P. 421. The Flatting Mill:-The Ash MSS. include a version of this piece in the poet's hand. It is a rough copy full of corrections. In some he has already arrived at the common text, that of the 1815 edition of Johnson; but in line 10 the MS. gives "the thumps and the blows of the goldbeater's mallet”; in line 12," from a delicate palate"; in line 14, "to press reformation," and the last two verses appear as follows: "His thoughts like the gold should be sterling and frue, "After all he must beat it and thump it as fine As the leaf that infolds what an invalid swallows, And, unless you disguise it, a nausea follows." Yet another version of the fifth stanza and first line of the sixth follows below in the MS. : "Before he can teach he must learn to delight, Smooth, ductile and even his fancy must flow, "After all he must hammer and work it as fine" P. 422. Friendship:-There are several versions of this poem. The first printed is that to be found in the little volume issued by Bull in 1801, which gives one or two original poems, and this among them, as well as the translations from Madam Guyon. Another is printed by Hayley, in his Life (1803), vol. i. 210; while he gives in footnotes the variations of another version he had before him. Among the Unwin MSS. in the British Museum (Add. MSS., 24,155, fol. 143) is yet another, and in the poet's hand. It is one of many cases which show how carefully he retouched his verses. It is not easy to say which was the final version he preferred. Southey gave that printed by Hayley in his text. Bruce prints Bull's version and incorrectly states that it is the same as that given by Hayley in his footnotes. On the whole I have thought it best to print the text of the MS. which gives thirty-five stanzas against the thirty-six of Bull and the thirty-one of Hayley and Southey, and seems to me in the majority of cases to be the best and therefore probably the latest version. I add the various readings, for those who wish to form their own judgment as to which is the best text. H. A. means Hayley's text; H. B. the version given in his footnotes: Bull is the 1801 text. P. 422, 1. 5. P. 422, 1. 11. Hayley A. "What virtue can we name or grace." P. 422. Second stanza H. A. reads: "But as the gem of richest cost Employs the utmost skill she can P. 422. Stanza 3. H. A. reads: "Some will pronounce me too severe, P. 422. Stanza 4, first two lines H. A. reads : P. 425, l. 16. P. 425, 1. 19. P. 425, 1. 20. P. 425, 1. 25. P. 425, 1. 26. P. 425, l. 31. P. 425, 1. 34. P. 425, 1. 37. P. 425, 1. 39. P. 426, 1. 1. P. 426, 1. 3. P. 426, 1. 5. P. 426, l. 7-18. P. 426, 1. 7. P. 426, 1. 8. P. 426, 1. 9. P. 426, 1. 9. P. 426, 1. 13. P. 426, 1. 19. P. 426, 1. 25. 66 "But even those who differ Only on topics left at large" Bull and H. B. " points which God has left." Bull and H. B. "at last." Unwin and H. A. "alas." H. A. omits this stanza. Bull "Some blemish in due time made known." H. A. omits this stanza. Bull and H. B. "That constancy befits them.” H. A. " a great building." H. A. "Could he by any chance forget." H. A. "The man who hails." H. A. "by thumping on your back." H. A. "Some friends make this their prudent plan.” But to communicate at all Things serious, deem improper. P. 426, 1. 27. H. B. and Bull : "No subterfuge or pleading Shall win my confidence again ; I will by no means entertain." P. 426, 1. 37. H. A. : "Pursue the theme and you shall find P. 426, 1. 38. H. B. and Bull: "Good sense and knowledge." P. 427, l. 1. H. A. :— "True friendship has in short a grace That proves it Heaven-descended. To last till life is ended." P. 427, l. 1. In place of this last stanza, Bull and H. B. give two as follows: "The noblest friendship ever shown Have not, it seems, discerned it. "O Friendship, if my soul forgo Or may my friend deceive me!" P. 427. The Pipe and the Snuff Box :-A MS. copy of this piece, not in Cowper's hand, is among the Welborne MSS. It exhibits no various readings. P. 428, 1. 1. A Simile:With the letter to Unwin of April 27, 1782, in the British Museum. It is there headed "The Curate's Simile Latinized" and Cowper after giving it proceeds to expatiate on the "dignity of the Roman language" and "the idea it gives us of the masculine mind of the people that spoke it." P. 428. To the Rev. Wm. Bull:-A MS. copy of this piece, made by Mrs. Greatheed, a friend of both Cowper and Bull, is among the Welborne MSS. It was sent to John Johnson "with Mr. Bull's consent to have it inserted." Its readings are as here. Southey and other editors give “It were but folly" in line 10. The verses were sent to Bull on June 22, 1782. Bull was a Nonconformist minister who lived at Newport Pagnell, a few miles from Olney. Cowper had a great affection for him and describes him to Unwin (June 8, 1783) as "a dissenter, but a liberal one; a man of letters and of genius: master of a fine imagination," and so on till the last words: "such a man is Mr. Bull. But-he smokes tobacco. Nothing is perfect-Nihil est ab omni Parte beatum." P. 430. The Colubriad :-The story told in these verses is also told in the letter of August 3, 1782. P. 431. To a Young Lady :-These verses were first printed by Mr. Bruce in the Aldine edition 1865. Canon Benham printed a slightly different version in the Globe edition. He obtained it from Mr. Charles Stuart; and states that it had originally been given by Lady Austen to the Rev. J. A. Knight. It reads, in the third line, "a hasty shower," and, in the fourth, "beg a refuge." Mr. Wright, in his Unpublished Poems, prints the same version as Mr. Bruce, and says the lines were given to him by Mrs. Hipwell, of Olney. He adds that the young lady |