Chapter Camden to Capgrave of C by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Camden to Capgrave

Camden, William (1551-1623).—Antiquary and historian, born in London, and educated at Christ’s Hospital, St. Paul’s School, and Oxford, was in 1575 appointed Second Master in Westminster School, and Head Master in 1593, and spent his vacations in travelling over England collecting antiquarian information. His great work, Britannia, was published in 1586, and at once brought him fame both at home and abroad. It is a work of vast labour and erudition, written in elegant Latin. In 1597 Camden was made Clarencieux King-at-Arms which, setting him free from his academic duties, enabled him to devote more time to his antiquarian and historical labours. His other principal works are Annals of the Reign of Elizabeth (printed 1615-1623), Monuments and Inscriptions in Westminster Abbey (1600), and a collected of Ancient English Historians. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. The Camden Society for historical research, founded in 1838, is named after him.

Campbell, George (1719-1796).—Theologian and philosopher, was a minister of the Church of Scotland at Aberdeen, and Principal and Professor of Divinity in Marischal College there. His Dissertation on Miracles (1763), in answer to Hume, was in its day considered a masterly argument, and was admitted to be so by Hume himself. His other principal works were The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1776), which is still a standard work, and A Translation of the Four Gospels with Notes.

Campbell, John, 1st Lord Campbell (1779-1861).—Lawyer and biographer, son of the minister of Cupar- Fife, had a highly successful career as a lawyer, and held the offices successively of Solicitor and Attorney- General, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Chief Justice, and Lord Chancellor. His contributions to literature were Lives of the Chancellors and Lives of the Chief Justices. These works, though deficient in research and accuracy, often unfair in judgments of character, and loose and diffuse in style, are interesting and full of information.

Campbell, John Francis (1822-1885).—Celtic scholar, educated at Eton and Edinburgh, was afterwards secretray to the Lighthouse Commission. He was an authority on Celtic folk-lore, and published Popular Tales of the West Highlands (4 vols., 1860-62), and various Gaelic texts.

Campbell, Lewis (1830-1908).—Scholar, son of a naval officer, educated at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford, took orders, and was Vicar of Milford, Hants, until 1863, when he was appointed Professor of Greek at St. Andrews. He brought out edition of Sophocles and other works on the Greek classics, and in conjunction with E. Abbott The Life and Letters of Professor Jowett (q.v.), with whom he had collaborated in editing the Republic of Plato. He also edited the poems of Thomas Campbell, to whom he was related.

Campbell, Thomas (1777-1844).—Poet, was the youngest son of Alexander Campbell, a merchant in Glasgow, where he was born After leaving the University of that city, where he gained some distinction by his translations from the Greek, and acting for some time as a tutor, he went to Edinburgh to study law, in which, however, he did not make much progress, but gained fame by producing in 1799, at the age of 21, his principal poem, The Pleasures of Hope. In spite of some of the faults of youth, the vigour of thought and description, and power of versification displayed in the poem, as well as its noble feeling for liberty, made it a marvellous performance for so young a man. His other larger poems are Gertrude of Wyoming (1809), O’Connor’s Child, and Theodric (1824). It is not, however, for these that he will be chiefly remembered, but for his patriotic and war lyrics, Ye Mariners of England, Hohenlinden, and The Battle of the Baltic, which are imperishable. Campbell was also distinguished as a critic, and his Specimens of the British Poets (1819) is prefaced by an essay which is an important contribution to criticism. Campbell resided in London from 1803 until the year of his death, which took place at Boulogne, whither he had repaired in search of health. In addition to the works mentioned he wrote various compilations, including Annals of Great Britain, covering part of the reign of George III. In 1805 he received a Government pension, and he was Lord Rector of Glasgow University 1826-29. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Life and Letters, Beattie (1840); Poems, Aldine edited (1875, new, 1890).