he was then only ten years of age-is a remarkable fact, as evincing the innate susceptibility of his nature; and other events that occurred, at a future and more matured period of his history, bear testimony to the same effect. His incessant attempts from this period to express his feelings in verse is also very illustrative of his whole future career. Indeed, so strong was this propensity of his nature, and so decided his predilection for poetry above prose, that he seriously maintained, in after life, that you were far more likely to convince an opponent, even in the way of reasoning, by clothing your ratiocinations in verse, than if you gave them with all the baldness and clearness of unadorned prose; an opinion which, whatever may be its absolute truth, was, at least, very significant of the native propensities, and long cultivated habits of him who expressed it.

Campbell's earliest attempts at verse were not of the first order-but they proceeded from a deeply sensitive mind-and being forwarded by an assiduous study of the best models, they eventually brought him out as one of the most pleasing and spirited versifiers that have, in any age or country, awakened by verse either the finer or the loftier aspirations of their contemporaries.

In considering the great love and admiration entertained for Campbell, both while a boy at school, and a student at college, some peculiarities of his appearance and age, as well as of his endowments and disposition, ought to be taken into account. He entered the university when he was but thirteen years of age he was small of stature even for one of that period of life-he was also of a very beautiful countenance-his whole appearance indeed was interesting and fitted to produce the impression that a most singular child had been permitted or ordained by heaven to take his place among men-and along with all this, there was in his temper, that mixture or alternation of kindness and of wildness, of sense and sensibility, of thoughtfulness and of eccentricity, which strongly rivetted attention, and awaked interest in all beholders. And when to all this it is added, that throughout every period of his youthful studies, he evinced himself to be a most apt and first-rate scholar, we cannot wonder that the beautiful and inspired boy was so universal a favourite that the area of the college, and the stove of the class room, were constantly resounding with the clever or eccentric things that Tom Campbell had said or writtenand that the highly accomplished professors under whom he studied did not hesitate to foretell that a great light was about to arise-and that the world would yet be charmed by the matured melodies of that voice whose first notes were met with such gratulations by the delighted voices of his young compeers.

It is generally known that Campbell made himself very notorious, while at college, by his fondness for satirical pasquinades. Several of these are still in circulation; but Dr. Beattie, with that impartiality and good taste which never fail him, has expressed his opinion of the whole in the following judicious paragraph:

"The satirical effusions' to which Dr. Duncan alludes, consisted of a series of pasquinades, in which the peculiarities of his opponents, physical

or intellectual, were touched off by young Campell with a rather free hand, but with a truth that could not be mistaken. Some of these swift-footed Iambics have fallen into my hands. They are certainly remarkable, as the unpremeditated efforts of his satirical Muse; but if I may venture to give an opinion, 1 should say they possess more force than delicacy. There is in his boyish satire weight of metal enough, and that, too, of the better quality; but the shaft is at times ill-pointed, and in its operation more apt -if I may so express it-to crush than to cut, when used as a weapon of offence. The wit is of an equivocal species; the humour of that dry, arch kind, in which, even to the latest period of his life, the Poet excelled; but I have discovered little or nothing in that particular vein, which would lead me to conclude that his forte lay in satire. All that he appears to have aimed at on such occasions, was to raise a laugh against his opponents; and in this aim he never failed. But of those who had rendered themselves obnoxious to his poetical shafts during his whole curriculum, several felt sore and complained bitterly. The wound was great because it was so small;' and one of them tells me, more than forty years afterwards, 'You will easily perceive that the satirical effusions, of which I have spoken, did not increase the intimacy between Campbell and myself.' It is pleasing to add, however, that the first who forgot these squibs was the Poet himself. They were framed without premeditation, discharged without malice, and were quickly dismissed from his thoughts. It is certain, however, that they were carefully remembered by one or two, whose resentment has survived

the Poet himself."

Of the effect produced by his more serious effusions, and the general respect and good-will entertained for him, the following is a just and satisfactory evidence :

"A lady, who well remembers the Poet's triumph, this session, mentions, in a letter to me, his warmth and tenderness of heart, his mature judgment, enlivened by sallies of wit and humour, which shone forth in numerous anecdotes. In personal appearance, he was not less remarkable for elegance, than for those high mental endowments which were every year acquiring greater force and finer polish. His specimens from Medea,' which hardly lost anything of their original beauty by his translation, gained for him the friendship and patronage of the professors. Among the students, at the same time, he was regarded as a prodigy, and often copied as a standard authority in the various branches of study and composition.

