p. 10 and note. Cowper mentions this Epistle in his letter of July 9, 1785, informing Newton that the friends alluded to in line 56 were Thurlow and Colman (see Introduction, p. lv.). In the letter of November 20, 1784, he tells Unwin that the verses were written "on Wednesday last"; and that they form "a tribute so due that I must have disgraced myself had I not paid it. He ever serves me in all that he can, though he has not seen me these twenty years."

P. 365. The mottoes for Tirocinium were supplied to Cowper by his friend Bull. See Mr. Josiah Bull's Memorials of William Bull, p. 133. For Tirocinium, see Introduction, p. liii.

P. 367, 1. 11.

"Hers is" 1785-1793; "here is" 1795.

P. 376, 1. 435. Robert Lowth, 1710-1787, was Bishop of London from 1777, and declined the Primacy in 1783. His Lectures on Hebrew Poetry and translation of the prophet Isaiah are still remembered for their learning and poetic feeling. Lewis Bagot, fifth son of Sir Walter Bagot, Bart., and brother of the first Lord Bagot, was successively Bishop of Bristol, Norwich, and St. Asaph. He died in 1802. His mother was a daughter of the first Earl of Dartmouth, and he was therefore a cousin of the pious Earl, the friend of Newton and Cowper. For the other Bagot brothers, see the note to p. 477. P. 380, 1. 637.

"Proofs" 1785-1787; "proof" from 1788.

P. 387. John Gilpin :-(See Introduction, p. liii.), was first printed anonymously in the Public Advertiser, November 14, 1782, to which it was sent by Unwin. See the letter of February 13, 1783, to Hill (of which only part has been printed) where he says: "I have written nothing, at least finished nothing, since I published-except a certain facetious History of John Gilpin which Mr. Unwin would send to the Public Advertiser." The text in the Public Advertiser is the same as that in the second volume of the Poems, 1785, in which it was included after some hesitation on the part of the publisher Johnson. The poet suggested its appearance, rightly feeling that to make known his authorship of the celebrated ballad would gain him many readers in circles into which he was not otherwise likely to penetrate. Mr. Wright (ii. 13) states that the story of Gilpin was founded on the adventure of John Beyer, a Cheapside linendraper, and (ii. 16) that Cowper got the name John Gilpin from a tombstone in St. Margaret's, Westminster. The version originally sent to Unwin and headed "for P. A.," that is, for the Public Advertiser, is with an undated letter in the British Museum, where it is placed after the letter of November 4, 1782. It differs in the following details, none of them of much interest, from the version afterwards printed which is that given in the text. The title is, "The Entertaining and Facetious History of John Gilpin, showing how he went further than he intended and came safe home at last. To the Tune of Chevy Chase." In the last line on page 387 the MS. reads "which is so bright and clear."

P. 388, 1. 23. "When turning round his face " MS.

P. 389, 1. 1.
P. 380,

1. 3. P. 389, 1. 17.

P. 389, 1. 21.

P. 389, 1. 25.

P. 389, 1. 40.

P. 390, 1. 20.

P. 390, 1. 23.

P. 390, 1. 34.

"Each bottle had two curling ears" MS.
"And hung one bottle on each side" MS.
"So 'Fair and softly,' John did cry" MS.
as he must needs " MS.
"The horse, who never had before

Been handled in this kind,
Affrighted fled, and, as he flew,
Left all the world behind."

"As has been said" MS.
"As he had basted been" MS.

"For still the bottle necks were left

Both dangling at his waist." MS.

Note the old pronunciation of "balcony" with the

accent on the second syllable.

P. 391, 1. 1.

P. 391, 1. 14.

P. 391, 1. 17.

P. 391, 1. 18.

P. 391, 1. 24.

P. 391, 1. 34.

P. 392, 1. 2.

P. 392, 1. 6.

P. 392, 1. 9.

P. 392, 1. 25.

P. 392, 1. 33.

P. 392, 1. 39.

P. 393, 1. 4.

P. 393, 1. 11.

P. 393, 1. 12.

P. 393, 1. 13.

P. 393, 1. 15.

P. 393. The

"But, ah, his horse" MS.

"His neighbour in such a trim" MS.

The tidings tell " MS.

"Make haste and tell me all " MS.
"In merry strain” MS.

