THE POETS AND POETRY OF SCOTLAND. PERIOD 1777 TO 1876. TH THOMAS CAMPBELL. BORN 1777 DIED 1844. HOMAS CAMPBELL, so justly and poetically called the "Bard of Hope," was born in High Street, Glasgow, July 27, 1777, and was the youngest of a family of eleven children. His father was connected with good families in Argyleshire, and had carried on a prosperous trade as a Virginian merchant, but met with heavy losses at the outbreak of the American war. The poet was particularly fortunate in the intellectual character of his parents, his father being the intimate friend of the celebrated Dr. Thomas Reid, author of the Inquiry into the Human Mind, after whom he received his Christian name, while his mother was distinguished by her love of general literature, combined with sound understanding and a refined taste. Campbell afforded early indications of genius; as a child he was fond of ballad poetry, and at the age of ten composed verses exhibiting the delicate appreciation of the graceful flow and music of language for which his poetry was afterwards so highly distinguished. At the age of thirteen he entered the university of his native city, and though noted for his love of fun and boyish mischief, he made great progress, especially in his clas sical studies. The example of Professor Young, a most enthusiastic and accomplished Greek scholar, was not lost upon the congenial mind of his pupil, whose poetical translations at this period showed not only his mastery over the Greek language, but the power he already possessed over his own. At a later period of life, when travelling in Germany, he availed VOL. II-A himself of the instructions of the celebrated Heyne, and attained such proficiency in Greek and the classics generally that he was regarded as one of the best classical scholars of his day. In speaking of his college career, which was extended to five sessions, it is worthy of notice that Professor Young, in awarding to Campbell a prize for the best translation of the Clouds of Aristophanes, pronounced it to be the best exercise wlrich had ever been given in by any student belonging to the university. In original poetry he was also distinguished above all his classmates, so that in 1793 his "Poem on Description" obtained the prize in the logic class. Amongst his college companions Campbell soon became known as a poet and wit; and on one occasion, the students having in vain made repeated application for a holiday in commemoration of some public event, he sent in a petition in verse, with which the professor was so pleased that the holiday was granted in compliment to his production. This incident was often referred to in after years by his affectionate mother, as the first-fruits of his poetical genius. For some years our author pursued his studies with the avowed object of entering the ministry, but circumstances of which we have no authentic account induced him to change his plan. He applied himself for a short time to business, but soon gave it up, to proceed to the Highlands as a private tutor. There he found a happy home, and beautiful and romantic scenery to delight his poetic fancy, and there we can trace the germs of his first great poem. In writing to his friend Hamilton Paul, Campbell had bemoaned his solitary lot in being so far removed from all his family and friends, and begged him to send him some lines calculated to cheer him. Paul sent him a piece consisting of twelve stanzas, entitled the "Pleasures of Solitude," accompanied by a letter, in which he says: "As you have almost brought yourself to the persuasion that you are an anchorite, I send you a few lines adapted to the condition of a recluse. It is the sentiment of Dr. Moore, that the best method of making a man respectable in the eyes of others is to respect himself. Take the lines, such as they are, and be candid, but not too flattering. We have now three pleasures, by first-rate men of genius: the 'Pleasures of Imagination,' the 'Pleasures of Memory,' and the Pleasures of Solitude,' let us cherish the 'Pleasures of Hope' that we may soon meet again in old Alma Mater." Trivial as was the hint contained in the foregoing, the circumstances under which it reached Campbell caused it to produce a powerful effect on his future career. Placed among the grandest scenery of Scotland, and without sufficient means of mental occupation, he spent much of his time in visiting the romantic localities of the neighbourhood, while the words “Pleasures of Hope" filled his mind, and at length ripened into the full fruition of his splendid poem. 66 Campbell had also tried the study of law, but after a brief experience of its drudgery he abandoned the idea of the legal profession; and in 1798 we find him in Edinburgh, along with his parents, in the hope of obtaining literary employment, and gaining a livelihood meanwhile by private teaching. And now," he says of himself, "I lived in the Scottish metropolis by instructing pupils in Greek and Latin. In this vocation I made a comfortable livelihood as long as I was industrious. the 'Pleasures of Hope' came over me. I took long walks about Arthur's Seat, conning over my own (as I thought them) magnificent lines, and as my Pleasures of Hope' got on my pupils fell off." At length his poem was completed and sold to a publisher for £60. On its appearance it was received with a universal outburst of admiration, and cdition after edition was rapidly sold. The But young poet of twenty-one was at once accorded an honourable position in the front rank of the poets of Great Britain. Though his reward was rather in celebrity than in pecuniary profit, Campbell was enabled by the publication of the "Pleasures of Hope," for each succeeding edition of which he received the sum of £50, to gratify his desire to see foreign lands. His choice settled upon Germany, already become famous in Scotland by its rising literature and the works of Wieland, Klopstock, Schiller, and Goethe. He crossed over to Hamburg and proceeded inland as far as Ratisbon, where he saw the conflict that gave to the French possession of that town, and which he