his talents. But Lord John Russell has justly remembered by all. They are equally the delight characterised this weakness in Moore as being of the cottage and the saloon, and, in the poet's wholly free from envy. It never took the shape own country, are sung with an enthusiasm that of depreciating others that his own superiority will long be felt in the hour of festivity, as well might become conspicuous. His love of praise as in periods of suffering and solemnity, by that was joined with the most generous and liberal imaginative and warm-hearted people. dispensation of praise to others--he relished the works of Byron and Scott as if he had been himself no competitor for fame with them.' Ill success might have tinctured the poet's egotism with bitterness, but this he never knew; and such a feeling could not have remained long with a man so constitutionally genial and light-hearted. When time shall have destroyed the remembrance of Moore's personal qualities, and removed his works to a distance, to be judged of by their fruit alone, the want most deeply felt will be that of simplicity and genuine passion. He has worked little in the durable and permanent materials of poetry, but has spent his prime in enriching the stately structure with exquisite ornaments, foliage, flowers, and gems. Yet he often throws into his gay and festive verses, and his fanciful descriptions, touches of pensive and mournful reflection, which strike by their truth and beauty, and by the force of contrast. Indeed, one effect of the genius of Moore has been, to elevate the feelings and occurrences of ordinary life into poetry, rather than dealing with the lofty abstract elements of the art. The combinations of his wit are wonderful. Quick, subtle, and varied, ever suggesting new thoughts or images, or unexpected turns of expression-now drawing resources from classical literature or the ancient fathers-now diving into the human heart, and now skimming the fields of fancy-the wit or imagination of Moore (for they are compounded together) is a true Ariel, 'a creature of the elements,' that is ever buoyant and full of life and spirit. His very satires 'give delight and hurt not.' They are never coarse, and always witty. When stung by an act of oppression or intolerance, he could be bitter or sarcastic enough; but some lively thought or sportive image soon crossed his path, and he instantly followed it into the open and genial region where he loved most to indulge. He never dipped his pen in malignity. For an author who has written so much as Moore on the subject of love and the gay delights of good-fellowship, it was scarcely possible to be always natural and original. Some of his lyrics and occasional poems, accordingly, present far-fetched metaphors and conceits, with which they often conclude, like the final flourish or pirouette of a stage-dancer. He exhausted the vocabulary of rosy lips and sparkling eyes, forgetting that true passion is ever direct and simple-ever concentrated and intense, whether bright or melancholy. This defect, however, pervades only part of his songs, and those mostly written in his youth. The Irish Melodies are full of true feeling and delicacy. By universal consent, and by the sure test of memory, these national strains are the most popular and the most likely to be immortal of all Moore's works. They are musical almost beyond parallel in words-graceful in thought and sentiment-often tender, pathetic, and heroic-and they blend poetical and romantic feelings with the objects and sympathies of common life in language chastened and refined, yet apparently so simple that every trace of art has disappeared. The songs are read and 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer. 'Tis the last rose of summer Or give sigh for sigh. I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! So soon may I follow, When friendships decay, This bleak world alone? The Turf shall be my Fragrant Shrine. I'll seek, by day, some glade unknown, I'll read thy anger in the rack That clouds awhile the day-beam's track ; Of sunny brightness breaking through! There's nothing bright, above, below, There's nothing dark, below, above, JOHN HOOKHAM FRERE. In 1817, Mr Murray published a small poetical volume under the eccentric title of Prospectus and Specimen of an intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft, of Stowmarket in Suffolk, Harness and Collar Makers. Intended to comprise the most Interesting Particulars relating to King Arthur and his Round Table. The world was surprised to find, under this odd disguise, a happy imitation of the Pulci and Casti school of the Italian poets. The brothers Whistlecraft formed, it was quickly seen, but the mask of some elegant and scholarly wit belonging to the higher circles of society, who had chosen to amuse himself in comic verse, without incurring the responsibilities of declared authorship. To two cantos published in the above year, a third and fourth were soon after added. The poem opens with a feast held by King Arthur at Carlisle amidst his knights, who are thus introduced: They looked a manly generous generation; Beards, shoulders, eyebrows, broad, and square, and thick, Their accents firm and loud in conversation, They were so very courteous and well-bred. My dear, you might recover from your flurry, Tell me, my dear Thalia, what you think ; In a valley near Carlisle lived a race of giants; approach the sacred pile, attracted by the sweet and this place is finely described : Huge mountains of immeasurable height A rock was in the centre, like a cone, A wild tumultuous torrent raged around, The giants having attacked and