-and you especially, who are of a compassionate temper,--will
be more ready, perhaps, to excuse me, in this instance, than I can be
to excuse myself. But, in good truth, it was abominable pride of
heart, indignation, and vanity, and deserves no better name."

Once more, however obsolete Cowper's belief, and the language in which
he expresses it may have become for many of us, we must take it as his
philosophy of life. At this time, at all events, it was a source of
happiness. "The storm being passed, a quiet and peaceful serenity of
soul succeeded," and the serenity in this case was unquestionably
produced in part by the faith.

I was a stricken deer that left the herd
Long since; with many an arrow deep infixed
My panting side was charged, when I withdrew
To seek a tranquil death in distant shades,
There was I found by one who had himself
Been hurt by the archers. In his side he bore
And in his hands and feet the cruel scars,
With gentle force soliciting the darts,
He drew them forth and healed and bade me live.

Cowper thought for a moment of taking orders, but his dread of
appearing in public conspired with the good sense which lay beneath his
excessive sensibility to put a veto on the design. He, however,
exercised the zeal of a neophyte in proselytism to a greater extent
than his own judgment and good taste approved when his enthusiasm had
calmed down.

CHAPTER III.

AT OLNEY--MR. NEWTON.

Cowper had not been two years with the Unwins when Mr. Unwin, the
father, was killed by a fall from his horse; this broke up the
household. But between Cowper and Mrs. Unwin an indissoluble tie had
been formed. It seems clear, notwithstanding Southey's assertion to
the contrary, that they at one time meditated marriage, possibly as a
propitiation to the evil tongues which did not spare even this most
innocent connexion; but they were prevented from fulfilling their
intention by a return of Cowper's malady. They became companions for
life. Cowper says they were as mother and son to each other; but Mrs.
Unwin was only seven years older than he. To label their connexion is
impossible, and to try to do it would be a platitude. In his poems
Cowper calls Mrs. Unwin Mary; she seems always to have called him Mr.
Cowper. It is evident that her son, a strictly virtuous and religious
man, never had the slightest misgiving about his mother's position.

The pair had to choose a dwelling-place; t