MSS. It gives, in the ninth line, "the bond that detains," instead of "these bonds that detain"; in the eleventh," the adamant chains” instead of "chain"; and in the fourteenth, "in thy beauty" instead of "in thy glories"; and I have followed these readings as Johnson notes on the MS. which is the same which contains the Latin Alcaics “Heu quam remotus": "The following verses were found in the handwriting of Cowper by Sam Roberts in an old paper book where he used to keep his accounts. They were sent to me by Mr. Courtenay, March 8, 1810." I have left Grimshawe's title, though none is given in the Welborne MS.

P. 473. Impromptu :-Among the Unwin MSS. in the British Museum and also among the Ash MSS. in each case as printed.

P. 474. To Mrs. King:-See the letter of October 5, 1790. Mr. Wright says that the quilt is now in the Cowper Museum at Olney.

Mrs. King, wife of the Rev. John King, Rector of Pertenhall, Beds, had been a friend of Cowper's brother, and, after reading The Task, opened a correspondence with the poet, which continued for several years. His first letter to her is dated February 12, 1788, and his last October 14, 1792. She died in 1793.

P. 475. Stanzas, etc. :-These stanzas allude to what the article on Milton in the Dictionary of National Biography calls "the disgusting exhumation in 1790 of what may have been his body."

P. 476. In Memory of the late John Thornton, Esq. :-For Thornton, see the note to p. 170, l. 253.

P. 477. The Four Ages:-This subject was suggested to Cowper by the Rev. John Buchanan. See the letters of May 11 and June 23, 1791. Only this fragment was written, but Cowper liked the subject and still thought of completing it when he wrote the sonnet to Hayley, printed on p. 499, which was written on June 20, 1793, in reply to a suggestion that he and Hayley should finish the poem together.

P. 477. To Rev. Walter Bagot:-Walter Bagot (1731-1806), Rector of Blithfield, was the third son of Sir Walter Bagot, Bart., brother of Bishop Bagot and of the first Lord Bagot. Another brother, Charles, who took the name of Chester, was Cowper's neighbour at Chicheley. Cowper wrote an epitaph on him at his death in 1792 (see p. 493). Walter Bagot and some of his brothers were the poet's contemporaries at Westminster School. See the note to p. 376.

P. 478, 1. 23. Several editions read "must have toiled," but both Hayley (ii. 173) and Johnson in the edition of 1815, give “much have toiled" which is obviously right.

P. 479. Yardley Oak. This poem was the most important discovery made by Hayley among the papers left by Cowper. With the MS. which is preserved in the Cowper Museum at Olney, is also the preface by Hayley (see Hayley, iii. 406), in which he quotes a letter written to him by John Johnson in reply to his announcement of its discovery. Johnson writes "Where could these 161 lines lie hid? Till this very day I never heard

of their existence." And Hayley adds: "It is indeed surprising Cowper never mentioned to any one of his most intimate friends the commencement of a poem on a subject that delighted him so much. It must have been written in the year 1791, as other poetical pursuits, particularly his translations from Milton, engrossed his attention in the course of that year." The MS., which is in the poet's hand and carefully put together with interleaved pages, shows, as usual, many corrections, and differs in a few details from the common text. The punctuation and the use of capital letters are, as always, irregular, and here as elsewhere I have followed other editors in adapting them to modern usage. I have not thought it necessary to print the words or passages which Cowper rejected and excised, but those who wish to see them can find them in Mr. Wright's Unpublished Poems. Mr. Wright does not mention, however, that the final version of the MS. exhibits some small variations from the common printed text. These will be found mentioned in the notes which follow.

P. 480, 1. 2. The printed text gives "relics" but Cowper wrote "relicts' " which is plainly right. The forks are not what remains of the ages, but what has been left behind by them. Hayley printed "relicts" correctly; Southey "relics."

P. 480, 1. 26. Here the MS. gives "busy searce" or scarce" which is presumably only a mistake for "search."

P. 481, ll. 9-18. Something like nonsense has been made of this passage by the way in which it has been punctuated, placing pause marks after treeship," 1. 10, and "globose," 1. 15, a full stop after "thee" in 1. 17, and a new paragraph at "what exhibitions." Before I saw the MS., my friend Mr. Bruce Richmond pointed out to me that the whole was one sentence, and I find that Cowper wrote it so, and with commas after "treeship" and "globose" and a pause mark after "thee." The new paragraph begins not at 1. 18 but at 1. 21. The confusion in this case began with Hayley, who was followed by Southey.