carried off some ladies on their journey to court, the knights deem it their duty to set out in pursuit ; and in due time they overcome those grim personages, and relieve the captives from the castle in which they had been immured: sounds that issued from it; and here occurs a beautiful piece of description: Oft that wild untutored race would draw, But chiefly, when the shadowy moon had shed Yet thus for each would venture: Listen, brothers, Unfortunately, this happy state of things is broken up by the introduction of a ring of bells into the abbey, a kind of music to which the giants had an insurmountable aversion : The solemn mountains that surrounded These giant mountains inwardly were moved, Like house-dogs howling at a dinner-bell. This is evidently meant as a good-humoured satire against violent personifications in poetry. Meanwhile a monk, Brother John by name, who had opposed the introduction of the bells, has gone, in a fit of disgust with his brethren, to amuse himself with the rod at a neighbouring stream. Here occurs another beautiful descriptive passage: A mighty current, unconfined and free, Ran wheeling round beneath the mountain's shade, Battering its wave-worn base; but you might see On the near margin many a watery glade, Becalmed beneath some little island's lee, All tranquil and transparent, close embayed; Reflecting in the deep serene and even Each flower and herb, and every cloud of heaven ; The painted kingfisher, the branch above her, So rest and motion in a narrow range, Brother John, placed here by mere chance, is apprised of the approach of the giants in time to run home and give the alarm. Amidst the preparations for defence, to which he exhorts his brethren, the abbot dies, and John is elected to succeed him. A stout resistance is made by the monks, whom their new superior takes care to feed well by way of keeping them in heart, and the giants at length withdraw from the scene of action. It finally appears that the pagans have retired in order to make the attack upon the ladies, which had formerly been described—no bad burlesque of the endless episodes of the Italian romantic poets. It was soon discovered that the author of this clever jeu d'esprit was the Right Honourable John Hookham Frere, a person of high political consequence, who had been employed a few years before by the British government to take charge of diplomatic transactions in Spain in connection with the army under General Sir John Moore. The Whistlecraft poetry was carried no further; but the peculiar stanza (the ottava rima of Italy), and the sarcastic pleasantry, formed the immediate exemplar which guided Byron when he wrote his Beppo and Don Juan; and one couplet Adown thy slope, romantic Ashbourn, glides It became at a subsequent period the basis of an allusion almost historical in importance, with reference to a small party in the House of Commons. Thus the national poem attained a place of some consequence in our modern literature. is only to be regretted that the poet, captivated by indolence or the elegances of a luxurious taste, gave no further specimen of his talents to the world. For many years Mr Frere resided in Malta, in the enjoyment of a handsome pension, conferred for diplomatic services, of £1516 per annum, and at Malta he died on the 7th January 1846, aged seventy-seven. In the Life of Sir Walter Scott, there are some particulars respecting the meeting of the declining novelist with his friend, the author of Whistlecraft. We there learn from Scott, that the remarkable war-song upon the victory at Brunnenburg, which appears in Mr Ellis's Specimens of Ancient English Poetry, and might pass in a court of critics as a genuine composition of the fourteenth century, was written by Mr Frere while an Eton school-boy, as an illustration on one side of the celebrated Rowley controversy. We are also informed by Mrs John Davy, in her diary, quoted by Mr Lockhart, that Sir Walter on this occasion repeated a pretty long passage from his version of one of the romances of the Cidpublished in the appendix to Southey's quartoand seemed to enjoy a spirited charge of the knights therein described as much as he could have done in his best days, placing his walkingstick in rest like a lance, "to suit the action to the word." We may here redeem from comparative obscurity a piece of poetry so much admired by Scott : The gates were then thrown open, and forth at once they rushed, The outposts of the Moorish hosts back to the camp were pushed; The camp was all in tumult, and there was such a thunder Of cymbals and of drums, as if earth would cleave in sunder. There you might see the Moors arming themselves in haste, And the two main battles how they were forming fast; Horsemen and footmen mixt, a countless troop and vast. The Moors are moving forward, the battle soon must join, ، My men, stand here in order, ranged upon a line! Let not a man move from his rank before I give the sign.' Pero Bermuez heard the word, but he could not refrain, He held the banner in his hand, he gave his horse the rein; 'You see yon foremost squadron there, the thickest of the foes, Noble Cid, God be your aid, for there your banner goes! Let him that serves and honours it, shew the duty that he owes.' Earnestly the Cid called out, 'For Heaven's sake be still!' Bermuez cried, 'I cannot hold,' so eager was his will. He spurred his horse, and drove him on amid the Moorish rout: They strove to win the banner, and compassed him about. Had not his armour been so true, he had lost either life or limb; The Cid called out again, 'For Heaven's sake succour him!' Their shields before their breasts, forth at once