Take, as a contrast to these spirit-stirring lines, and as an instance of the Author's versatility of talent, the following short, but unrivalled description of native landscape-when the evening star is rising-the cottages smoking-the distant cattle lowing-and all nature from flowers and shrubs, is breathing its evening incense to heaven :

TO THE EVENING STAR.

"Star that bringest home the bee,
And sett'st the weary labourer free;
If any star shed peace, 'tis thee,
That sends't it from above,
Appearing when heaven's breath and brow
Are sweet as her's we love.

"Come to the luxuriant skies,

Whilst the landscape's odours rise,
Whilst far-off lowing herds are heard
And songs when toil is done,

From cottages, whose smoke unstirred
Curls yellow in the sun.

"Star of love's soft interviews,
Parted lovers on thee muse;

Their remembrancer in heaven

Of thrilling vows thou art,
Too delicious to be riven

By absence from the heart."

Our remarks, hitherto, have related almost exclusively to Campbell's Poetical career. But there are many other subjects suggested by the olumes under review, which would afford abundant materials of intersting remark-though we cannot, in the present notice, pretend

even slightly to advert to them. His travels in Germany, France, and Africa, his prose publications-his contributions to the different magazines with which he was successively connected,-his public lectures in different great cities of the empire,-his active co-operation in every scheme that had either the improvement of his contemporaries, or the freedom and welfare of humanity as its object-the successive rectorships which he held, and lastly the honours he achieved, and the griefs he endured, are all of them topics, on which much interesting information will be found in these volumes-but on which the very limited space afforded us prevents us from at present entering.

We think, however, that in some quarters or by some few individuals there are impressions entertained respecting Campbell's character, as a man, which the perusal of the letters before us ought entirely to remove. He had his faults-but in every instance, they were such as admitted of an obvious and satisfactory apology. He was sometimes petulant, or irritable in company-but he was always sincere-he yielded too much to the use of narcotic or stimulating drugs-but his constitution was extremely susceptible of the influence of such thingsand he never neglected the business of his employers, nor ever became what is properly expressed by the phrase-a sensual man-he was careless about money, but he never forgot to pay every sum that he owed he was eccentric and irregular in his labours-but the sum of them was great, and the result of pre-eminent value.

He was passionately fond of children,-most dutiful in his attention to his relations-sincerely and warmly attached to his friends-most truthful in whatever he said or wrote-above all false pretense-gratefully mindful of every good turn that had been done him-kind to the unfortunate-full of indignation at any act of cruelty or intolerance— sensitive, even to tears, to the beauty of nature, or the loveliness of virtuous sentiments or deeds-a true, and warm-hearted, and most energetically active patriot-and an enlightened, and high-minded friend of the human race.

We believe it to be impossible for any candid reader to rise from the perusal of this biography without perceiving irresistible evidence of the truth of these statements. The friends of Campbell owe their best thanks to Dr. Beattie, for the confirmation he has given of all their previous convictions-and if there be any persons whose impressions were of a different kind, it is our sincere belief, that for the removal of their errors, and the correction of their false surmises, there can be no surer remedy than a careful and candid perusal of the letters under consideration.

There was one attribute of Campbell's character so remarkable, that it deserves to be specially noticed. He had been pointed out, almost from his birth, as one destined for a distinguished task among menhis early history confirmed the expectation and during more than forty years he continued, and at a time when great men, and great poets were not wanting, to hold that place of pre-eminence, which he early and justly assumed. Campbell himself felt, in his inmost and almost unconscious sentiments, the grandeur of the ordination which Nature had conferred on him, and the dignity of the task which that consecration

implied-he was a high priest of the highest order of priesthood-that which is ordained and qualified by high gifts, for elevating the highest sensibilities, and ennobling the loftiest aspirations of the human race. Creeds change, and ecclesiastical disputes vanish-but this is a perpetual priesthood, as it is the highest of all-and no man can read this biography, or indeed have the slightest acquaintance with the actual history of our Poet, without being aware, that he felt and acted upon a conviction of the dignity of his own character, and of the importance of the gifts with which he was entrusted-upon all occasions-and without having once, in the whole course of his life, done a thing that could be fairly viewed as evidence of a time-serving or servile spirit-he expressed his thankfulness that, throughout his long career, he had never written a word that was contrary to the best interests of men, as moral or religious beings he acted habitually under the impression so nobly conveyed, by the concluding stanza of one of his noblest poems :

"What's hallow'd ground? 'Tis what gives birth

To sacred thought in souls of worth!

Peace! Independence! Truth! go forth

Earth's compass round;

And your high priesthood shall make earth
All hallow'd ground."

Even royalty did not lower the feeling which he entertained of the dignity of his own consecration-and when difficulties were encountered in his attempt to bring the work which he had finished, under the immediate notice of the Sovereign whom he loved and honoured, he magnanimously persevered till his wish was accomplished-because he knew, that the gift which he offered was worthy of being honoured with such acceptance-because he knew, that the glories of his country had been celebrated, and the spirit of his countrymen exalted by the sentiments which breathed throughout his work-and because he foresaw, that unborn generations would be cheered and improved by the sentiments, which a high inspiration, given by Nature herself, had enabled him to utter. It is pleasing to add, that the gift was most gracefully and thankfully acknowledged by the truly excellent Sovereign to whom it was presented.