"This superiority, however, which in other cases would have excited jealousy, and alienated less gifted minds, had no such effect on that of young Campbell. His character, at once open-hearted, and open-handed, was destitute of anything like selfishness, and drew the circle of his friends more and more closely around him. Always disposed to help those who sought his assistance, he awakened in their minds a feeling of gratitude as well as of admiration. He was looked upon, not with envy but affectionnot as one who monopolized the prizes in every class, but as one whose talents reflected lustre upon the whole body of the Students. He spoke their sentiments, shared their sympathies, advocated their rights, and was regarded as their friend and representative-one to whom they could point with just pride and confidence, whenever the discipline of the University might be called in question, and say,— This is a youth after our own hearts -this is one of ourselves! "

We shall only quote another letter to the same effect, out of countless more that might be produced; it is from Dr. Wardlaw, a distin

guished contemporary of the poet-and will be much valued and refished by those who remember the peculiarities, the enthusiasm, the erudition, and the streaming sensibilities of the much-loved Professor Young. Speaking of Campbell, Dr. Wardlaw says

"Though comparatively small in stature, his youthful countenance was handsome and prepossessing, being characterised by intelligent animation and cheerful openness, yet capable of assuming, when not pleased, a gravity approaching to sternness. His manners were affable; his conversation was sprightly, facetious, and mirthful, with a spice of racy humour and wit. His scholarship was superior, and his taste in English composition, especially in his poetical translations, which were given in by him to the Professor, either as ordinary or as prize exercises, gave all the promise of the exquisite chasteness and elegance which his published works discover, and more than at that early age could have been expected.

"Seldom was our good Professor sublimed to an enthusiasm more extatic, than in reading to the class these compositions. Surviving fellow-students will see him before them, as if he had got on the very tripod of Delphic inspiration. They will remember how

"The big round tears hung trembling in his eye,"

and thence coursed down his cheek; and the difficulty he had to get words to utter the fulness of his delight, at particular portions that struck him as specially felicitious, in catching and bringing out, elegantly and loftily, the spirit of the original. That original, of course, in the mind of a Grecian, such as John Young, was not to be surpassed. And yet such was his ecstacy on these occasions, that one might have fancied young Campbell had almost got above it. Some of these translations have appeared in his works; and, especially, when the youth of the translator is taken into account, they fully justify the Professor's enthusiasm. With that Professor, I need not add, he was a mighty favourite; but the favour was justly bestowed, and it therefore stirred no grudge in the bosoms of his fellow-students. He was equally a favourite with them; and thus, in my experience, I have always found it. When there is no manifestation of undue partiality; and when a youth who attains eminence is known to attain it by productions which are bona fide his own-not those of a hireling tutor, or a literary relative; when he makes his way by the force of native genius, or the plodding of persevering industry-suis viribus nitens—the traducing malice of an envious jealousy will be found a rarity. He was caressed and cheered on, even by his competitors; and most generously and heartily of all, perhaps, by those who were next to him in the race."

It is probable, that the applause which he received as a Greek student at the university, contributed to deepen and to perpetuate his love of that language, throughout all his subsequent life. There was probably something in the original constitution of his mind, that favoured this predilection. At any rate, his love of Greek continued to be with him a ruling passion at all periods. He valued himself more, as we learn from several passages of this biography, as a proficient in Greek literature, than as an original and pre-eminently successful poet. When asked, on one occasion, to what religious sect he inclined, he jocularly replied, that he belonged to the Greek Church—and when asked, on another occasion, which of all his verses he considered to be the best, he replied, the verses on the view of the sea from St. Leonards:

"Here, Morn and Eve, with blushing thanks, receive
Their freshening dews, gay fluttering breezes cool
Their wings to fan the brow of fever'd climes,

And here the Spring dips down her emerald urn
For showers to glad the earth.

It has been wondered, that he should have given to these lines such a proud distinction-but the fact is, they are of the purest and highest kind of beauty-poetry in its finest form-and that poetry essentially of the Greek model. We don't at all wonder at the pre-eminence assigned them, for ever since we first read them, they have struck us in the same light; though, without the sanction of the Poet, we would not have ventured to express so decided an opinion. His assiduous study of the Greek dramatists, and, indeed, of all the finer and more recondite portions of Greek learning, had made him not only one of the best critics in the beauties of that language, but had completely imbued his mind with the peculiarities of thought by which the writers of that age are distinguished and as to Homer, he was, through life, the constant companion of the Poet. Homer and a pickled herring, he used to say, with that mixture of deep sensibility and of jocular playfulness, which always characterized him, were indispensable requisites at his breakfasttable. We could tell some other curious stories about his love for Homer, but we have no room for them at present.

