’ C O WL EY S Prose stamps him as a man of geniu s and an nnprover of the E nglishLangu age T HO MAS C AMP BEL L . T HE E SSA Y S O F 0 —w W I T H L I F E BY T HE E D I T O R . L UT T NS B R HUR D N E S A ND I L S R A I O Y D . OT , , AND O THE R S. 5 m m! (mutton. fi “ U V — J SCRIBNER WEL D . , FOR , AND 00 1869. — ' C HI SWIC K PR ESS I PR I NT E D BY W HI TT I NGHA M A ND WI L K I N S , T OOK S OUR T CHA N ER Y L AN E . C , C C O N T E N T S. PA G E ar Arm BI O G RA P HI C A L E SSA Y, Inr uonucr o ESSAY 1 Lib rt . Of e y II Of S litu de . o I I I Of Ob ur it . sc y V Of A ri ultur e I . g c V The Gar d en . VI Of Gr eatne . ss V II . Of Av arice VI II The an er an ne t Maninmu h m an . D g s of Ho s c Co p y IX Th Shor tn 5 i and Un er taint Ri he e e 3 L e . of f , c y of c s Th an er Pr c rastinati n X . e D g of o o X I Of M el . ys f X II A i ur e b wa Visi n n ernin the G v ernment . D sco s , y y of o , co c g o of Oliver Cr omw ell ’ ThejAuthor s Preface to C utter of Coleman Street A Pr opositionfor the Advancement of E xperimental Philosophy AY INTR ODUCT ORY AND ESS , HI AL BIO GR AP C . Abrah am Cowley w as buried in West i A a a and m nster bbey, ne r Ch ucer Spenser , h K C arles . a ula ing II pronounced or c rly , had That Mr . Cowley not left behind him ” Th a better man in England . e posthumous praise of ‘ a a princes is , w e must remember, one w y of p ying their debts ; and as Cowley had acted as secretary to either a and had a Ch rles , been so trusted th t he wrote much of r and w as ar their cor espondence in cypher, rew ded at all ma a slenderly, if , we y believe th t with the king a w a a u T w as 1 such excessive pr ise s n t ral . his in 66 2 ; and had at us in Cowley died the Porch Ho e Chertsey, in - i a his a e a i him the forty n nth ye r of g , le ving beh nd , as and we know , both better men better poets . It is in writing his life that Doctor Johnson com ai of l a and pl ns the penury of Eng ish biogr phy, does , one tells us at must confess , very little to enrich it . He th ’ a w as a . Cowley s f ther grocer , whose condition Dr Sprat conceals under the general appellation of a b A I N TR D UCTOR E O viii SS Y, Y m n ’ citizen : from the omission of his n a e in St . Du stans w as a a w as a register , it supposed th t thi s citizen f ther t atever w as a sectary . he , he died before his celebr ted and to a son w as born ; it is to his mother , who lived ’ a a e and a a gre t g , rejoiced in her son s f me , th t Cowley ’ n a o w ed his education a d position . In th t mother s la a and a window y volume of Spenser, re ding this he “ ” a a a as a . bec me irrecover bly poet , he himself rel tes w as a W a a He dmitted into estminster School , h ted gr m mar a he a a a , so th t never m stered or ret ined its ordin ry “ rules ; wrote The Tragical History of Pyramus and ” Th was a and a isbe , when he ten ye rs old, nother poem W at when he w as twelve . hile yet school he produced “ ’ ” “ a a comedy, Love s Riddle, but these le rned puer ” ilities a a , s ys the Doctor , dded little to the wonders of ” w ’ Co ley s minority . 1636 a a of In , Cowley went to C mbridge , wrote p rt the Davideis and a a a Naufra ium J , L tin pl y, the g ocu a and as a at v l re , Prince Ch rles , the beginning of the Ci il War a a w a , p ssed through C mbridge on his y to York, he “ ” w as a a a entert ined by the comedy of the Gu rdi n , “ - a and a rough dr wn by Cowley, repe ted by the stu h dents . T e attention or even the attendance of the was a a a prince enough to m ke the young poet roy list , and 1643 a Ma A w as in , he , being then ster of rts , , by a a a the prev lence of the P rli ment, ej ected from C am and a a bridge , soon fter followed the queen to P ris , a a and w where he bec me secret ry to Lord Jermyn , as employed in cyphering and deciphering the letters that a and an p ssed between the king queen , employmen t o f I A L A ND BI O GR A P H C . ix o w as the highest confidence and honour . S wide his ” “ n l a a a provi ce of intel igence , dds his biogr pher , th t it all a and . filled his d ys , two or three nights in the week a as and l as w as H rd he worked , usefu he , he seems to a as w as h ve been merely used j ust so long he useful , and during the whole of that time to have longed for n 1 5 w a leisure a d retirement . In 6 6 he s sent to Eng a l nd under pretence of seeking this retirement , but in n n re ality to be useful as a spy . Bei g seized i stead of a man w as a u l nother , he not rele sed nti he found security £ 1000 a a a of , he vy sum in those d ys , which he could not a and w as . a p y, which found for him by Dr Sc rborough . a a i a In the s me ye r he publ shed his poems , decl ring in a a had m the pref ce , th t his desire been for some t e a and i p st, did even now vehemently continue, to ret re A a a a and himself to some of the meric n pl nt tions , to for a h ” s ke t is world for ever . T a far his desire, of which Johnson spe ks too severely, “ a a w as v a w s ying , If his ctivity irtue, his retre t as ” w a Hi a as a . s a i l cow rdice, n tur l enough ess ys w l tell us how he loved retirement ; he w as sick of courts and courtly ingratitude ; and when he returned to his own had a w as country, stepped into prison . He obliged to a an a h sio and obt in order to be cre ted doctor of p y , to a ai a and pr ctise to g n subsistence, thereby irritated n “ . a a a a n some of his friends He went i to Fr nce g in , h vi g , “ a a a a s ys Johnson qu intly , m de copy of verses on ’ Oliver s death T he truth seems to be that Cowley a a i re lly did dm re Cromwell . His bond of security w as a and in a a a l never c ncelled, Fr nce , perh ps , he cted cold y E A Y I N TR 0 D UC T OR Y x S S , ’ a a to the king s p rty, though he rem ined there till the had a general delivery at the Restoration . He been m de at 1657 and at a Doctor of Physic Oxford in , the com mencement of the Royal Society he appears busy among the experimental philosophers with the title of Dr . a an s Cowley . He fitted himself for pr ctice by exten ive a and t a a study of bot ny, wi h question ble t ste tried to a a a and the displ y the qu lities of herbs in elegi c verse , uses of trees in heroic numbers . At a a a . the Restor tion , Cowley r ised song of triumph and . He had been promised by both Charles I .