' WAYLEY’s LIFE AND POSTHUMOUS WRITINGS OF WILLIAM COWPER, 
457 
Arr. I. The Life and posthumons Writings of William Cowper, Esq. By Wituram 
Hay ey, Esg. 2 vols. 4to. 
GENIUS and virtue in union, never 
fail to excite the interest of all who con- 
template them; and when misfortune is 
added, all the sympathetic emotions are 
irresistibly called into action. This con- 
eurrence was exemplified in an uncom- 
mon degree in the late William Cowper ; 
whose poetical talents broke forth with 
a lustre that astonished all readers, while 
the tokens displayed jn his works of ex- 
alted piety and warm benevolence on the 
one hand, and of a deeply wounded spi- 
rit on the other, inspired general esteem 
and regret. Curiosity was powerfully 
awakened to the history of such a man; 
and as it was imperfectly gratified dur- 
‘ing his life, the public impatiently ex- 
"pected fuller information after his de- 
cease. Every one was apprised, that 
Various reasons of delicacy existed, which 
might prohibit an undisguised narrative 
of all that concerned him; but it was 
hoped, that enough of the veil might be 
drawn aside, to exhibit the true features 
of his singular character, and the prin- 
cipal circumstances by which it was form- 
ed. When it was understood that the 
pifice of his biographer had devolved 
_ Upon an eminent writer, who had enjoy- 
_ ed a great share of his intimacy, and 
, might be supposed to have obtained ac- 
_ ¢ess to all existing memorials respecting 
him, little doubt was entertained that 
a valuable and interesting publication 
_ would be the result. It is our gusiness 
% ‘to consider in what degree the general 
"expectation has been fulfilled in the work 
_ of making the subject, in a great mea- 
gure, his own historian, by interweaving 
im the narrative all his familiar letters, 
which relate the events of his life, or dis- 
lay the sentiments of his mind. This 
hod is lively and entertaining, and 
patries with it a strong impression of au- 
hénticity ; it has, however, obvious de- 
fects. Frequently, no one is less to be 
epended upon in the representation of 
"Incidents, or of principles and motives, 
than the person to whom they belong; 
and it $s Fort the sagacious and impar- 
tial biographer alone, that we can expect 
ch a statement, as shows the man as he 
really is, stript of the mask of self love, 
Further,the thread of narrative is broken, 
and all due proportion of length, to im- 
portance of matter, destroyed by such an 
intermixture. On the whole, we cannot 
consider it as a just model of this species 
of composition; and we are persuaded, 
that it will seldom be employed, unless 
where the biographer is conscious of a 
paucity of materials for his own share of 
the work, or of some nice and delicate 
points in the story, upon which he does 
not choose to express himself with the 
responsibility of an author. That the 
familiar letters of men of eminence are, 
of themselves, highly pleasing, no one 
will call in question ; or that they form 
excellent matter for the use of the bio- 
grapher, who may, with great advan- 
tage, introduce portions of them, as illus- 
trations of character and incident. It 
is only tothis chequered mode of min- 
gling them: entire, with the staple of the 
writer’s narration, that we venture to 
propose our objections. 
We have no right to suppose that Mr. 
Hayley has designedly sunk any informa. 
tion relative to the early history of the 
subject of his memoirs; but we must 
lament that this period of his life is 
passed over with a rapidity which leaves 
us in the dark, with respect to the most 
essential points in the formation of his 
extraordinary character. We are told 
of an extreme modesty and reserve in 
his nature, of a shyness and delicacy of 
feeling, that rendered a public school a 
scene of terror and torment to him; 
yet he passed with credit through this 
school, formed connections with such 
men as Colman, Lloyd, and Thornton, 
and, as we have reason to believe, 
mingled in. the pleasures and gaieties 
of the metropolis, rather distinguished 
by uncommon mirth and vivacity, than 
marked with the impress of pensive diffi- 
dence. Are we then to imagine that it 
was the influence of mere natural temper, 
which, at the mature age of thirty-one, 
rendered the idea of appearing, in an 
official station, at the bar of the house 
of lords, so distressing to his mind, as 
entirely to overwhelm his reason; or ra- 
ther, to conclude, that some previous cir- 
cumstance had so debilitated and derang- 
ed his nervous system, as to reduce him 
to the brink of that unhappv condition, 
