OF

WILLIAM COWPER, Esq.

COMPILED

FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE

AND OTHER

AUTHENTIC SOURCES OF INFORMATION:

CONTAINING

Remarks on his Writings,

AND ON THE

PECULIARITIES OF HIS INTERESTING CHARACTER,

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

BY THOMAS TAYLOR.

"Untainted with the blandishments of vice,
Which mark the manners of the present age,
He sought and found the pearl of precious price
Which stands recorded in the sacred page.
Yet, spite of all that wisdom could impart,
And all the fervour of religious flame,

Grief poured a tide of anguish through his heart,
And shook the fabric of his mental frame.”

LONDON:

SMITH, ELDER AND CO., CORNHILL.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY STEWART AND CO.

OLD BAILEY,

64-7

ΤΟ

R. D. ALEXANDER, Esq. F.L.S.

THE STEADY, DETERMINED, AND PERSEVERING

FRIEND OF HUMANITY,

This Life

OF THE AMIABLE, PIOUS, AND HIGHLY-GIFTED,

BUT DEEPLY-AFFLICTED POET,

COWPER,

WHICH OWES ITS EXISTENCE ENTIRELY TO HIS SUGGESTION,

Is most respectfully knscribed,

AS A SLIGHT, BUT SINCERE AND GRATEFUL,

TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM,

FOR THE NUMEROUS UNMERITED FAVOURS RECEIVED

FROM HIM,

BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.