HAYLEY

hayley, william (1745-1820), english writer, the friend and biographer of william cowper, was born at chichester on the 9th of november 1745. he was sent to eton in 1757, and to trinity hall, cambridge, in 1763; his connexion with the middle temple, london, where he was admitted in 1766, was merely nominal. in 1767 he left cambridge and went to live in london. two years later he married eliza, daughter of thomas ball, dean of chichester. his private means enabled hayley to live on his patrimonial estate at eartham, sussex, and he retired there in 1774. he had already written many occasional poetical pieces, when in 1771 his tragedy, _the afflicted father_, was rejected by david garrick. in the same year his translation of pierre corneille's _rodogune as the syrian queen_ was also declined by george colman. hayley won the fame he enjoyed amongst his contemporaries by his poetical _essays and epistles_; a _poetical epistle to an eminent painter_ (1780), addressed to his friend george romney, an _essay on history_ (1780), in three epistles, addressed to edward gibbon; _essay on epic poetry_ (1782) addressed to william mason; _a philosophical essay on old maids_ (1785); and the _triumphs of temper_ (1781). the last mentioned work was so popular as to run to twelve or fourteen editions; together with the _triumphs of music_ (chichester, 1804) it was ridiculed by byron in _english bards and scotch reviewers_. so great was hayley's fame that on thomas warton's death in 1790 he was offered the laureateship, which he refused. in 1792, while writing the _life of milton_ (1794), hayley made cowper's acquaintance. a warm friendship sprang up between the two which lasted till cowper's death in 1800. hayley indeed was mainly instrumental in getting cowper his pension. in 1800 hayley also lost his natural son, thomas alphonso hayley, to whom he was devotedly attached. he had been a pupil of john flaxman's, to whom hayley's _essay on sculpture_ (1800) is addressed. flaxman introduced william blake to hayley, and after the latter had moved in 1800 to his "marine hermitage" at felpham, sussex, blake settled near him for three years to engrave the illustrations for the _life of cowper_. this, hayley's best known work, was published in 1803-1804 (chichester) in 3 vols. in 1805 he published _ballads founded on anecdotes of animals_ (chichester), with illustrations by blake, and in 1809 _the life of romney_. for the last twelve years of his life hayley received an allowance for writing his _memoirs_. he died at felpham on the 12th of november 1820. hayley's first wife died in 1797; her mind had been seriously affected, and since 1789 they had been separated. he married in 1809 mary welford, but they also separated after three years. he left no children. hayley's _poetical works_ were published in 3 vols. (1785); his _poems and plays_ in 6 vols. (1788). see _memoirs ... of william hayley ... and memoirs of his son t. a. hayley_, ed. john johnson (2 vols., 1823) (containing many of hayley's letters); an article on these memoirs by robert southey in the _quarterly review_, vol. xxxi., 1825; _william blake_, by a. c. swinburne (2nd ed., 1868, pp. 28 et seq.); _life of william blake_, by alexander gilchrist (vol. i., 1880), with some of blake's letters to hayley; _the correspondence of william cowper_, arranged by thomas wright (vol. iv., 1904), containing many letters to hayley.