The Poetical Works of Thomas CampbellCampbell, Thomas
General
The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell
Campbell, Thomas
English poetry -- Scottish authors
In 1838 he was presented to the Queen by the chief of his clan, the Duke
of Argyle, at the first levee held by the fair young Sovereign after her
accession to the throne. He had loyally offered her a present of his
works; the Queen accepted them, and graciously sent him in return her
picture. Campbell had been always a Liberal, but, like Leigh Hunt, he was
won by the gentle lady who held the sceptre to sincere loyalty to the
Crown.
Campbell moved to No. 8, Victoria Square, Pimlico, in 1840, and adopted,
as the sharer of his solitary home, his niece, Mary Campbell, whose
gentle ministrations soothed his declining years, and brightened the last
hours of his life.
In 1842 _The Pilgrim of Glencoe_ was published, but it was not well
received, and the aged poet began to perceive that it was time to lay by
his pen; that he spoke to a generation he could not charm. Nevertheless
his age was honoured and prosperous. His works produced nearly £700 a
year, and his means exceeded altogether £1000 per annum. But he fancied
he should prefer a cheaper residence than London, and in compliance with
the aged poet’s fancy, his niece accompanied him to Boulogne, where they
settled, at 5, Rue Petit St. Jean.
Here he remained in a varying state of health till 1844, when he became
seriously ill, and the physician, Dr. Allatt, gave no hopes of his
recovery. His faithful and beloved friend, Dr. Beattie—by whom a charming
memoir of the poet has been since published—came to him, and did his best
to soothe the last moments of the dying poet.
His death-bed was truly Christian. Some of his last words were “Come, let
us sing praises to Christ,” “Let us pray for one another.”
On the 15th of June 1844, his spirit passed calmly, without a struggle,
to a better world.
The body of the poet was brought to England, and on the 3rd of July
buried in Westminster Abbey, near the centre of the Poet’s Corner. His
funeral was attended by numerous friends and admirers, amongst whom were
his chief, the Duke of Argyle, and Sir Robert Peel, then premier.
Thus closed the life of one of the most popular poets of the beginning
of our century. Prosperous in its public phase—very sad and sorely tried
in its domestic one. He had refined taste and pleasing manners; and
no reproach rests upon his private or public character. In his youth
he was singularly beautiful in person. Leigh Hunt tells us (in his
autobiography) that Campbell’s face and person were rather on a small
scale, “his features regular, his eye lively and penetrating, and when he
spoke, dimples played about his mouth, which, nevertheless, had something
restrained and close in it. Some gentle Puritan seemed to have crossed
the breed, and to have left a stamp on his face, such as we often see in
the female Scotch face rather than the male.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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