164 



POETRY AND POETS. 



following remark : " And had it 

 not been for sin, the smile of folly 

 had never been seen upon the brows 

 of wisdom." 



This anecdote is related upon the 

 authority of a person who was pre- 

 sent; but it may be remarked 

 that, perhaps, if Mr. Pollok's dis- 

 course had been listened to with 

 that decorum which the gravity of 

 the occasion demanded, it might 

 not, to an unprejudiced auditor, 

 have seemed deserving of the un- 

 favourable reception it met with. 

 But when the speaker became 

 eensible that his compeers were 

 making merry at his expense, it 

 must have produced in his manner 

 a degree of confusion, or perhaps of- 

 vehemence, by which language and 

 ideas, in themselves not inappro- 

 priate, might be rendered ridicu- 

 lous. It is also to be kept in view 

 that Pollok was not popular among 

 his fellow-students: so that they 

 may be supposed to have been on 

 the watch for an opportunity to 

 testify their jealousy of him. 



DEATH OP CAMPBELL, THE POET. 



On the 16th he was able to con- 

 verse more freely ; but his strength 

 had become more reduced, and be- 

 ing assisted to change his posture, 

 he fell back insensible. Conversa- 

 tion was carried on in the room in 

 whispers ; and Campbell uttered a 

 few sentences, so unconnected, that 

 his friends were doubtful whether 

 he was conscious or not of what 

 was going on in his presence, and 

 had recourse to an artifice to learn. 



One of them spoke of the poem 

 of Hohenlinden, and pretending to 

 forget the author's name, said he 

 had heard it was by Mr. Robinson. 

 Campbell saw the trick, was amused, 

 and said playfully, but in a calm 

 and distinct tone, "No ; it was one 

 Tom Campbell." 



The poet had, as far as a poet 

 can, become for years indifferent to 

 posthumous fame. In 1838, five 



years before this time, ho had been 

 speaking to some friends in Edin- 

 burgh on the subject. " When I 

 think of the existence which shall 

 commence when the stone is laid 

 over my head, how can literary 

 fame appear to me, to any one, but 

 as nothing? I believe, when I am 

 gone, justice will be done to me in 

 this way that I was a pure writer. 

 It is an inexpressible comfort, at 

 my time of life, to be able to look 

 back and feel that I have not writ- 

 ten one line against religion or 

 virtue." 



COLERIDGE. 



Mr. Coleridge was a remarkably 

 awkward horseman, so much so as 

 generally to attract notice. 



On a certain occasion he was 

 riding along the turnpike road, in 

 the county of Durham, when a wag, 

 approaching him, noticed his pecu- 

 liarity, and, quite mistaking his 

 man, thought the rider a fine sub- 

 ject for a little sport ; when, as he 

 drew near, he thus accosted Mr. C.: 

 " I say, young man, did you meet a 

 tailor on the road?" "Yes," re- 

 plied Mr. C., who Avas never at a 

 loss for a rejoinder, "I did ; and he 

 told me if I went a little farther I 

 should meet a goose ! " The as- 

 sailant was struck dumb, while the 

 traveller jogged on. 



IZAAK WALTON. 



Dr. Hawes bequeathed a great 

 portion of his library to the dean 

 and chapter of Salisbury ; and 

 his executor and friend presented 

 the celebrated prayer-book, which 

 was Walton's, to Mr. Pickering, the 

 publisher. The watch Avhich be- 

 longed to Walton's connection, the 

 excellent Bishop Ken, has been 

 presented to his amiable biogra- 

 pher, the Rev. W. Lisle Bowles. 



Walton died at the house of his 

 son-in-law, Dr. Hawkins, at Win- 

 chester. He was buried in Win- 

 chester Cathedral, in the south 