"A wig that drooped behind" MS.
“That hangs about your face” MS.
"And folks would gape and stare" MS.
"Then speaking to his horse he said" MS.
"Now Gilpin's wife, when she had seen MS.
"The youth did ride and soon they met ;
He tried to stop John's horse

By seizing fast the flowing rein,

But only made things worse." MS.
"He thereby frighted Gilpin's horse" MS.
"The lumber of the wheels " MS.

"And they and all that passed that way" MS.
"Soon joined in the pursuit" MS.

"But all the turnpike gates again" MS.

"The man still thinking as before" MS.

remaining poems of the second volume appear in the order of the edition of 1795, when, for the first time, those given here on pp. 393-406 were added, with the exception of that on p. 399, "Catharina, The Second Part," which, though not published till after the poet's death, I have placed here because it is best understood as a sequel to its predecessor. John Gilpin retains its original position at the end of the volume both in 1795 and in 1798.

P. 393. On the death of Mrs. Throckmorton's Bullfinch :-See the letter of November 11, 1788 (tacked on by Hayley (i. 320) to that of September 25), where Cowper relates the story and says "it will probably employ my versifying passion. Did ever fair lady from the Lesbia of Catullus to the present day lose her bird and find no poet to commemorate the loss?"

Mrs., afterwards Lady, Throckmorton, the "Mrs. Frog" of Cowper's letters, was Maria Catharine, daughter of Thomas Giffard of Chillington. Her husband, John Courtenay Throckmorton, the owner of Weston Hall, succeeded to his grandfather's baronetcy in 1791.

The portrait of Mrs. Throckmorton, reproduced by Mr. Vaughan Johnson's kindness, is by Downman, and was taken in 1783.

P. 394, 1. 12.

first in 1808.

P. 394, l. 14.

"Sweep up all" 1795, 1798, 1800; "sweep away"

"To bird" 1795, 1798, 1800, 1806. The common text

"of bird" dates from 1808.

P. 395, 1. 9. The earlier editions, 1795-1806, give the text as I have printed it. The common text first appears in 1808; and, though it is an improvement, I cannot feel sure that the improvement had the poet's authority. Here it is:

"Oh, had he made that too his prey!

That beak whence issued many a lay."

The correction was perhaps caused by the fact that as originally printed no stop was placed after "ta'en" thus making nonsense of the stanza. This mistake was however corrected before the reading disappeared.

P. 395. The Rose:-This piece was sent to Unwin on June 8, 1783, and is in the British Museum. There are no variations of text. The poet calls it "a song if you please, composed last Thursday" and adds, "the incident happened the day before." It was also sent to Bull on June 20th. Sainte-Beuve translated this piece in one of his essays on Cowper (Causeries du Lundi, xi. 168), and calls it "cette délicieuse petite pièce." P. 397. Catharina :-Catharina Stapleton, who married George Throckmorton in 1792. He had then taken the name of Courtenay. They lived at Weston Hall during the later years of Cowper's life. Cowper was from the first very fond of Miss Stapleton; in the letter of October 31, 1791, he says "my Catharina is at the Hall singing and playing like an angel." He was amused and delighted at the fulfilment of the wish he expresses not very obscurely in the last stanza of this piece, which was sent to "Maria," Mrs. John Throckmorton, with the letter of May 14, 1789.

P. 397, 1. 36.

P. 398, 1. 39.

P. 400, 1. 38.

So lately had witnessed" 1808 and afterwards. "Would be pleased" 1808 and afterwards.

"That first" 1808 and afterwards.

P. 401. The Faithful Friend:-The original version of this poem, as given in the editions 1795-1805, exhibits the following variations from the text given here which first appeared in 1808:

In the second line of the third stanza :

"Instinct is never quite suppressed";

in the first line of the last stanza :

"Who never knew the joys";

and the fifth stanza is given in this form :

"For, settling on his grated roof,

He chirped and kissed him, giving proof
That he desired no more;

Nor would forsake his cage at last

Till gently seized I shut him fast
A prisoner as before."

I have here, with some hesitation, departed from my general rule of giving the only text which must have had the poet's sanction. The later version is almost unquestionably from the hand of the poet; and, as the new stanza is certainly an improvement on the old, it seemed pedantry to refuse to adopt it. It may be added that the title The Faithful Bird, given by some editors, is not found in any of the editions 1795-1808 and, so far as I have noticed, appears first in Southey.