We formerly remarked, that so completely had Campbell habituated his mind to rythmical expression, and, indeed, so natural, in some respects, did it seem to him, that he, at last, seriously, or, at least, half seriously, thought that men could reason better, or more triumphantly in rhyme than in prose. The idea was quite characteristic of the man, and the following short quotation may be given with this view. He had composed, at a late period of his life, a poem on "the power of Russia:"

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"A strange subject for verse,' he adds: but I begin to think that men reason better in verse than in prose-in rhyme than in reason.' To account for this new opinion, he says- I had been for weeks trying to hammer into the head of my friend, Dr. Madden, my views as to the danger of the world from Russia-and to no purpose. But when, in reading the Poem to him, I came to the line

'The stripling giant, strengthening year by year,'

he said- Now you have convinced me more than by all that you ever said in prose.' Here, then, a metaphor convinced a man."

Hitherto, Campbell, though a first-rate scholar for his age, and much talked of far beyond the limits of his immediate range, had seen nothing of the world but Glasgow, and its surrounding fields. His finances were exceedingly scanty; he was obliged to spend a considerable portion of his time in private tuition, and he was unable to afford the means necessary for accomplishing a journey to Edinburgh-though a wish to see that capital must often have been earnestly cherished by him. Already, however, along with his classical enthusiasm, he had begun to take a keen interest in public and political events, and was cherishing the first promptings of those liberal views, and of that strong detestation of tyranny, which characterized him through all his

future days. At last, his desire to see the metropolis of Scotland was rendered irresistible, by the approaching trials of Muir, Gerald, and others, who were then transported to Botany Bay-and those who have seen, as most of our readers probably have seen, a poor way-worn youth finishing, in an evening, his long and dreary walk of forty-four miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh, will deeply sympathise with the following narrative; which shows that the youthful poet, who was, after a few years, to be the most admired of all visitants to that capital, repeatedly performed the same toilsome journey, with the same scanty provision for its tediousness :

"While thus gravely considering the ways and means, it immediately occurred to me, that I had an uncle's widow in Edinburgh—a kind-hearted elderly lady, who had seen me at Glasgow, and said that she would be glad to receive me at her house, if I should ever come to the Scottish metropolis. I watched my mother's mollia tempora fandi-for she had them, good woman—and eagerly catching the propitious moment, I said—' Oh, Mama, how I long to see Edinburgh!-If I had but three shillings, I could walk there in one day, sleep two nights, and be two days at my aunt Campbell's, and walk back in another day. To my delightful surprise, she answered No, my bairn; I will give you what will carry you to Edinburgh and bring you back; but you must promise me not to walk more than half the way in one day'-that was twenty-two miles; ‘Here,' said she, are five shillings for you in all; two shillings will serve you to go, and two to return; for a bed at the half-way house costs but sixpence.' She then gave me--I shall never forget the beautiful coin !—a King William and Mary crown-piece. I was dumb with gratitude; but sallying out into the streets, I saw at the first bookseller's shop, a print of Elijah fed by the Now I had often heard my poor mother saying confidentially to our worthy neighbour, Mrs. Hamilton-whose strawberries I had pilferedthat in case of my father's death, and he was a very old man, she knew not what would become of her. But,' she used to add, let me not despair, for Elijah was fed by the ravens.' When I presented her with the picture, I said nothing of its tacit allusion to the possibility of my being one day her supporter; but she was much affected, and evidently felt a strong presentiment.' His mother's presentiment had its literal fulfilment; every reader will mark and feel the beauty of a passage, to which no commentary can do justice. Next morning,' continues Campbell, I took my way to Edinburgh, with four shillings and sixpence in my pocket. I witnessed Joseph Gerald's trial, and it was an era in my life.'

ravens.

We have already remarked, how susceptible the youthful Poet was, from his earliest years, of impressions that were not only strong but permanent. His infant visit to the scenery of the Cart, at once sobered his boyish levity, and led him to cultivate the seeds of poetry that nature had so liberally implanted within him; and now, in his sixteenth year, by his visit to Edinburgh, a similar alteration of character was produced, and those strong stirrings were aroused, which_burst forth afterwards, with such thrilling effect, in The Mariners of England, The Battle of the Baltic, The British Grenadiers, and in many others of his most influential lyrics:

"It was remarked by all young Campbell's associates, that his recent visit to Edinburgh had much altered his general deportment. His characteristie wit and sprightliness had almost evaporated; the gravity of his speech