She who had been so devoted, became, as her mind failed,
exacting, and instead of supporting her partner, drew him down. He
sank again into the depth of hypochondria. As usual, his malady took
the form of religious horrors, and he fancied that he was ordained to
undergo severe penance for his sins. Six days he sat motionless and
silent, almost refusing to take food. His physician suggested, as the
only chance of arousing him, that Mrs. Unwin should be induced, if
possible, to invite him to go out with her; with difficulty she was
made to understand what they wanted her to do; at last she said that it
was a fine morning, and she should like a walk. Her partner at once
rose and placed her arm in his. Almost unconsciously, she had rescued
him from the evil spirit for the last time. The pair were in doleful
plight. When their minds failed they had fallen in a miserable manner
under the influence of a man named Teedon, a schoolmaster crazed with
self-conceit, at whom Cowper in his saner mood had laughed, but whom he
now treated as a spiritual oracle, and a sort of medium of
communication with the spirit-world, writing down the nonsense which
the charlatan talked.
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