P. 407. On The Receipt, etc. :-See Introduction, page liii. This poem, and the next, for which see the letters of June 27 and July 5, 1783, and of February 26, February 27, 1790, were first printed, in 1798, without Cowper's knowledge or consent (see Letters of Lady Hesketh, p. 86), in a little volume containing nothing else. For Anne Bodham, the donor of the picture, see note to page 494.

The 1798 text, again, differs in certain respects from that adopted by the later editions from 1808; and I have again adopted the later version which is, in every case but one, an obvious improvement, and can only be by Cowper himself. We know from his letters that several copies of the poem were made for friends (see, for instance letters of March 8 and April 30, 1790) and he may easily have made slight alterations in some of these. The text of 1798 reads :

In P. 407, 1. 35.

407, 1. 37.

407, 1. 40.

408, 1. 39.

409, 1. 11.

409, 1. 14.

,, 409, 1. 18.

"The parting sound."

"A quick return."

"By disappointment every day."

"Few pleasant hours."

"Anchored at thy side."

"Me howling winds."

"But, oh, the thought."

And, in "The Dog and the Water Lily,"

410, 1. 25. "My ramble finished."

P. 412. On the Trial of Admiral Keppel :-This, and the three following poems, are given here from the MSS. in the possession of Mr. E. P. Ash. The verses are in the poet's hand; after those on Keppel and Palliser a note is added in John Johnson's hand "about the end of the year 1778." The poems have not been printed before, except in Mrs. D'Arcy Collyer's article in the Universal Review, June, 1890, and in Mr. Thomas Wright's Unpublished and Uncollected Poems of William Cowper, 1900.

Admiral Keppel, 1725-1786, was tried by court-martial in 1779 on a charge of misconduct, at the instigation of Sir Hugh Palliser who had been

his third in command in the operations against the French fleet the year before. He was acquitted and became the hero of the hour while Palliser's house was gutted by the mob. Palliser, then, demanded to be tried by court-martial himself, and was also, somewhat hesitatingly, acquitted. Keppel publicly stated that "the Vice-Admiral had behaved gallantly as he passed the French line," and it must be to this that Cowper alludes in the next poem.

An Address to the Mob, etc., see previous note.

P. 413. Printed from the Ash MS., and probably written before the version printed on p. 229, which exists among these MSS. with the title "Another on the same."

P. 414. "Methinks I see" etc. :-This curious fragment is another of the Ash MSS. It is written on the front of a Lace Manufacturer's bill (not a "Lace Buyer" as Mr. Wright says), the back of which has the Flatting Mill, also in the poet's hand. The bill is a clean sheet: no items are entered. It is headed in the usual printed form :

Mr.

Bought of James Nickolls,

Lace Manufacturer,

At Oulney, near Newport Pagnell, Bucks.

The rest of the page has nothing on it but these verses, and, after them, the words "after rain"; and below, "I fancy it will write very well." The whole is in the poet's hand.

Mr. Wright has printed it (without the last half-line), in his Unpublished Poems; but it appears here for the first time in a collected edition of the poet. It may be, as Mr. Wright suggests, a passage struck out of the Progress of Error.

P. 414. In Seditionem Horrendam, etc. :—Among the Unwin MSS. at the British Museum with the letter of June 18, 1780. The MS. agrees with the printed text.

The allusion is, of course, to the Gordon riots of 1780, and to a report, which Cowper believed, that they had been instigated by agents of France. P. 415. To the Rev. Mr. Newton :—A copy of this poem, taken by Hayley from the original, is among his letters to Lady Hesketh in the British Museum (Add. MSS., 30,803 B., fol. 60). He speaks in the same letter of a poem on the Queens of England and France which he would not print because he thought it unworthy of Cowper. I am not aware that this piece has ever been discovered.

P. 415. Riddle :-Among the Unwin MSS. at the British Museum with the letter of July 27, 1780. The MS. gives two additional lines.

P. 416. A Card:-These lines are in the British Museum with the letter to Unwin of February 27, 1781. They are written exactly as here printed. P. 418. To Sir Joshua Reynolds :-Among the Unwin MSS. at the Museum with an undated letter which is there placed after that of November 26, 1781. The MS. agrees with the printed text.