston Place, South Kensington.

4. The Sketch by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Drawn at Weston in October, 1793. I do not know where the original now is.

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5. A painting now in the possession of Earl Cowper, at Penshangar, Herts. It was painted after the poet's death, probably from the portraits by Abbot and Lawrence, and is ascribed to Jackson, R.A.

The portrait by Abbot was exhibited in the Guelph Exhibition in 1891. In the same exhibition were two paintings of the poet, one described as by G. Romney (half-length, life-size, to right, black coat, red cap. Canvas 30 x 24 in.); and the other as by L. F. Abbot (half-length, life-size, to left, looking upwards; black coat and grey waistcoat, white cap; his left hand thrust in his waistcoat. Canvas 30 x 24 in.). They were lent respectively by W. Percival Boxall, Esq., and G. P. Brice, Esq. Seeing that the true Abbot and the true Romney (the same that everybody is familiar with in engravings) are in possession of members of the Johnson family, one can only come to the conclusion that these two must be spurious. It may be remarked that they differ from the true pictures in size of canvas and dress as well as in the features.

In the Guelph Exhibition, too, was exhibited a miniature of Cowper inscribed with his autograph. Of its history its owner, Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, knows nothing except that it was formerly part of the collection of Lady Morgan. Most of the things in that collection were bought by Sir Charles Morgan in Paris, in 1830.

The health of Mrs. Unwin was again rapidly declining, and she at length sank into a state of second childishness. The worse she became, however, the brighter burned Cowper's affection for her; and it was in the autumn of 1793, whilst she was in this pitiable

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