England, in 1731. His father was
an English clergyman. His mother died when the child was only six years
old. Even as a youth, he was distressed by frequent mental attacks. He
once wrote pathetically: "The meshes of that fine network, the brain, are
composed of such mere spinner's threads in me that when a long thought
finds its way into them it buzzes, and twangs, and bustles about at such
a rate as seems to threaten the whole contexture."

In the previous sketch we related how the famous friendship between the
poet and John Newton led to the joint publication of "The Olney Hymns."
Newton's idea in suggesting this project was not merely "to perpetuate
the remembrance of an intimate and endeared friendship," as he states in
the preface of the noted collection, but also to occupy Cowper's mind,
which already had given signs of approaching madness.

In 1773, two years after the two friends had begun "The Olney Hymns,"
Cowper passed through a mental crisis that almost ended in tragedy.
Obsessed with the idea that it was the divine will that he should offer
up his life by drowning himself in the Ouse river, the afflicted poet
ordered a post chaise, and instructed the driver to proceed to a certain
spot near Olney, where he planned to leap into the river. When he reached
the place, Cowper was diverted from his purpose when he found a man
seated at the exact place where he had intended to end his life.
Returning home, he is said to have thrown himself on his knife, but the
blade broke. His next attempt was to hang himself, but the rope parted.

After his recovery from this dreadful experience, he was so impressed by
the realization of God's overruling providence that he was led to write
the hymn, "God moves in a mysterious way." It is regarded by many critics
as the finest hymn ever written on the theme of God's providence. James
T. Fields declares that to be the author of such a hymn is an achievement
that "angels themselves might envy."

That God had a purpose in sparing the life of the sorely tried man is
made clear when we learn that Cowper lived for twenty-seven years after
passing through this crisis. Although he continued to experience some
distressing periods, it was during these years that he wrote some of his
most beautiful hymns. Among these are "O for a closer walk with God,"
"Sometimes a light surprises," "Jesus, where'er Thy people meet," "In
holy contemplation," and "There is a fountain filled with blood."