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LONDON UNIVERSITY-FIRST MEETINGS.

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Scotch, should predominate in our scheme; but the Dissenters are rushing in-What do you say?' They-that is, the Church of England friends of the scheme-concerted that I should go, commissioned from them, to say at the conference, that either the Church of England must predominate, or else there must be no church influence. I went with this commission; I debated the matter with the Dissenters. Brougham, Hume, and John Smith, who had before deserted me, changed sides, and came over to me. Irving and his party stoutly opposed me; but I succeeded, at last, in gaining a complete victory. . The Dissenters themselves, I must say, behaved with extreme candor: they would not even suffer me to conclude my reply to Mr. Irving, but exclaimed, 'Enough, enough. We are convinced, and concede the point, that the University shall be without religious rivalship. The scene concluded amicably; Lord Althorp appeared on the part of the Church, and coincided in the decision.

"A directory of the association, for the scheme of the University, is to meet in my house on Monday; and everything promises well... You cannot conceive what anxiety I have undergone, whilst I imagined that the whole beautiful project was likely to be reduced to a mere Dissenters' University! But I have no more reason to be dissatisfied with the Dissenters, than with the hundred Church of England subscribers, whose interests I have done my best to support. I regard this as an eventful day in my life. T. C."

The co-operation of Mr. Brougham and Mr. Hume was a public guarantee for the success of the experiment; and by the union of private and parliamentary interest, Campbell had the happiness to see his scheme taken up with spirit, and carried triumphantly through all its successive stages. To a friend deeply interested in the undertaking, he writes:-" Monday... You will not grudge postage to be told the agreeable news that Brougham and Hume have reported their having had a conference with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Liverpool; and that they expressed themselves not unfavorable to the plan of a great College in London. Of course, as Ministers had not been asked to pledge themselves to support us, but only to give us a general idea of their disposition, we could only get what we sought, a general answer. But that being so favorable, is much. I was glad also to hear that both Mr. Robinson and Lord Liverpool approved highly of no rival theological chairs

having been agreed upon. Mr. R. even differed from Mr. Hume, when the latter said that, of course, getting a charter is not to be thought of. 'I beg your pardon,' said Mr. Robinson, 'I think it might be thought of; and it is by no means an impossible supposition.'

"A copy of my scheme of Education, but much mutilated and abridged, is submitted to their inspection. I mean, however, to transmit to them my scheme in an entire shape, and to publish it afterwards as a pamphlet. In the meantime, I must for a while retire, and leave this business to other hands-now that it seems safe from any mischief which hitherto threatened it. I send you this intelligence, beause it is an event to me, or at least a step in a promised event, which will be, perhaps, the only important one in my life's little history; and your correspondence has been a register of my affairs for a long time, and I hope will always be."

T. C."

"30th.-I rejoice to find the wisest Churchmen and the wisest Dissenters decidedly agreeing on this point-that we ought, in this scheme, religiously to avoid all chance of religious controversy. Mr. Irving said that learning and science were the natural enemies of religion; but, if he said so, I paid him home for it very well... He came and shook hands with me at the conclusion."

The principal difficulties in the undertaking were now surmounted: the course was smooth and open; and in connexion with those who had ably supported him in his patriotic views, Campbell had the happiness to feel that the subject became every day more popular. Public meetings were held; patrons multiplied; subscriptions poured in; and, before the end of summer, he had the certain prospect of seeing his expectations realized. The scheme of education which he had proposed, was

* Vide Appendix.

The retirement, to which he alludes, was from the business part of the arrangements. He appears to have attended the committees; and, though naturally averse to steady and continued exertion for the attainment of other objects, to have shown on this, at least, unabated zeal and perse

verance.

He complains, however, and apparently with some reason, that after the difficulties had been overcome, the importance of his service in the cause was rather questioned than acknowledged. Be this as it may, it is satisfactory to know that the honor of having originated the scheme of a university in London, belongs exclusively to Campbell.

ET. 48.]

EMBARKS FOR GERMANY-VISIT TO BERLIN.

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intended to combine various points in the German method, with whatever appeared more eligible in the systems pursued at home; and thus, out of the elements of British and Foregin Universities, it was resolved to construct a system of academic discipline, that should accord with the advance dstate of science and literature, and meet the actual wants and wishes of the community.

To test the German system by experiment, to collect various facts and materials connected with the method, and the internal arrangements of the building itself, Campbell resolved to make a visit to Berlin; and there, by a careful inspection of the University, to ascertain how far it might be safely adopted as a model for that of London.

The almost exclusive attention he had given to this subject, had the happy effect of diverting his thoughts from domestic sorrows; but its result upon his health was very unfavorable; and, long before the time he proposed to start for Prussia, he had the appearance of a confirmed invalid.