It is also pleasing to know-that whatever ignorance or private malice may have done to lessen the reputation of Campbell, as a man-the heart of his country invariably vibrated to the true tone of admiration and love, whenever the name and reputation of Campbell were concerned. His society was courted by the noblest, the wisest, the most accomplished of his contemporaries" he was the observed of all observers"-he was followed with acclamations from multitudes, in all the cities to which he proceeded, as a public lecturer-no honours were thought too high to be bestowed on a person to whom the glory of his country owed so deep a debt-he was thrice advanced to the office of Rector, in the University of his native city, by the almost unanimous voice of her" ingenuous youth"-the freedom of the capital of his native country was conferred on him, as the highest mark which it could give of its regard for his patriotic worth-and at last his mortal re

mains were honoured by his country, with a place among the greatest and most celebrated of those whom she delighted to honour.

Of the Poet's two public visits to Edinburgh, during the later years of his life, we have not left ourselves room for discoursing, as we otherwise would have wished. Although he had previously made frequent visits to that city, these were only in his private capacity, and his society was confined to his more intimate and personal friends. He had never been publicly seen or hailed by the generation that had arisen, since his high career commenced-but the desire to see the face of the man whom they had so long admired, and to hear his voice, was irresistably intense-and the two occasions, of the presentation of the Freedom of the city, and the Printers' Festival, furnished to the inhabitants of Edinburgh the long wished-for opportunity.

His own account of the first of these public meetings is thus given by the Poet himself, in one of his letters :

66

Aug. 8th.-The public papers have already told you how I have been made a freeman of Edinburgh, and fêted like a prince. I shall make you laugh at the effusions of my vanity, when I describe to you the windows of Queen-Street filled with ladies looking at your poor little Solomon in all his glory! Well, laugh, as you well may, at my being vain of being seen by ladies, I think you know me well enough to believe me, when I tell you that the excitement of last Friday was intense-beyond pleasure, and amounting to pain. When I came to speak of Dugald Stewart, Alison, and others of my old Edinburgh friends, the act of suppressing tears (for I did suppress them) amounted to agony. I would not willingly go over the day again; and I shall not go to Ireland."

The personal appearance of the Poet, at this time, had been much altered by time, and private sorrows- -but the writer of the present notices well remembers, the earnest look of the Poet, when he spoke of the great men, then all gone, with whom he had associated at his first appearance, as an Author, in this city-and he also well remembers another remark made by the Poet, on that occasion, viz., that the invitation to that dinner, and to the acceptance of the freedom of the city, had come to him some time previous, "on the eve of his own birth-day -while his thoughts were busied with that remembrance-and when he had now arrived at a time of life, which is naturally productive of many solemn impressions." The invitation having come to him at such a time, seemed to him, to make it a sacred duty with him to accept it.

Of the Printers' Festival, the following correct account is given by a lady who was present on the occasion :

:

"I send you a few hurried lines to tell you how gratified, how delighted we were last night with Mr. Campbell's appearance at the Centenary meeting, which he was so kind as to honour with his presence. His appearance was hailed with universal applause, and his speech received with cheers throughout; but when his health was given by Delta,' one of our Scotch poets, the pride and delight of the people rose to a very high pitch. As Mr. Moir enumerated the different works of the gifted chairman, the applause increased; and when he closed by naming The Mariners of England,' it became rapturous. It was afterwards sung amidst continual

cheers encored, and, at the conclusion, the whole people rose with one accord, and joined in the chorus; after which they cheered him by repeated rounds of applause-waving hats, handkerchiefs, with every possible demonstration of enthusiasm. The Scotch got their hearts out,' in honour of their gifted bard. Indeed, I never saw anything so cordial, so sincere, or so general. The meeting appeared to be much more in honour of him, than of the Art of Printing. How we wished you had been there, to hear and see the honour in which he is held in his native land.-M. A.”

Campbell never made any pretensions to the gift of ready or fluent eloquence—indeed, in one of his letters he ludicrously relates how he was frequently annoyed by the apprehension of being called on to make a speech-and how he counted on his fingers the number of sentences, which he had meditated, lest the dreaded toast that would force him to rise should be given. It is but fair, however, to state, that his speeches, on both the public occasions referred to, in the preceding paragraphs, were characterised by great good sense, exquisite tact, correctness of phraseology, unhesitating fluency-and, above all, by that happy talent of hitting the very thing that was most proper to be said, which is apparent in all his works-and is, indeed, besides the poetical merit of his production, one of their principal charms.

For many years, a succession of trying events, occurring sometimes in groups, and at other times, by intervals, had clouded, and sadly afflicted the declining age of the Poet. "He was alone in the world; his wife and the child of his hopes were dead; his only surviving child was consigned to a living tomb, his old friends-brothers-sisters, were dead -all but one, and she too was dying." He was—

"A lonely hermit in the vale of years."

His own frame was sinking-and when he last visited Edinburgh, to attend the funeral of his last sister, it was remarked, that there was every probability, from his shattered appearance, that he would soon follow her, to his own last resting-place. He was, indeed, so weak, that he could scarcely perform his part in the melancholy ceremony.

When he ultimately took the resolution of retiring to Boulogne, along with his niece-now the only surviving relative, with whom he could associate and to whose education he affectionately and piously devoted himself" we took leave," says Dr. Beattie," with a superstitious feeling, as if coming events cast their shadows before,-and watched their progress, till the vessel and its ominous smoke disappeared in the horizon. In August, he came to London, on some urgent busi ness, and spent a day with us; but, although a few letters passed between us, we never saw him again, until we met at his death bed."

Of that last interview, and of the mortal result, Dr. Beattie has given a detailed account, so beautifully solemn, that it must, every where, be read with the deepest interest. After recording, day by day, the symtoms of the malady, the account thus proceeds

"June 12th. He has passed a tolerable night-sleeping at intervalsand taking a little food when it was offered to him; but there is nothing encouraging-no actual improvement; and if at all changed since yester