"Thee

P. 481, 1. 44. "And planked" is the common text, but the MS. gives "or planked." The mistake is again Hayley's, followed by Southey. P. 482, 11. 23, 24. "Whose foundation yet Fails not" is Hayley's and the common text. But the MS. gives the plural in both cases. P. 482, 1. 36. "Finds thee" is Hayley's and the usual text. finds" is that of the MS. which I follow with some hesitation. P. 483, 1. 9. The MS. places a comma after "once," but this is probably only a survival of the first version of the line which was "at once, with look intelligent, surveyed."

P. 483. Epitaph on Mrs. Higgins :-For this person, see the letter of June 26, 1791, from which it appears that she was an inhabitant of Weston who had died suddenly. Mr. Wright, in a note to the letter, says that these lines were written for her monument in Weston Church.

P. 487. On a Late Theft :-These lines were sent to Mrs. King in the letter of March 8, 1792. The young lady was her niece. There is a copy

of them among the Ash MSS. The poet there entitles the piece "To a Young Lady who stole a Pen from the P. of W.'s Standish." Bruce printed the lines in the Aldine edition, but, not having seen this title, was uncertain who "George" was.

P. 487. Lines written for Insertion, etc. :-See the letters of February 20, and March 4, 1792. The third and fourth lines were originally :— "But write in Patty's book one page

You gain your point for ever."

See also the letter of November 16, 1791. sister of Hannah More.

"Patty" was Miss Martha More,

P. 488. To Sir John Fenn:-These lines, which appear now for the first time in a collected edition of Cowper, are given here from the original MS. in the Welborne collection. They occur in one of the letters to John Johnson printed in the appendix to the Introduction, that dated March 31, 1792. They have been printed before in the Universal Review for June, 1890, and in the Unpublished Poems of Mr. Wright who says in his note: "It is unknown to what incident they refer." The letter, however, shows that Sir John Fenn, like Miss Patty More also mentioned in it, was a collector of autographs, or of bits of verse, and that Johnson thought it would please him to have a few lines from Cowper. Cowper's reply is a curious proof of his conscientiousness, even in these trifles.

In an unpublished passage of the next letter to Johnson, that of May 20, he says: "My dearest of all Johnnys, I send you the verses but I believe that had I known what I know now I should hardly have thought it a proper occasion for a compliment of this kind. As it seems to me, the good knight would have been perfectly well contented without it, having never solicited any such honour at my hands, and I am not fond of obtruding myself, especially on strangers. But it pleases you, and that consideration, though it does not prevent my blushes, satisfies all my scruples.”

There is also a copy in Cowper's hand among the Ash MSS., from which Mr. Wright printed the lines. Against it J. Johnson has written "the fair copy of this was sent to me in a letter from the author, dated May 20, 1792, and was forwarded by me to Sir John Fenn."

Sir John Fenn was an antiquary and F.S.A. The pedigree of the poet which is on the back of the Abbott portrait at Yaxham is described as "mostly collected from authentic papers in the possession of the family of Donne by Sir John Fenn, Knight and F.S.A." Sir John was the first editor of the Paston Letters.

P. 489. On a Mistake, etc. :-These lines occur, in Cowper's hand, in the letter to Hill, April 15, 1792. It is worth mentioning that the poet wrote "6 or rather bold misnomer," as the Globe edition prints "a rather bold."

P. 489. To William Wilberforce, Esq. :-This sonnet was originally sent to the Northampton Mercury with the letter of April 16, 1792, addressed to the printers of that paper.

Cowper was moved to make this public assertion of his sympathy with the great crusade of Wilberforce, by a report that he must be a friend to the Slave Trade as he did not give up the use of rum or sugar. See the letter to Mr. Rye of the same date.

P. 490, 1. 14. "Being his." Austen was a friend of Hayley, through whom he was consulted about Mrs. Unwin.

P. 490. To William Hayley, Esq. :-There is a copy of this Sonnet among the Ash MSS. but it exhibits no variations of reading.

