Note 118 — THE LIFE OF COWPER. PART THE FIRST. (continued 6)
Reading edition
As the reader may wish to see the lines to Sir Joshua, they are here supplied from the documents left by Dr. Johnson. Those to the Queen of France are not found.
TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
Dear President, whose art sublime Gives perpetuity to time, And bids transactions of a day, That fleeting hours would wait away To dark futurity, survive, And in unfading beauty live,— You cannot with a grace decline A special mandate of the Nine— Yourself, whatever task you choose, So much indebted to the Muse. Thus says the Sisterhood:—We come— Fix well your pallet on your thumb, Prepare the pencil and the tints— We come to furnish you with hints. French disappointment, British glory, Must be the subject of my story. First strike a curve, a graceful bow, Then slope it to a point below; Your outline easy, airy, light, Fill'd up, becomes a paper kite. Let independence, sanguine, horrid, Blaze like a meteor on the forehead: Beneath (but lay aside your graces) Draw six and twenty rueful faces, Each with a staring, stedfast eye, Fix'd on his great and good ally. France flies the kite—'t is on the wing— Britannia's lightning cuts the string. The wind that raised it, ere it ceases, Just rends it into thirteen pieces, Takes charge of every flutt'ring sheet, And lays them all at George's feet, Iberia, trembling from afar, Renounces the confed'rate war. Her efforts and her arts o'ercome, France calls her shatter'd navies home: Repenting Holland learns to mourn The sacred treaties she has torn; Astonishment and awe profound Are stamp'd upon the nations round; Without one friend, above all foes, Britannia gives the world repose.
[119] Private correspondence.
[120] The poem afterwards entitled "Heroism."—Vide Poems.
[121] Private correspondence.
[122] Mr. Smith, afterwards Lord Carrington.
[123] The lines alluded to are entitled "The Flatting Mill, an Illustration."
[124] Private correspondence.
[125] Cowper, though a Whig, vindicates the American war, keenly as he censures the inefficiency with which it was conducted. The subject has now lost much of its interest, and is become rather a matter of historical record. Such is the influence of the lapse of time on the intenseness of political feeling! The conduct of France, at this crisis, is exhibited with a happy poignancy of wit.
"True we have lost an empire—let it pass. True; we may thank the perfidy of France, That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown, With all the cunning of an envious shrew. And let that pass—'twas but a trick of state."
Task, book ii.
Cowper subsequently raises the question how far the attainment of Independence was likely to exercise a salutary influence on the future prospects of America. He anticipates an unfavourable issue. Events, however, have not fulfilled this prediction. What country has made such rapid strides towards Imperial greatness? Where shall we find a more boundless extent of territory, a more rapid increase of population, or ampler resources for a commerce that promises to make the whole world tributary to its support? Besides, why should not the descendants prove worthy of their sires? Why should a great experiment in legislation and government suspend the natural course of political and moral causes? May the spiritual improvement of her religious privileges keep pace with the career of her national greatness! What we most apprehend for America is the danger of internal dissension. If corruption be the disease of monarchies, faction is the bane of republics. We add one more reflection, with sentiments of profound regret, and borrow the muse of Cowper to convey our meaning and our wishes.
"I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd. No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart's Just estimation priz'd above all price, I had much rather be myself the slave, And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."
Task, book ii.