Cowper
WILLIAM, an English poet; born in Berkhampstead, Nov. 15, 1731; was the great-nephew of the Lord- Chancellor Cowper. After completing his education, his family procured him the place of clerk to the House of Lords, but his nervousness and constitutional timidity were such that he was obliged to resign it. He now fell into so terrible a state of nervous debility that he was for some time placed in the lunatic asylum of Dr. Cotton. The skill and humanity of that gentleman restored him, and he retired to Huntingdon. Here he became acquainted with the family of the Unwins; and after Mr. Unwin's death he removed with Mrs. Unwin to Olney, Buckinghamshire. His natural melancholy colored his religious views and feelings, and he fell ofter. into the most painful despondency, but continued to write. In addition to translating Homer, he wrote "The Task," the best of all of his poems; "Tirocinium"; a host of smaller works; and his correspondence exhibits him as one of the most elegant of English letter-writers. He died in Norfolk, April 25, 1800.