COLLEGE DAYS-THIRD SESSION-HYMN. ET. 16.] 103 where they had been many years established as merchants and planters. But to enter at large into the distracting hopes and disappointments, which at this time so painfully chequered our Poet's life, would be forestalling the interest of those letters, in which he has adverted to them with much feeling, and with a truth and candor never to be misunderstood or suspected. Still, however, a vague idea of church preferment seems to have kept its hold of his mind. Many little circumstances tend to show, though indirectly, that his studies inclined in that direction. He read Hebrew with other theological youths; familiarized himself with some of the "best divines," and wrote the following hymn on the Advent, which, so far as I know, is one of his original poems, which has never been publicly acknowledged. The Poet's copy, however, has an autograph inscription, stating that "he wrote it at the age of sixteen," consequently about the end of the previous autumn. The original, from which the following is a transcript, has been forty years in the possession of Dr. David Irving. HYMN. WHEN Jordan hushed his waters still, When Salem's shepherds, thro' the night, Wild murmuring, on the raptured soul. Her spirits to the midnight hour. On wheels of light and wings of flame, The glorious hosts to Zion came. High Heaven with sounds of triumph rung, O Zion, lift thy raptured eye, The long-expected hour is nigh- The Prince of Salem comes to reign! * In a letter, written only a few months before his death, he recalls the fact of having studied Hebrew at this time, in the following words: "I have met a very pleasant, well-informed, and agreeable man, the son of the professor of the Glasgow University, with whom, during my curriculum, I studied Hebrew.” See, Mercy, from her golden urn, He comes-HE cheers the trembling heart- The Prince of Salem comes to reign! T. C., at. 16. ET. 16.] THIRD SESION-CORREPONDENCE. 105 CHAPTER V. THIRD SESSION-CORRESPONDENCE. ONE of the first and most intimate acquaintances of young Campbell, at College, was James Thomson, a fellow-student from Lancashire, whose kindred genius and amiable disposition formed the bond of a friendship which increased with years, and continued, without interruption, until the Poet's death.* To this congenial friend, Campbell addressed most of his early letters; and from these I shall be readily excused for introducing a few extracts, such as will better illustrate the young Poet's character, than any commentary from the pen of his biographer. They are all written in the full candor and confidence of unreserved friendship, and exhibit a faithful picture of the warm heart, and brilliant intellect of the youthful writer. The second from which I shall quote, was written while residing in the immediate neighborhood of Glasgow, and engaged in a merchant's office, with the view of joining his brothers in Virginia. It appears, that "the employments" of the session had not been agreeable; but by employments is to be understood "the necessity of giving elementary instruction to others." In every other respect the session had been auspicious. Two prizes had been awarded to him; one for his poem on "the Origin of Evil;" and another for various translations from the "Clouds" of Aristophanes. His correspondence with Mr. Thomson begins thus: * "No distance shall put an end to our epistolary correspondence. Our friendship, though begun in the years of youth, I trust, shall survive that period, and be immutably fixed in graver years." [Letter, dated June 12, 1794.] This was truly predicted. It was to Mr. Thomson's order that two marble busts of the Poet were executed by Bailey, one of which he presented to the University of Glasgow, and retained the other in his own family. The admirable portrait of the Poet, by Sir Thomas Lawrence,— an engraving of which is prefixed to this volume,-was also commissioned by this early friend. MY DEAR THOMSON, TO MR. THOMSON. GLASGOW, April, 1794. I am ashamed to trouble you with apologies for delay in answering your last favor; I shall not, therefore, at present, urge the incessant labors of Professor Anderson's class, or the time-consuming pursuits of Euclid, as the smallest excuse for my second procrastination. Negligent as I may have been in writing, I depend upon your friendship for forgiveness; I assure you, my silence arose not from any cessation of my esteem for your correspondence, or from the smallest diminution of my regard for you, but partly from interrupting circumstances, and partly from that particular flatness of spirits, which, even allowing I were at leisure, would make me a very sorry correspondent. Do not imagine from this that I have grown phlegmatic; perhaps I may be wrong in delaying the duties of friendship on account of any peculiar mood I may be in; yet I cannot help thinking it would be a very bad return for your animated correspondence, to trouble you with the common-place remarks of a humdrum fit. I suppose you are now fairly metropolized. I congratulate you, my dear friend, upon the opportunity you enjoy of being thus introduced into so wide a field for observation. The proper study of mankind is man;' and in the metropolis of England, human nature is seen in its most variegated states and employments. The concourse of characters to be met with there, have given scope to the contemplative geniuses of many distinguished men. The great Johnson speaks much of the improvement to be reaped from residences in numerous societies; and to hear this from the mouth of so learned a man, may convince us that intercourse with mankind, as well as acquaintance with books, has its share in polishing the mind. I once imagined that agriculture had such an effect on the happiness of men, as entirely outstripped all the advantages of commerce; but upon considering the tendency of commerce to bring men together, in more extensive circles than agriculture can do, I became more warm in my admiration of it; and I think it adinits of no doubt that commerce humanizes society. In your next, however, I expect to hear a more complete review of the benefits of commerce than my narrow observation has permitted me to take. If you are at present in London, I request the favor of a few remarks upon the general cast of its inhabitants. I have heard several accounts of its edifices, curiosities, manners, ÆT. 16.] COLLEGE DAYS-CORRESPONDENCE. 107 &c.; but I assure you, your observations, on whatever part of it you have hitherto seen, would afford me much pleasure. The ignorant, you know, may be excused for curiosity; and to one who has seen so little of the world as I have been acquainted with, the shortest account of our metropolis could not fail to be interesting. Please to inform me how long you are to remain in London. Are you fixed in business, or only on a visit? What are the polities of London? Are they pacific, or warlike? Are the Englishmen still so mad as to wager that the King of Prussia and his victorious hussars will take Paris in six weeks? Such, indeed, was a wager laid, when the war commenced, at Change Alley. I thank you for your specimen of English newspapers. The Scotch papers speak not so boldly of the fate of our Edinburgh convicts; but I have always esteemed the condemnation of Muir and Gerald, as the blackest stain upon Scotch justice. Palmer is still in the faith-I had no hand in his conversion. Gregory Watt thanks you for the what-d'ye-call-'em; I forget chemical names. He knows nothing about the Strontites, nor can he procure any. But a friend of mine, Mr. Irvine, is at present in quest of some; he esteems it a very rare matter, and has promised to give me some, as soon as obtained, which I shall send by the carrier.-My dear friend, I have much to say, but must defer it till another opportunity. Be so good as excuse my long delay. Write me soon, and you shall be speedily answered by your most faithful and affectionate T. C. GLASGOW, May 17th, 1794. I am almost afraid that my last scribbles were so miserable as to be totally illegible, and so hurried as to give you disgust. I assure you, my dear friend, nothing has tended so much to make my late employments disagreeable, as the idea of not having it in my power to commence an epistolary correspondence, in which I promised myself so much pleasure. But I find myself now almost entirely at leisure; and happy indeed shall I be, if the many long "botherations" with which I intend to plague you this summer, be answered in due turn by you. We are now settled in our new rural habitation, which, though by no means a lordly dome, affords us all the pleasure of being free from the smoke of Glasgow. Our windows look down |