they go, Their lances in the rest levelled fair and low; Their banners and their crests waving in a row, the champion of Bivar; There where Bermuez fought amidst the foe they brake; Three hundred Moors they killed, When they wheeled and turned, as many more lay slain, lie scattered on the plain. marked with a crimson stain, The horses running wild whose riders had been slain. In 1871, the Works of Frere, in Verse and Prose, and a Memoir by his nephews, were published in 2 vols. THOMAS CAMPBELL. on every new edition of two thousand copies, and Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of Time! THOMAS CAMPBELL was born in the city of Glasgow, July 27, 1777. He was of a good Highland family, the Campbells of Kirnan, in Argyllshire, who traced their origin from the first Norman lord of Lochawe. The property, however, had passed from the ancient race, and the poet's father carried on business in Glasgow as a merchant or trader with Virginia. He was unsuccessful, and in his latter days subsisted on some small income derived from a merchants' society Traces of juvenility may be found in the Pleasures and provident institution, aided by his industrious of Hope-a want of connection between the differwife, who received into their house as boarders ent parts of the poem, some florid lines and young men attending college. Thomas received imperfect metaphors; but such a series of beautia good education, and was distinguished at the ful and dazzling pictures, so pure and elevated a university, particularly for his translations from tone of moral feeling, and such terse, vigorous, the Greek. The Greek professor, John Young, and polished versification, were never perhaps pronounced his translation of part of the Clouds before found united in a poem written at the age of Aristophanes the best version that had ever of twenty-one. Shortly after its publication, Campbeen given in by any student. He had previously bell visited the continent. He sailed from Leith received a prize for an English poem, an Essay on for Hamburg on the 1st of June 1800; and prothe Origin of Evil, modelled on the style of Pope. ceeding from thence to Ratisbon, witnessed the Other poetical pieces, written between his four- decisive action which gave Ratisbon to the French. teenth and sixteenth year, evince Campbell's The poet stood with the monks of the Scottish peculiar delicacy of taste and select poetical dic- college of St James, on the ramparts near the tion. He became tutor in a family resident in the monastery, while a charge of Klenau's cavalry island of Mull, and about this time met with his was made upon the French. He saw no other 'Caroline of the West,' the daughter of a minister scenes of actual warfare, but made various excurof Inveraray. The winter of 1795 saw him again sions into the interior, and was well received by in Glasgow, attending college, and supporting him- General Moreau and the other French_officers. self by private tuition. Next year he was some It has been generally supposed that Campbell time tutor in the family of Mr Downie of Appin, was present at the battle of Hohenlinden, but it also in the Highlands; and this engagement was not fought until some weeks after he had completed, he repaired to Edinburgh, hesitated left Bavaria. During his residence on the Danube between the church and the law as a profession, and the Elbe, the poet wrote some of his exquisite but soon abandoning all hopes of either, he em- minor poems, which were published in the Mornployed himself in private teaching and in literary ing Chronicle newspaper. The first of these was work for the booksellers. Poetry was not ne- the Exile of Erin, which was suggested by an glected, and in April 1799 appeared his Pleasures incident like that which befell Smollett at Boulogne of Hope. The copyright was sold for £60; but-namely, meeting with a party of political exiles for some years the publishers gave the poet £50 who retained a strong love of their native country. the New Monthly Magazine, which he edited for ten years (from 1820 to 1830); and one of these minor poems, the Last Man, may be ranked among his greatest conceptions : it is like a sketch by Michael Angelo or Rembrandt. Previous to this time the poet had visited Paris in company with Mrs Siddons and John Kemble, and enjoyed the sculpture and other works of art in the Louvre with such intensity, that they seemed to give his mind a new sense of the harmony of art-a new approach,' he says, 'to the presence of the Apollo Belvidere, added to my sensations, and all recollections of his name in classic poetry swarmed on my mind as spontaneously as the associations that are conjured up by the sweetest music.' In 1818 he again visited Germany, and on his return the following year, he published his Specimens of the British Poets, with biographical and critical notices, in seven volumes. The justness and beauty of his critical dissertations have been universally admitted; some of them are perfect models of chaste yet animated criticism. In 1820 Mr Campbell delivered a course of lectures on poetry at the Surrey Institution; in 1824 he published Theodric and other Poems; and, though busy in establishing the London University, he was, in 1827, honoured with the graceful compliment of being elected lord rector of the university of his nativecity. This distinction was continued and heightened by his re-election the following two years. He afterwards made a voyage to Algiers, of which he published an account; and in 1842 he appeared again as a poet. This work was a slight narrative poem, unworthy of his fame, entitled The Pilgrim of Glencoe. Among the literary