Table talk, and other poems, with illustr. by H.Weir [and others].

"His favourite topics are least insisted on in the piece entitled Table Talk; which therefore, with some regard to the prevailing taste, and that those who are governed by it may not be discouraged at the very threshold from proceeding farther, is placed first. In most of the large Poems which follow, his leading design is more explicitly avowed and pursued. He aims to communicate his own perceptions of the truth, beauty, and influence of the religion of the Bible-a religion, which, however discredited by the misconduct of many, who have not renounced the Christian name, proves itself, when rightly understood, and cordially embraced, to be the grand desideratum, which alone can relieve the mind of man from painful and unavoidable anxieties, inspire it with stable peace and solid hope, and furnish those motives and prospects which, in the present state of things, are absolutely necessary to produce a conduct worthy of a rational creature, distinguished by a vastness of capacity which no assemblage of earthly good can satisfy, and by a principle and preintimation of immortality.

"At a time when hypothesis and conjecture in philosophy are so justly exploded, and little is considered as deserving the name of knowledge, which will not stand the test of experiment, the very use of the term experimental in religious concernments is by too many unhappily rejected with disgust. But we well know, that they, who affect to despise the inward feelings which religious persons speak of, and to treat them as enthusiasm and folly, have inward feelings of their own, which, though they would, they cannot, suppress. We have been too long in the secret ourselves, to account the proud, the ambitious, or the voluptuous, happy. We must lose the remembrance of what we once were, before we can believe that a man is satisfied with himself, merely because he endeavours to appear so. A smile upon the face is often but a mask worn occasionally and in company, to prevent, if possible, a suspicion of what at the same time is passing in the heart. We know that there are people who seldom smile when they are alone, who therefore are glad to hide themselves in a throng from the violence of their own reflections; and who, while by their looks and their language they wish to persuade us they are happy, would be glad to change their conditions with a dog. But in defiance of all their efforts, they continue to think, forebode, and tremble. This we know, for it has been our own state, and therefore we know

how to commiserate it in others. From this state the Bible relieved us. When we were led to read it with attention, we found ourselves described. We learnt the causes of our inquietude—we were directed to a method of relief—we tried, and we were not disappointed. Deus nobis hæc otia fecit.

"We are now certain that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. It has reconciled us to God, and to ourselves, to our duty, and our situation. It is the balm and cordial of the present life, and a sovereign antidote against the fear of death.

"Sed hactenus hæc. Some smaller pieces upon less important subjects close the volume. Not one of them, I believe, was written with a view to publication, but I was unwilling they should be omitted.

"CHARLES SQUARE, HOXTON :

February 18, 1782."

"JOHN NEWTON.

The volume, which has been so often reprinted and has taken so high a place amongst our English classics, met at first with a cold and discouraging reception. The sale was very slow, and the critical notices were hostile or indifferent. Thus the Critical Review, for April 1782, says of it:

"These poems are written, as we learn from the title-page, by Mr. Cowper, of the Inner Temple, who seems to be a man of a sober and religious turn of mind, with a benevolent heart, and a serious wish to inculcate the precepts of morality; he is not, however, possessed of any superior abilities, or power of genius, requisite to so arduous an undertaking; his verses are in general weak and languid, and have neither novelty, spirit, or animation to recommend them; that mediocrity, so severely condemned by Horace, 'Non Dii non homines,' etc. pervades the whole; and while the author avoids everything that is ridiculous or contemptible, he, at the same time, never rises to anything that we can commend or admire. He says what is incontrovertible, and what has already been said over and over, with much gravity; but says nothing new, sprightly, or entertaining; travelling on a plain, level, flat road with great composure, almost through the whole

long and tedious volume, which is better than a dull sermon, in very indifferent verse on Truth, the Progress of Error, Charity, and some other grave subjects."

The Gentleman's Magazine, then in the zenith of its influence, was not altogether unfavourable. Its review was in the following words :-"We have perused with great pleasure, both the serious and the humorous pieces, the Latin and the English, of which this collection consists. The author we know to have been a keen sportsman in the classic fields of Westminster, and was a coadjutor with the celebrated Mr. Town in the Connoisseur." It sounds like a satire on contemporary fame that Cowper should be introduced and commended to public approval as having been "a coadjutor of the celebrated Mr. Town!"

The present volume is reprinted from the edition of 1782. The misprints and inaccuracies which have crept into many modern copies of the poems are corrected, and lines which read harshly or obscurely become clear and rhythmic when brought back to their true form. The vigorous passage on Romanism which was removed from the second edition is now restored to its place on page 129.

The notes and parallel passages are taken from a copy of the first edition of the Poems in the possession of Southey, and are in his handwriting. They have not been previously published, and add greatly to the interest of the present edition.