t you had the
slightest intention of mortifying me by that phrase; but I should wish
to impress upon you, that I did not consider my application to you as
coming in the shape of what is ordinarily termed an application for
assistance. Circumstances have certainly compelled me latterly to make
requests, and resort to expedients, which, however proper in themselves,
I would not willingly have been acquainted with; but I have very good
prospects before me, and you are mistaken (I beg you to read this in the
best and most friendly tone you can present to yourself) if you have at
all apprehended that I should be in the habit of applying to you for
assistance, or for anything whatsoever, for which I did not conceive the
work in question to be more than a security.

I can only say, with regard to yourself, that I am quite contented and
ought to be so, as long as you are sincere with me, and treat me in the
same gentlemanly tone.

Very sincerely yours,

LEIGH HUNT.

This negotiation was ultimately brought to a conclusion by Mr. Hunt, at
Mr. Murray's suggestion, disposing of the copyright of "Rimini" to
another publisher.

CHAPTER XIII

THOMAS CAMPBELL--JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE--J.W. CROKER-JAMES HOGG, ETC.

Thomas Campbell appeared like a meteor as early as 1799, when, in his
twenty-second year, he published his "Pleasures of Hope." The world was
taken by surprise at the vigour of thought and richness of fancy
displayed in the poem. Shortly after its publication, Campbell went to
Germany, and saw, from the Benedictine monastery of Scottish monks at
Ratisbon, a battle which was not, as has often been said, the Battle of
Hohenlinden. What he saw, however, made a deep impression on his mind,
and on his return to Scotland he published the beautiful lines
beginning, "On Linden when the sun was low." In 1801 he composed "The
Exile of Erin" and "Ye Mariners of England." The "Battle of the Baltic"
and "Lochiel's Warning" followed; and in 1803 he published an edition of
his poems. To have composed such noble lyrics was almost unprecedented
in so young a man; for he was only twenty-six years of age when his
collected edition appeared. He was treated as a lion, and became
acquainted with Walter Scott and the leading men in Edinburgh. In
December 1805 we find Constable writing to Murray, that Longman & Co.
had offered the young poet L700 for a new volume of his poems.

One of the earliest results of the association of Campbell w