BY HIS KINSMAN, JOHN JOHNSON, LL. D. RECTOR OF YAXHAM WITH WELBORNE, IN NORFOLK. His virtues form'd the magick of his song. COWPER'S EPITAPH. STEREOTYPED BY T. H. CARTER & CO. BOSTON. Boston: PUBLISHED BY TIMOTHY BEDLINGTON, No. 31, WASHINGTON-STREET. 1826. ᎢᏅ ᎢᎻᎬ RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL SPENCER. MY LORD, A GENERAL request having encouraged me to become the Editor of a more complete collection of the posthumous compositions of my revered relation, the poet COWPER, than has hitherto appeared, I consider it as my duty to the deceased, to inscribe the volume that contains them to his exalted friend, by whom the genius of the poet was as justly appreciated, as the virtues of the moralist were effectually patronized. It would be impertinent in me to attempt any new encomium on a writer so highly endeared to every cultivated mind in that country which it was the favourite exercise of his patriotick spirit to describe and to celebrate : but I may be allowed to observe, that one of the few additions inserted in this collection will be particularly welcome to every reader of sensibility, as an eulogy on that attractive quality so gracefully visible in all the writings of Cowper. Permit me to close this imperfect tribute of my respect, by saying, it is my deep sense of those important services, for which the afflicted poet was indebted to the kindness of LORD SPENCER, that impels me to the liberty I am now taking, of thus publickly declaring myself Your Lordship's PREFACE. Ir is incumbent on me to apprize the reader that, by far the greater part of the poems to which I have now the honour to introduce him, have been already published by Mr. Hayley. That endeared friend of the deceased poet having enriched his copious and faithful life of him with a large collection of his minor pieces soon after his death, and having since given to the world a distinct edition of his Translations from the Latin and Italian verses of Milton, every thing seemed to be accomplished that the merits and memory of a poet, so justly popular as Cowper, appeared to require. But of late years a fresh and detached collection of all his poems being wished for by his friends, I was flattered by their request, that I would present them to the publick as the editor of his third poetical volume. Having accepted this honourable invitation, my first care was to assemble as many of the editions of the two former volumes as I could possibly meet with, that nothing might be admitted into their projected companion which the publick already possessed in them. With one slight exception I believe I secured that desirable point. My next employment was to make such a copious but careful selection from the unpublished poetry of Cowper, which I happily possessed, and which I had only imparted to a few friends, as, while it gratified his admirers, might in no instance detract from his poetical reputation. I should tremble for the hazard to which my partiality to the compositions of my beloved relation exposed me in discharging this part of my office, if I did not hope to find in the reader a fondness of the same kind; and if I were not assured that a careless or slovenly habit, in the production of his verses, has never been imputed to the author of the Task. The materials of the volume being thus provided, the ascertaining their dates was my remaining concern. In a few instances I found them affixed to the poems by their author; a few more I collected from intimations in his letters; but in several, the difficulty of discovering them pressed upon myself. This was especially the case with the very interesting additional poem addressed by Cowper to an unknown lady on reading "the Prayer for Indifference." Of the existence of these verses I had not even heard till I was called on to superintend the volume, in which they make their first publick appearance. I am inclined to believe, that during the ten years of my domestick intercourse with the poet, they had never occurred to his recollection. He appears to have imparted them only to his highly valued and affectionate relative, the Reverend Martin Madan, brother of the late Bishop of Peterborough, from whose Common-place Book they were transcribed by his daughter, and kindly communicated to me. There being nothing in Mr. Madan's copy of these verses from which their date could be inferred, it was only by a minute comparison of the poem itself with the various local and mental circumstances, which his life exhibits, that I was enabled to discover the year of their production. The labour attending this and other instances of research, in which I have been obliged to engage for the purpose of ascertaining the dates of several minor poems, will be best understood by those who are practically acquainted with similar investigations. After all, there are some of which no diligence of mine could develope the exact time; but with the greater number I trust their proper order of succession h been carefully secured to them. |