Discipline was deplorably relaxed in all colleges except
that of which Cowper's brother was a fellow. Pluralities and
resignation bonds, the grossest abuses of the Church, were perfectly
defensible in the case of any friend or acquaintance of this Church
Reformer. Bitter lines against Popery inserted in _The Task_ were
struck out, because the writer had made the acquaintance of Mr. and
Mrs. Throckmorton, who were Roman Catholics. Smoking was detestable,
except when practised by dear Mr. Bull. Even gambling, the blackest
sin of fashionable society, is not to prevent Fox, the great Whig, from
being a ruler in Israel. Besides, in all his social judgments, Cowper
is at a wrong point of view. He is always deluded by the idol of his
cave. He writes perpetually on the twofold assumption that a life of
retirement is more favourable to virtue than a life of action, and that
"God made the country, while man made the town." Both parts of the
assumption are untrue. A life of action is more favourable to virtue,
as a rule, than a life of retirement, and the development of humanity
is higher and richer, as a rule, in the town than in the country.
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