describes in a letter to his brother. Amidst the uncertainties produced by the war the poet's rambles were brief and irregular. He returned to Hamburg, where he made the acquaintance of Anthony M'Cann, an Irish refugee who was accused of being a leader in the rebellion of 1798. Of this gentleman he formed a favourable impression, and his expatriation from his native land suggested one of Campbell's most exquisite poems. Our author finally settled for the winter at Altona, but the appearance of a British fleet off the Sound gave him sudden warning to provide for his safety. He therefore embarked in a small trading vessel for Leith; but, in consequence of being chased by a Danish privateer, the vessel put into Yarmouth for shelter. A trip to London naturally followed, where he was at once welcomed by the best society. Returning to Edinburgh by sea, after a brief sojourn in the capital, he writes in his memoranda of 1801: "A lady passenger by the same ship, who has read my poems, but was personally unacquainted with me, told me, to my utter astonishment, that I had been arrested in London for high-treason, was confined to the Tower, and expected to be executed! I was equally unconscious of having either deserved or incurred such a sentence." He found, however, on reaching Edinburgh, that this ridiculous report was circulating in the streets, and had reached the ears of his anxious mother. It was a wild period of rumour and suspicion, and he found that the fact of his having messed with the French officers at Ratisbon during the armistice, having been introduced to General Moreau, and having sailed as a that she has given to infants-a sweetness of smell more delightful than all the treasures of Arabia. What adorable beauties of God and nature's bounty we live in without knowing! How few have ever seemed to think an infant beautiful! But to me there seems to be a beauty in the earliest dawn of infancy, which is not inferior to the attractions of childhood-especially when they sleep. Their looks excite a more tender train of emotions. It is like the tremulous anxiety we feel for a candle new lighted, which we dread going out." Such was an event, which, though an important era in the life of every man, is especially so in that of a poet; and such is the description which none but a poet, and that of the highest order, could have so embodied. The above quotation is worthy of a place by the side of Campbell's best poetical productions. In 1805 the government granted him a fellow-passenger with an Irishman, had been amplified into a plot concocted between himself, the gallant Moreau, and the Irish at Hamburg, to land a French army in Ireland! He at once called upon the sheriff of Edinburgh, and found to his astonishment that he believed in his guilt, and that a warrant was issued for his apprehension. This was intolerable, and the poet could not help exclaiming, "Do I live to hear a sensible man like you talking about a boy like me conspiring against the British Empire?" He submitted to a strict examination, and a box of letters and papers which he had left at Yarmouth to be forwarded to Edinburgh, but which had been seized at Leith, was at the same time opened and carefully examined. But its contents soon put all suspicion at an end, for it contained nothing more treasonable than "Ye Mariners of England;" and the matter ended with a hearty laugh and a bottle of wine. In 1803 Campbell espoused his cousin Ma-pension of £200 per annum, one-half of which tilda Sinclair, and the same year settled in London, where his reputation secured him ample literary employment. Besides a magnificent quarto edition of the "Pleasures of Hope," by which he made £600, he published in three volumes a work entitled Annals of Great Britain, for which he received £300. In due course Campbell became a father; and we must quote the poet's own account of his feelings, which he describes with such beauty and tenderness. "Our first interview was when he lay in his little crib, in the midst of white muslin and dainty lace, prepared by Matilda's hands long before the stranger's arrival. I verily believe, in spite of my partiality, that lovelier babe was never smiled upon by the light of heaven. He was breathing sweetly in his first sleep. I durst not waken him, but ventured to give him one kiss. He gave a faint murmur, and opened his little azure lights. . . . Oh, that I were sure he would live to the days when I could take him on my knee, and feel the strong plumpness of childhood waxing into vigorous youth! My poor boy! Shall I have the ecstasy of teaching him thoughts, and knowledge, and reciprocity of love to me? It is bold to venture into futurity so far. At present his lovely little face is a comfort to me; his lips breathe that fragrance which it is one of the loveliest kindnesses of nature the poet settled on his widowed mother and unmarried sisters. Had Goldsmith met with similar good fortune, how different might have been his fate, and how many more the world-famous poems that would have borne his name! In 1809 "Gertrude of Wyoming," by many considered at the time the best of all Campbell's poems, was published. It met with unbounded applause, and raised its author to the highest pinnacle of his fame. At intervals between 1805 and 1809 the "Battle of the Baltic," "Hohenlinden," and "O'Connor's Child" had appeared in the periodicals of the day, and were greatly admired. A portion of his time was devoted to writing for the magazines; but perhaps the most agreeable and profitable of his labours was the delivery of a course of lectures on poetry at the Royal Institution, and which he afterwards re-delivered in some of the large cities throughout the kingdom. In 1814 Campbell visited Paris, when he was introduced to Wellington, Humboldt, and many other magnates assembled there at that time, and met his old friend and correspondent Madame de Staël. On his return from the Continent his friend Sir Walter Scott endeavoured to secure him a chair in the University of Edinburgh, but his efforts were not attended with success. In 1819 he published in London |