engagements of his latter years, was a Life of Mrs Siddons, and a Life of Petrarch. In the summer of 1843, he fixed his residence at Boulogne, but his health was by this time much impaired, and he died the following summer, June 15, 1844. He was interred in Westminster Abbey, his funeral being attended by some of the most eminent noblemen and statesmen of the day, with a numerous_body_of private friends. In 1849 a selection from his correspondence, with a life of the poet, was published by his affectionate friend and literary executor, Dr Beattie, himself the author of various works, and of some pleasing and picturesque poetry. Campbell's Exile' was a person named Anthony M'Cann, who, with Hamilton Rowan and others, had been concerned in the Irish rebellion. So jealous was the British government of that day, that the poet was suspected of being a spy, and on his arrival in Edinburgh, was subjected to an examination by the sheriff, but which ended in a scene of mirth and conviviality. Shortly afterwards, Campbell was received by Lord Minto as a sort of secretary and literary companion-a situation which his temper and somewhat demo-visual power of enjoying beauty. Every step of cratic independence of spirit rendered uncongenial, and which did not last long. In this year (1802) he composed Lochiel's Warning and Hohenlinden -the latter one of the grandest battle-pieces in miniature that ever was drawn. In a few verses, flowing like a choral melody, the poet brings before us the silent midnight scene of engagement wrapt in the snows of winter, the sudden arming for the battle, the press and shout of charging squadrons, the flashing of artillery, and the final scene of death. Lochiel's Warning being read in manuscript to Sir Walter (then Mr) Scott, he requested a perusal of it himself, and then repeated the whole from memory-a striking instance of the great minstrel's powers of recollection, which was related to us by Mr Campbell himself. In 1803 the poet repaired to London, and devoted himself to literature as a profession. He resided for some time with his friend, Mr Telford, the celebrated engineer. Telford continued his regard for the poet throughout a long life, and remembered him in his will by a legacy of £500. Mr Campbell wrote several papers for the Edinburgh Encyclopædia-of which Telford had some share-including poetical biographies, an account of the drama, &c. He also compiled Annals of Great Britain from the Accession of George III. to the Peace of Amiens, in three volumes. Such compilations can only be considered in the light of mental drudgery; but Campbell, like Goldsmith, could sometimes impart grace and interest to task-work. In 1806, through the influence of Mr Fox, the government granted a pension to the poet-a well-merited tribute to the author of those national strains, Ye Mariners of England, and the Battle of the Baltic. In 1809 was published his second great poem, Gertrude of Wyoming, a Pennsylvanian Tale. The subsequent literary labours of Mr Campbell were only, as regards his poetical fame, subordinate efforts. The best of them were contributed to * A similar amount was bequeathed to Mr Southey, and, with a good-luck which one would wish to see always attend poets' legacies, the sums were more than doubled in consequence of the testator's estate far exceeding what he believed to be its value. Thomas Telford (1757-1834) was himself a rhymester in his youth. He was born on poetic ground, amidst the scenes of old Scottish song, green hills, and the other adjuncts of a landscape of great sylvan and pastoral beauty. Eskdale, his native district-where he lived till nearly twenty, first as a shepherd, and afterwards as a stone-mason-was also the birthplace of Armstrong and Mickle. Telford wrote a poem descriptive of this classic dale, but it is only a feeble paraphrase of Goldsmith. He addressed an epistle to Burns, part of which is published by Currie. These boyish studies and predilections contrast strangely with the severer pursuits of his after-years as a mathematician and engineer. In his original occupation of a stone-mason, cutting names on tombstones (in which he excelled, as did also Hugh Miller), we can fancy him cheering his solitary labours with visions of literary eminence; but it is difficult to conceive him at the same time dreaming of works like the Menai Bridge or the Pont-cy-sylte aqueduct in Wales. He had, however, received an early architectural or engineering bias by poring over the plates and descriptions in Rollin's history, which he read by his mother's fireside, or in the open air while herding sheep. Telford was a liberal minded and benevolent man. In genius and taste Campbell resembles Gray. He displays the same delicacy and purity of sentiment, the same vivid perception of beauty and ideal loveliness, equal picturesqueness and elevation of imagery, and the same lyrical and concentrated power of expression. The diction of both is elaborately choice and select. Campbell has greater sweetness and gentleness of pathos, springing from deep moral feeling, and a refined sensitiveness of nature. Neither can be termed boldly original or inventive, but they both possess sublimity-Gray in his two magnificent odes, and Campbell in his war-songs or lyrics, which form the richest offering ever made by poetry at the shrine of patriotism. The general tone of his verse is calm, uniform, and mellifluous-a stream of mild harmony and delicious fancy flowing through the bosom-scenes of life, with images. scattered separately, like flowers, on its surface, and beauties of expression interwoven with itcertain words and phrases of magical power |