ter, as Lady Hesketh, was in later days one of his most intimate
friends. In 1759 he received a small sinecure appointment as Commissioner
of Bankrupts, which he held for 5 years, and in 1763, through the
influence of a relative, he received the offer of the desirable office of
Clerk of the Journals to the House of Lords. He accepted the appointment,
but the dread of having to make a formal appearance before the House so
preyed upon his mind as to induce a temporary loss of reason, and he was
sent to an asylum at St. Albans, where he remained for about a year. He
had now no income beyond a small sum inherited from his _f._, and no aims
in life; but friends supplemented his means sufficiently to enable him to
lead with a quiet mind the life of retirement which he had resolved to
follow. He went to Huntingdon, and there made the acquaintance of the
Unwins, with whom he went to live as a boarder. The acquaintance soon
ripened into a close friendship, and on the death, from an accident
(1767), of Mr. U., C. accompanied his widow (the "Mary" of his poems) to
Olney, where the Rev. John Newton (_q.v._) was curate. N. and C. became
intimate friends, and collaborated in producing the well-known _Olney
Hymns_, of which 67 were composed by C. He became engaged to Mary Unwin,
but a fresh attack of his mental malady in 1773 prevented their marriage.
On his recovery he took to gardening, and amused himself by keeping pets,
including the hares "Tiny" and "Puss," and the spaniel "Beau,"
immortalised in his works. The chief means, however, which he adopted for
keeping his mind occupied and free from distressing ideas was the
cultivation of his poetic gift. At the suggestion of Mrs. U., he wrote
_The Progress of Error_; _Truth, Table Talk, Expostulation, Hope, Charity,
Conversation_, and _Retirement_ were added, and the whole were _pub._ in
one vol. in 1782. Though not received with acclamation, its signal merits
of freshness, simplicity, graceful humour, and the pure idiomatic English
in which it was written gradually obtained recognition, and the fame of
the poet-recluse began to spread. His health had now become considerably
re-established, and he enjoyed an unwonted measure of cheerfulness, which
was fostered by the friendship of Lady Austin, who had become his
neighbour. From her he received the story of John Gilpin, which he
forthwith turned into his immortal ballad. Hers also was the suggestion
that he should write a poem in blank ve