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 by the admonitions of Drury. He appears, however, to have been for the rest of his life a good husband and father. The married pair lived in the old cottage at Helpstone with his parents.

Clare spent a few days in London with a brother-in-law of Gilchrist in April 1820. He dined at his publisher's table, met men of letters, and was perhaps less comfortable than in the servants hall. He was embarrassed hy a consciousness of his rustic clothes and manners, but made valuable friendships with Lord Kadstock and Mrs. Emmerson, who managed to put him at his ease. Clare returned, to be visited by many admirers, wise and foolish. Dr. Bell of Stamford, a retired surgeon of literary tastes, saw him after his return, and persuaded Taylor to get up a subscription for the benefit of Clare, with whose case Taylor joined that of Keats. Lord Fitzwilliam gave 100l., Taylor & Hessey an equal amount. A sum of 420l. 12s, was mvested from the fund, and produced about 20l. a year. Lord Spencer, at Bell's solicitation, promised 10l. a year for life; and thus with Lord Exeter's annuity Clare had 45l. a year secured to him.

In September 1821 appeared Clare's second book, 'The Village Minstrel and other Poems,' in 2 vols. The success was very moderate, a fact attributed by Clare's biographers to any cause but the obvious one, tnat the previous success had been greatly due to the author's position. Curiosity was now satisfied, and Clare's popularity declined. A visit to London in the spring of 1822 brought him the acquaintance of Thomas Hood, of H. T. Cary, the translator of Dante, and of an artist named Rippingills, who led him into some foolish dissipations. Clare paid two later visits to London (from May to July 1824, and from February to March 1828). In 1824 he saw Coleridge, Lamb, De Quincev, and Hazlitt, and mime a valuable friendsnip with Allan Cunningham. On the advice of Dr. Darling he became a total abstainer for some years, a system, it is said, rather injurious when combined with enforced ahstinenoe from nourishing food.

Clare was still miserably poor. His later literary efforts were commercial failures. In 1822 some of his songs were set to music by Crouch, and separately issued without advantage to him. His 'Shepherd's Calendar,' more carefully polished than his previous works, appeared in 1827, after long delays, without success. Clare, like more experienced authors, thought the publishers to buume, and had some unpleasant correspondence with Taylor, who seems to have been really kind and judicious. When he was in London in 1828, Taylor offered to let him sell the remaining copies of the 'Shepherd's Calendar' for his own profit. On returning, Clare advertised in the papers and hawked his books over the country to little purpose. He was entertained by admirers at Boston, but retreated from a public dinner, though his friends put a gift of 10l. in his bag (, 108). He afterwards contributed to annuals, especially Allan Cunningham's. According to Mr. Martin he found that stonebreaking would have been on the whole more profitable, but Mr. Cherry (p. 103) gives a rather better report. In 1825 he sent a poem to James Montgomery in imitation of Quarles and Wither. Montgomery published it in the 'Iris' (15 Feb. 825), and was inclined to believe it a genuine old poem. While helpless in the trade of literature, he was not more successful in the work from which he was distracted by writing. An attempt to secure a cottage with seven acres broke down, his trustees not having authority for such an investment, and his publisher declining to advance the money on the security of future work. Gilchrist cued in 1823, and the shock helped to bring on a serious illness. Lord Radstock died in 1825. Clare got occasional employment as a farm labourer. He starved himself to procure good food for his family; and his little library, chiefly of presentation copies, gave his cottage an appearance of comfort which helped to conceal his real distress. The servants at Milton Park (Lord Fitzwilliam's), Artis, an antiquarian butler, and Henderson, a botanist, were his friends and promised to get him some place on the estates. He took a small farm in 1827, which led to failure. Mossop, the vicar of Helpstone, was kind to him, and he was patronised by Mrs. Marsh, wife of the bishop of Peterborough. He took another farm in 1829 and succeeded better, till a bad season and an illness in 1831 brought fresh difficulties. A sixth child was born in 1830, and a seventh in January 1833. Lord Fitrwilliam who had seni Dr. Smith to attend him, gave him a new cottage at Northborough, three miles from Helpstone, in May 1832. He left his miserable home with great reluctance writing a pathetic poem on the occasion. Dr. Smith was now trying to get a new volume published by subscription. It was published Dv Mr. How as 'The Rural Muse,' in July 1835, and brought him 40l. The Literary Fund gave him 50l. about the same time (, pp. 11 5-16). Wilson ('Christopher North') praised him warmly in 'Blackwood's Magazine' for August 1835. Meanwhile Clare's health, never strong, was breaking down under freauent illness and continue priyation. He snowed symptoms of mental