484 FRIENDSHIP WITH SOUTHEY AND CAMPBELL. PART VIII. 



Robert Southey, than whom there was no better judge 

 of a loveable man, said of him, " I would go a long 

 way for the sake of seeing Telford and spending a few 

 days in his company." Southey had the best oppor- 

 tunity of knowing him well ; for he performed a long 

 tour with him through Scotland, in 1819. And a 

 journey in company, extending over many weeks, is, 

 probably, better than anything else, calculated to bring 

 out the weak as well as the strong points of a friend : 

 indeed, many friendships have completely broken down 

 under the severe test of a single week's tour. But 

 Southey on that occasion firmly cemented a friendship 

 which lasted until Telford' s death. On one occasion 

 the latter called at the poet's house, in company with 

 Sir Henry Parnell, when engaged upon the survey of 

 one of his northern roads. Unhappily Southey was 

 absent at the time ; and, writing about the circumstance 

 to a correspondent, he said, " This was a great morti- 

 fication to me, inasmuch as I owe Telford every kind 

 of friendly attention, and like him heartily." 



Campbell, the poet, was another early friend of our 

 engineer ; and the attachment seems to have been 

 mutual. Writing to Dr. Currie, of Liverpool, in 1802, 

 Campbell says : "I have become acquainted with Telford 

 the engineer, ' a fellow of infinite humour,' and of 

 strong enterprising mind. He has almost made me a 

 bridge-builder already ; at least he has inspired me with 

 new sensations of interest in the improvement and 

 ornament of our country. Have you seen his plan of 

 London Bridge ? or his scheme for a new canal in the 

 North Highlands, which will unite, if put in effect, our 

 Eastern and Atlantic commerce, and render Scotland 

 the very emporium of navigation ? Telford is a most 

 useful cicerone in London. He is so universally ac- 

 quainted, and so popular in his manners, that he can 



1 'Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey.' Edited by J. W. 

 Waiter, B.D. Vol. in., p. 326. 



