Paris-a sum that would not support a jolly beggar in London !"* "July 14th.-I feel ashamed at being able to send you no interesting news from this important place; but in reality, the heat has knocked me up so, that I have hardly stirred out beyond the garden for a week. All yesterday, Fahrenheit stood at 90° in the shade. To-day it is cooler-but, when the French boast to me of their beau climat,' I tell them it is fit only for devils. Their gnats seem also to have a natural antipathy towards me, for their bites have swollen my arm so, that I can scarcely get it into my coat sleeve; and with two or three bumps about my face and eyes, I am the most forlorn of human figures. I look forward, however, to a view of the lakes and glaciers. "T. C." The arrival of the "Poet of Freedom" was no sooner announced, than a deputation from the Polish Literary Society of Paris waited upon him with a complimentary address. Arrangements were then made for a public dinner, at which their illustrious chief, Prince Czartoryski, took the chair, and, in proposing the health of Campbell, thus addressed the company : We feel the deepest satisfaction in seeing amongst us one of the worthiest, the oldest, and most constant friends of our unfortunate country. It is to testify to him our sensations of gratitude and affection that we are met. He must submit to hear from our lips some expressions which his modesty would possibly wish to be spared, but which, in our regard for him, we cannot forbear from uttering. For nearly forty years, Thomas Campbell has never ceased to be the pleader, the champion, the zealous and unwearied apostle of our holy cause. Our disasters have never damped him; on the contrary, as is the case with souls that are truly noble, our very calamities have deepened his attachment to us; and Campbell has been as obstinately our friend, as Fortune has been our enemy. Kosciusko fell, his poetical accents were among the first that awakened Europe from her insensibility to our fate, and evoked, on the tomb of the country, the tears of all men capable of rendering homage to truth, to justice, and to liberty. As soon as our last revolution burst forth, his eloquent pen was again drawn in our behalf. Nor was it by his voice alone that When * In the same letter, and with characteristic disregard of expense, where literary comfort was the object, he requests his friend to forward a small library of Classics-" for until I get them," he says, "I shall be like a fish out of water.” As the books, however, might be hired, or even purchased, in Paris, for much less than the carriage would have cost from London, he consented, with some reluctance, to dispense with his old favorites, and provide substitutes in Paris. The letter is addressed to his friend, Mr. D. E. Williams. ÆT. 57.] PARIS-SPEECH AT A PUBLIC DINNER. 309 In proportion as he aided us, for he transmitted to us considerable sums. his high poetry had touched us, his donations affected our hearts. We recorded them as an offering agreeable to Providence, and that ought to bring a blessing with them; for they were the sparings of a very moderate fortune, which the philanthropy of its owner had not permitted him to augment. When frightful disasters put a period to our last struggle, still our Campbell did not desert us. He made our griefs his own-he preached to us sublime consolations, and he predicted that we might yet see better days! Oh, doubtless, nothing would be wanting to Poland, if the wishes of this faithful friend-if the predictions of this illustrious poetcould be fulfilled. Nor do I doubt that they will one day be fulfilled, and that the verses of his poetry will then be quoted to show that, by the light of his genius and his virtue, he had foreseen futurity! You all know how useful the Polish Literary Association of England has been to our cause-how beneficial it has been to our countrymen who have taken refuge in England-and who it was that created this Association which Who was the first man who thought of it, has been so precious to us. and who was the man who supported it during its first years, in the midst of the thousand vexations and difficulties which usually embarrass new institutions? Still it was Thomas Campbell! I regret, gentlemen, that we are not met in greater numbers-for there is not a true Pole on earth that would not have been happy to be with us; and they would have all received with acclamation the toast I am about to give-To the health of Thomas Campbell, and may our wishes for his happiness be accomplished !'" When the enthusiasm had partly subsided, Campbell returned thanks in the following terms: 46 Prince, and Gentleman,-In returning you thanks for the honor you have done me, I must take the liberty of refusing some exaggerated compliments that have been paid to my humble merit-an exaggeration which I, at least, ought to pardon, as it proceeds from your kindness towards me. Alas! what could be done for the sacred cause of Poland by an individual like myself-without wealth—without political power, and without extensive influence on the public mind? Almost nothing! But, there is one part of your praise which I cannot refuse-it is, when you give me the title of the faithful friend, the zealous friend, the devoted friend of Poland! For, though it is true that my feeble power has failed to effect anything considerable for your cause, still my good will has never failed; and as long as there is life-blood in my veins, this good will shall never be deficient. In this respect I feel myself worthy of the title of your friend!Gentlemen, these expressions might perhaps appear to a satirical spirit to be the language of vanity and self-complacency. Why, truly, if it be a fault, and a proof of vanity, to be proud of my feelings regarding Poland, I shall plead guilty-for I am proud of those feelings. But your hearts, which are as generous as they are brave, will not give an uncharitable interpretation to my words. Gentlemen, I have good reason to be proud of my friendship towards the Poles. The name of your country, and the history of your struggle with your oppressors, will be remembered eternally The latest posterity will listen with interest to the recital of your et nati natorum et qui nascentur ab efforts. The generations to come, illis," will read your history with the liveliest emotions; and they will pro nounce that your misfortunes have been the shame, as your heroism has been the glory, of the present age. And remember, my gallant friends, that one dies not wholly in this world, when one bequeaths to posterity a bright example, and an honorable memory. Without flattering you, I venture to say, that you are happier than your oppressors. Let me ask if your tyrants possess that calm of conscience, which constitutes the happiness of existence? No!