other food during that time than a small piece of bread dipped in wine and water. After every attempt to rouse him had failed, his medical attendant suggested, as the only remaining hope, that Mrs. Unwin should indirectly invite him to go out with her, if she could be induced to do this, for her state of mind now required almost as much management as his. She, however, perceived the necessity of making the experiment, and observing that it was a fine morning, said she should like to try to walk. Cowper immediately rose, took her by the arm, and the spell which had fixed him to the chair was broken. “This," as Southey observes, "appears to have been the last instance in which her influence over him was exerted for his good."

In February Mr. Johnson (Johnny of Norfolk) came to Weston, and assisted in attending on his kinsman as long as his professional duties permitted; and of the sad state into which Cowper had got we are informed by the following letter to Hayley, written by Mr. Greatheed, who continued to be a frequent visitor at the Lodge :

"NEWPORT PAGNEL, April 8, 1794. "DEAR SIR,-Lady Hesketh's correspondence acquainted you with the melancholy relapse of our dear friend at Weston, but I am uncertain whether you know, that in the last fortnight he has refused food of every kind, except now and then a very small piece of toasted bread dipped generally in water, sometimes mixed with a little wine. This, her ladyship informs me, was the case till last Saturday, since when he has

eaten a little at each family meal. He persists in refusing such medicines as are indispensable to his state of body. In such circumstances his long continuance in life cannot be expected. How devoutly to be wished is the alleviation of his danger and distress! You, dear sir, who know so well the worth of our beloved and admired friend, sympathize with his affliction, and deprecate his loss doubtless in no ordinary degree. You have already most effectually expressed and proved the warmth of your friendship. I cannot think that anything but your society would have been sufficient, during the infirmity under which his mind has long been oppressed, to have supported him against the shock of Mrs. Unwin's paralytic attack. I am certain that nothing else could have prevailed upon him to undertake the journey to Eartham. You have succeeded where his other friends knew they could not, and where they apprehended no one could. How natural therefore, nay, how reasonable, is it for them to look to you, as most likely to be instrumental, under the blessing of God, for relief in the present distressing and alarming crisis! It is indeed scarcely attemptable to ask any person to take such a journey, and involve himself in so melancholy a scene, with an uncertainty of the desired success; increased as the apparent difficulty is by dear Mr. Cowper's aversion to all company, and by poor Mrs. Unwin's mental and bodily infirmities. On these accounts Lady Hesketh dares not ask it of you, rejoiced as she would be at your arrival. Am not I, dear sir, a very presumptuous person, who, in the face of all opposition, dare do this? I am emboldened by those two powerful supporters, conscience and

experience. Was I at Eartham, I would certainly undertake the labour I presume to recommend, for the bare possibility of restoring Mr. Cowper to himself, to his friends, and to God."

193. Hayley's Third Visit.-April, 1794.

The kind-hearted Hayley no sooner received this letter than he resolved to go, though it was most inconvenient for him to do so, for he even had to borrow money for the journey. With his usual eccentricity, he took his maid Jenny with him as an attendant. Cowper, however, manifested no pleasure at his arrival, though after a few days he was willing to receive food from Hayley's hand, which he would take from no one else. Profiting by Hayley's presence, Lady Hesketh now left for London in order that she might have a personal conference with Dr. Willis, who had then a great name for his skill in such cases, and to whom Thurlow had been kind enough to write, requesting his attention to the unfortunate poet. Dr. Willis prescribed for Cowper, and paid a visit to Weston; but he could do very little good.

Hayley now sent for his son Tom, whom he had placed at a private school near Derby, Cowper having "twice spoken in a manner that seemed to indicate a wish to see him," and when the lad arrived Cowper shrank less from him than from the others. But that was all.

On the 23rd of April, whilst Lady Hesketh and Hayley were watching together over the sufferer, a letter from Lord Spencer arrived at Weston, to

announce the intended grant of a pension from the King to Cowper, of £300 per annum, rendered payable to his friend Mr. Rose, as his trustee. This intelligence gave the greatest gratification to the poet's friends, though at the same time their pleasure was mingled with pain, Cowper being too far gone to exhibit even a glimmering of joy. For this favour, it may be noted, Thurlow can have no credit, for nearly two years had passed since he had ceased to be Lord Chancellor.

Shortly after the arrival of the news of the pension Hayley was under the "painful necessity" of forcing himself from his unhappy friend. Though he appeared to take no pleasure in my society," says Hayley, "yet he expressed extreme reluctance to let me depart. I hardly ever endured an hour more dreadfully distressing than the hour in which I left him." Hayley never saw Cowper again. In the middle of May there came a letter from Mr. Clotworthy Rowley, containing congratulations on account of the pension, and an invitation to Ireland. Lady Hesketh, who replied to it on May 21st, told Mr. Rowley that Cowper was "utterly incapable of attending to anything;" and that he had not opened a letter, or suffered one even to be read to him since the second week in January.

Truly," she continues, “ as I lament the sufferings of this invaluable creature, I cannot wonder at them, as the close attendance he has paid to Mrs. Unwin for the last two years, and his unceasing assiduity to her ever since she had her last attack of the palsy, must have overcome spirits less tender and susceptible than those of my unhappy cousin. . . . All which the most lively

interest and affection could think of for his relief has been done, or attempted to be done; but in all attempts of this sort I find a terrible hindrance in the person of the poor old lady, who really seems to live only to counteract whatever schemes are planned for his benefit, and the recovery of his health and spirits." In quoting these letters of Lady Hesketh, it may be remarked that I have abstained from putting italics in most places where her words are scored. The curious practice of underlining, and unnecessarily, so many words in a letter, she seems to have copied from her father, in whose correspondence it was also a common feature. In this single letter to Mr. Rowley no fewer than seventy-seven words are underlined!

194. He Walks incessantly Backwards and Forwards. The Spring of 1795.

Lady Hesketh appears to have remained with her cousin all through the year 1794. Contrary to her fears, the winter was passed through very tolerably, she having been able to get him to employ himself with "little avocations, such as netting, putting maps together, playing with the solitary board, &c." But as spring came on he got worse again. Writing to Mr. Johnson on May 5th, she says: "He now does nothing but walk incessantly backwards and forwards, either in his study or in his bedchamber. He really does not sometimes sit down for more than half an hour the whole day, except at meal-times, when, as I said before, he takes hardly anything. He has left off bathing his