On the 10th of September, Campbell embarked for Germany; and on the 13th thus announces his arrival in Hamburgh: "Tuesday Evening, 5 P.M.-I have just arrived, after a voyage of three nights and two days; the steamer more noisy and turbulent in her motions than a sailing packet; very sick, and slept but little; agreeable passengers; and if our voyage was not finished in sixty hours, as promised, it was over in eighty. I expect to sleep soundly at the house of a private friend*countryman, whom I have found by chance; very fatigued.

Of his further progress he writes :

"T. C."

-a

"HAMBURGH, September 14. I amused myself with looking at the changes which twenty-five years had produced, particularly those occasioned by the siege, and the subsequent demolition of the walls. . . . But local recollections can have no interest to those who are unacquainted with the spot. . . . The only person whom I had known there, or about whom I cared, was Anthony MacCann -the real subject of my Erin go bragh. I found my Exile of Erin as glad to see me as if we had but parted a quarter of a year, instead of a quarter of a century. I left him, in 1801, as poor and delicate a youth, as a youth with good character and

* Mr. Elliot, agent for Lloyd's, who met him on board the packet. VOL. IL-8

disposition could be. . . . He won the heart of a young widow of Altona some years after I left him. He got a fortune with her, and has been long established there, as one of the wealthiest and most respectable of its inhabitants. He took me round a great part of the country in his own carriage; and I spent a day with him and Mrs. MacCann, who is a very sensible and agreeable person.

6

"Tony and I repaired to the spot where we had often walked when the day-star was setting in the west,* over our country. It is now a Tea-garden,' on a hill that overlooks a long course of the Elbe; and the prospect from it is compared, by the natives, to the view from Richmond Hill. . . . My friend said he was as happy as a man could be, out of his own country; and should be perfectly so, if he were allowed to revisit it. I went with him to see my old friend, Baron Vocht; but, on the day he invited me to dine with him, I was obliged to set out for Berlin. . . . At Hamburgh, I could do nothing towards the express object for which I came to Germany; in truth, I foresaw a shower of invitations hanging over my head, and was glad to get away from them. I therefore took leave of Mr. Elliott, who, the moment he met me on board the packet, insisted that I should make his house my home, and was meditating a succession of dinners in his house, and out of it, on my accounta very kind proceeding on his part.

T. C."

"BERLIN, September 20.

"No part in Germany is more dreary and uninteresting, and no carriages I have ever sat in are so bone-shaking and uncomfortable, as the Prussian. The road is principally through sandy tracks, sometimes covered with stunted forests. . . . The depth of the sand makes you expect to be overturned, and buried in it; and the moment you get out, you are so bumped and cudgelled on the causeway, that seems to be made with stones ejected and cooled from Etna, that you wish yourself quietly inhumed in the sandy desert!... This road, however, "The day-star attracted his eye's sad devotion, For it rose o'er his own native isle of the ocean, Where once, in the fire of his youthful emotion, He sang the bold anthem of Erin go bragh!"

Long ere this period, Campbell had made zealous but ineffectual efforts to procure this pleasure for "the Exile." In a letter to a friend, he says:- Jan. 10th, 1817.-Making all the interest I am able for Anthony MacCann, but discouraged. More bigotry in the world than I thought or could have believed."-Letter to R. Stevenson, Esq.

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is not a fair specimen of either the soil or appearance of Prussia, which has produced so many names distinguished in Arts, Science, and Literature. But I could not help wondering, that a country, containing such a line of land, divided by such miserable communications, could have to boast of ranking among the second-rate powers of the world. One cause--and one that is very honorable to the reigning family of Prussia—is the encouragement given to universities."

"I got to Berlin last night, and fixed myself at the best hotel in the town-the St. Petersburg, which is nearly opposite the University, in the finest street in Berlin, broader, I should think, than Portland Place, and containing some noble palaces. Berlin, as you have probably heard, is half-filled with barracks; and I have seen this morning, probably, the most imposing spectacle it has to produce-namely, its parade of troops. Nine thousand, horse and foot, marched in platoons under my windows, in their review attire, and with military music that beats Astley's all to nothing."

"21st. I have just been through the University. I have taken the dimensions of its rooms, and got some books which give an account of its institutions. I have also given my letter of introduction to the Librarian (Dr. Spiker), who has given me the liberty of getting out any books I may wish for. . . I told you in my letter from Hamburgh that I should go to Leipsic; but I was soon after informed that Berlin is a place much preferable for my object, and superadds other agrêmens.

"T. C."

“BERLIN, November [October] 5, 1825.

"I have spent a week at Berlin, my dear M., in excellent health and spirits. At my first arrival, I had a slight fever for some days-brought on by the fatigue of the journey; but of late, I have enjoyed myself much more. I have got every piece of information respecting the University, and every book that I wished for. I have done my business, and have taken out my place for next Sunday, in the coach for Hamburgh. How long or how short I shall delay there, will depend on circumstances. It is in contemplation among some of the English there, to give me a public dinner; and I have received a letter from one of the projectors of the plan, to consult my inclination on the subject. I thanked the people very kindly, who set on foot the proposal, and promised to accept of the hospitality of my countrymen, whether it may be shown me by a small or