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My dear cousin,

LETTER VII.

To lady Hesketh.

Huntingdon, Sept. 14, 1765.

The longer I live here, the better I like the place, and the people who belong to it. I am on very good terms with not less than five families, besides two or three odd scrambling fellows like myself. The last acquaintance I made here is with the race of the Unwins, consisting of father and mother, son and daughter; the most comfortable, social folks you ever knew. The son is about twenty one years of age; one of the most unreserved and amiable young men, with whom I ever conversed. He is not yet arrived at that time of life, when suspicion recommends itself to us in the form of wisdom, and sets every thing, but our own dear selves, at an immeasurable distance from our esteem and confidence. Consequently, he is known almost as soon as seen; and having nothing in his heart, that makes it necessary for him to keep it barred and bolted, opens it to the perusal even of a stranger. The father is a clergyman; and the son is designed for orders. The design however is quite his own, proceeding merely from his being, and having always been, sincere in his belief, and love, of the Gospel. Another acquaintance, I have lately made, is with a Mr. Nicholson, a north-country divine; very poor, but very good, and very happy. He reads prayers here twice a-day, all the year round; and travels on foot to serve two churches every Sunday through the year, his journey out and home again being sixteen miles. I supped with him last night. He gave me bread and cheese; and a black jug of ale of his own brewing, and

doubtless brewed by his own hands. Another of my acquaintance is Mr., a thin, tall, old man, and as good as he is thin. Being both early risers, and the only early walkers in the place, we soon became acquainted. His great piety can be equalled by nothing, but his great regularity; for he is the most exact timepiece in the world. I have received a visit likewise from Mr. He is very much a gentleman, wellread, and sensible. I am persuaded in short, that if I had had the choice of all England, where to fix my abode, I could not have chosen better for myself; and most likely, I should not have chosen so well.

You say, you hope it is not necessary for salvation to undergo the afflictions, that I have undergone. No! my dear cousin, God deals with his children, as a merciful father; he does not, as he himself tells us, afflict willingly the sons of men. Doubtless there are many, who having been placed, by his good providence, out of the reach of any great evil, and the influence of bad example, have, from their very infancy, been partakers of the grace of his holy Spirit, in such a manner, as never to have allowed themselves in any grievous of◄ fence against him.-May you love him more and more, day by day, as every day, while you think upon him, will find him more worthy of your love; and may you be finally accepted by him, for His sake, whose intercession for all his faithful servants cannot but prevail !

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Yours ever,

William Cowper.

My dear cousin,

LETTER VIII.

To lady Hesketh.

Huntingdon, Oct. 10, 1765.

I should grumble at your long silence, if I did not know, that one may love one's friends very well, though one is not always in a humour to write to them. Besides, I have the satisfaction of being perfectly sure, that you have, at least twenty times, recollected the debt you owe me, and as frequently resolved to pay it: and perhaps, while you remain indebted to me, you think of me twice as often as you would do, if the account were clear. These are the reflections, with which I comfort myself under the affliction of not hearing from you: my temper does not incline me to jealousy; and if it did, I should set all right by having recourse to what I have already received from you.

I thank God for your friendship, and for every friend I have for all the pleasing circumstances here, for my health of body, and perfect serenity of mind. To recollect the past, and compare it with the present, is all I have need of, to fill me with gratitude; and to be grateful, is to be happy. Not that I think myself sufficiently thankful, or that I ever shall be so in this life. The warmest heart perhaps only feels by fits, and is often as insensible as the coldest. This at least is frequently the case with mine. But the Mercy that can forgive iniquity, will never be severe to mark our frailties. To that Mercy, my dear cousin, I commend you, with earnest wishes for your welfare; and I remain your ever affectionate,

William Cowper.

LETTER IX.

To lady Hesketh.

Huntingdon, Oct. 18, 1765.

I wish you joy, my dear cousin, of being safely arrived in port from the storms of Southampton. For my own part, who am but as a Thames-wherry, in a world full of tempest and commotion, I know so well the value of the creek I have put into, and the snugness it affords me, that I have a sensible sympathy with you in the pleasure you find, in being once more blown to Droxford. I know enough of miss Morley to send her my compliments; to which, if I had never seen her, her affection for you would sufficiently entitle her. If I neglected to do it sooner, it is only because I am naturally apt to neglect what I ought to do: and if I were as genteel as I am negligent, I should be the most delightful creature in the universe.

I am glad you think so favourably of my Huntingdon acquaintance: they are indeed a nice set of folks; and they suit me exactly. I should have been more particular in my account of miss Unwin, if I had had materials for a minute description. She is about eighteen years of age, rather handsome and genteel. In her mother's company she says little; not because her mother requires it of her, but because she seems glad of that excuse for not talking, being rather inclined to bashfulness. There is the most remarkable cordiality between all the parts of the family; and the mother and daughter seem to doat upon each other. The first time I went to the house, I was introduced to the daughter alone; and I sat with her near half an hour, before her brother came in, who had appointed me to call upon him. Talking is necessary in a tête-à-tête, to

distinguish the persons of the drama, from the chairs they sit on accordingly she talked a great deal, and extremely well; and, like the rest of the family, behaved with as much ease, as if we had been old acquaintance. She resembles her mother in her great piety; who is one of the most remarkable instances of it, I have ever seen. They are altogether the cheerfullest and most engaging family-piece, it is possible to conceive.

Since I wrote the above, I met Mrs. Unwin in the street, and went home with her. She and I walked together near two hours in the garden; and we had a conversation, which did me more good than I should have received from an audience of the first prince in Europe. That woman is a blessing to me; and I never see her without being the better for her company. I am treated in the family, as if I were a near relation; and I have been repeatedly invited to call upon them at all times. You know what a shy fellow I am: I cannot prevail with myself to make so much use of this privilege, as I am sure they intend I should; but perhaps this awkwardness will wear off hereafter. It was my earnest request, before I left St. Alban's, that wherever it might please Providence to dispose of me, I might meet with such an acquaintance, as I find in Mrs. Unwin. How happy it is to believe with a stead, fast assurance, that our petitions are heard, even while we are making them; and how delightful to meet with a proof of it in the effectual and actual grant of them! Surely, it is a gracious finishing given to those means, which the Almighty has been pleased to make use of, for my conversion. After having been deservedly rendered unfit for any society, to be again qualified for it, and admitted at once into the fellowship of those,

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