P. 490. Lines Addressed to Dr. Darwin :-The "two poets" are, of course, Cowper and Hayley, who sent some lines to Darwin with these. See the letters of June 10, and 23, 1792, in the first of which the first draft of Cowper's verses is given. It consists of seven stanzas instead of the six of the final version. The various readings are as follows: Stanza 2, line 4, "By bringing forth their own." Then follow two stanzas, ultimately omitted, as follows:

"The verse that kindles meets a fire,

A kindred fire in them,

The numbers live that they admire,
And die that they condemn.

"Live thou-well pleased alike, thy song

With that award we greet,

Rich in embellishment as strong,

And learn'd as it is sweet."

In the last line of the fourth stanza the earlier version gives :

"At whose so soon as thine?"

And in the last line of the poem, it gives :

"Scarce worthy of his own."

Erasmus Darwin, a minor poet of some celebrity in his day, was Charles Darwin's grandfather.

P. 491. An Epitaph:-This, and the following, epitaphs are still faintly traceable on the urns in the Wilderness at Weston.

P. 492. Sonnet to Romney :-The original of this, in the poet's hand, is among the MSS. at Welborne in a letter to John Johnson dated November 20, 1792. Southey, and most editors, give "But this I mark" in the ninth line, instead of "Yet this I mark as given in the MS. The picture alluded to is of course the fine crayon drawing reproduced in the present edition.

""

P. 493. Epitaph on Mr. Chester, of Chicheley :-For Mr. Chester, who was a brother of Bishop Bagot mentioned in Tirocinium, and of the Rev. Walter Bagot, see the note to p. 477.

P. 493. On Receiving Hayley's Picture :-Among the Ash MSS. as

here.

P. 494. To my Cousin, Anne Bodham, etc. :-This lady, who sent Cowper

the portrait of his mother, which occasioned the poem on p. 407, was Anne Donne, daughter of Roger Donne, the brother of Cowper's mother.

She married the Rev. Thomas Bodham, of Mattishall Hall, Norfolk, and long surviving him, died at Mattishall in 1846, aged 97. In her later years William Bodham Donne, the friend of Edward FitzGerald, lived in her house and took care of her. He was the son of the niece whom she had adopted, Anne Vertue Donne. See William Bodham Donne and his Friends, by Catharine Bodham Johnson, 1905.

P. 495. To John Johnson :-For this matter of the bust of Homer, which is still at Weston, see the letter of July 10, 1793, printed in the Appendix to the Introduction; and the published letters of June 30, July 24, and August 15, 1793.

P. 495. Inscription, etc. :—It is not quite clear whether the English rendering is Cowper's or Hayley's. In the letter of August 27, 1793, Cowper speaks of " your translation" which seems decisive, but the letter of August 15 would suggest to most readers that Cowper had at least a hand in the translation of his lines. Hayley (ii. 142) says nothing as to the authorship.

P. 496. On a Portrait of Himself :-This refers of course to the portrait by Lemuel Abbott painted for Mrs. Bodham, which is now the property of the Rev. Canon Cowper Johnson at Yoxham Rectory. See the letter of July 15, 1792. Lemuel Abbott (1760-1803) was a frequent contributor to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy between 1788 and 1800. He was not a great artist but his portraits were remarkable for the perfection of their likenesses to the sitters. His best known portraits are that of Cowper here referred to, which John Johnson used to call "a capital map of the poet's face," and one which is said to be the best likeness of Nelson. The Cowper portrait, here reproduced at page 85, was painted in June or July, 1792, just before the poet went to visit Hayley at Eartham, where the Romney portrait was done. See the Life of Cowper prefixed to vol. iii. of John Johnson's edition, 1815.

P. 499. To William Hayley, Esq.:-This sonnet occurs among the Ash MSS. in the poet's hand. The MS. is corrected in some places, and, as the versions erased are not these found in the common text which is that given by Hayley (ii. 131) with the poet's letter of June 20, 1793, I am inclined to think that this Ash MS. shows, like so many of the others, only a first revision, and that Hayley's text is the final choice of the poet. And it seems natural that he should make his revisions before and not after sending his verses to Hayley who no doubt printed from the text sent in the letter to him. I have, therefore, not adopted the variations shown by the MS. which are :

In 1. 5.

In 1. 13.

"Oh for my youth again that I might share.”
"Others' eyes."