-there is a God-there is a Supreme Judge and, in another world, there will be rewards and punishments! Men, wiser than the Emperor Nicholas-such men as Socrates and Bacon-have held this belief. And this thought of a God, how much ought it to terrify the consciences of your executioners! No, they are not happy-for God will call them to a severe account. Though I speak of their punishments in a future world, I wish only that they should expiate their crimes in this world. As for you, my friends, your consciences are without fear, and without reproach. If Providence were to say to me, 'I mean to change your existence into that of another; choose whether you will be the Emperor of Russia or Prince Czartoryski,' I should answer, Make me Czartoryski Brave Poles !-my sentiments towards you are such, that I may adopt the motto of the myrtle leaf,-Je ne change qu'en mourant.' Je prierai toujours le Ciel pour votre bonheur, et pour la résurrection de la cause sainte de la Pologne." This public tribute of respect, followed by others of a private but not less gratifying nature, had the effect of detaining Campbell another month in Paris : "August 4.-Even a Parisian August agrees with me; and a new neighborhood, with a tannery under my nose, leaves me such palpable health, that when I shave in the morning, I can see as fresh a complexion on my face, as if I had been traversing the Highland hills! . . . . I often wonder how my spirits keep up so well. I should fancy, indeed, that they stood at their greatest possible height, if it were not that a letter from England makes them mount higher. "I have been so fortunate as to hear Louis Philippe deliver his address to the Peers and Deputies. He spoke it right well: it was a masterly piece of composition; and the whole spectacle of the throne, hall, and spectators, was strikingly fine. "T. C." These passages are followed by a learned disquisition on the characteristics of French beauty, which, after "a very patient and dispassionate inquiry," he determines must yield the palm to that of England. After a series of hasty sketches of the ladies of the "Pensionnat," (to not one of whom he allows any pretensions to beauty,) "our old women in England," he affirms, "are loves-sirens-in comparison. I doubt much if Shakspeare's imagination ever figured such old girls dancing ÆT. 57.] NEW WORK-PARISIAN FEATURES. 311 round a cauldron. This astounds me the more, that the French old men retain their good looks-even better than our own. We have three old gentlemen in this boarding-house, past eighty, and all, all of them good looking. One noble fellow, gracious, gay, and fresh at eighty-two, is positively handsome. I guessed him at seventy. When he told me his age, I could not help exclaiming, "What a pity you are so old!' He bowed and thanked me for the compliment, perfectly understanding me to mean, that I was sorry so agreeable a man should not have more years to live." * * * * [August 10.]".. . . . I have begun a new work,* the title of which I will tell you when we meet. It will be a work of research. I have collected matter for it in the royal library of Paris. I get up at half-past four; and am every morning at work by five. About nine at night I get as sleepy as a hedgehog, and fear I scarcely keep till ten out of bed; but altogether, I suppose, I study twelve hours a-day. "The day before yesterday, we had a grand review of the National Guards. It was a splendid military spectacle. There must have been 20,000 men under arms. I was close to the king when he passed. He was well received. The National Guards are as fine a body of men as any capital in Europe could turn out. The troops of the line are short, active men-decidedly lower in stature than our troops. "I am a curious observer of national persons and faces; and, as such, I began to make observations. It struck me with horror, all along the ramparts, to see such innumerable groups of old, lame, crutched, double-bent women. What! I exclaimed, are all the women of Paris old and crutched? But I laughed to learn that, of an evening, three thousand old women, perhaps, walk out from the hospitals; and as they must be seventy before they are admitted, one can hardly expect them to look blooming, or to trip lightly along; I therefore corrected my opinion of Parisian beauty, in so far as not to judge of it by the 3000 girls of the hospitals. T. C." ..... 66 August 14. . . . . Well, I have seen Paris after an absence of twenty years! It is changed, I think, for the better. There are many new edifices, and things are cheaper. It grieved me, I own, to see the Louvre stripped. In sober reasoning and jus * The Geography of Classical History. tice, perhaps, I was wrong. But wo's me, to see the Apollo displaced by a large, ugly Minerva !-the Venus eloped-the Transfiguration and countless charming things removed!—Ah, reason as you will, it was a melancholy sight to me. "I saw the king open the Chambers, and heard him deliver a most adroit speech with excellent elocution. It was a rare speech-and yet, when you opened it next day in the journals, it contained nothing! It was like a coin which the juggler puts into your hand, and bids you hold it fast. Then, he cries, Puff-presto-begone! and when you open your hand, devil a coin is there! "I shall be in Paris until the middle of September. I am particularly anxious to get to Algiers; for several very sensible Frenchmen have told me, that nothing is more wanted than a faithful observer of what is passing there. The accounts they receive here are mutilated and suppressed, on the government side; and on the opposition side, they are blackened and exaggerated. My curiosity to see the country exceeds all power of description. I dream about it every night. T. C."* The following extracts are taken from letters to Samuel Rogers, Esq.: "August 15.-This is the anniversary of the Ascension (Assumption,) and all the churches in Paris are pealing away, as if for a wager, at the expense of my heretical ears. In the midst of all the confusion of ideas, which this jingling has produced, I have recollection enough left me to consider that as my letter is to contain a request, I had better get over that disagreeable part of it first, in order to have more pleasure in writing the rest. The request I have to make is-to be allowed to trespass once more on your kindness for the use of twentyfive pounds, from the middle of September, expressly, till the 17th of November. I find I made rather an under estimate of what my travels would cost me; and, unless I return within a few weeks-which would be a mortifying disappointment to me --I shall be far down in the purse. Now, that I am on the south side of the Channel, I wish to go pretty far south-as far indeed, if I can, as Algiers. Now, I pray you to take what I have to say about this payment of my third loan, not as words of course, but of strictly literal meaning. In proposing this new accommodation, I am only forestalling the money which I shall * Extract of a letter to John Richardson, Esq. |