Campbellites

“ He seems to have been a dreamy, quick-witted but somewhat indolent lad of whom his masters said, ‘if Campbell likes to work no one can beat him’; hot-tempered too, as Highlanders, rightly or wrongly, are credited with being. ”

“ Campbell.
"No, ma'am, certainly not without bloodshed, for either the Indians must destroy us or we them; if we conquer, not an Indian will be left alive; and if they master us, it will be about the same thing, I suppose."
"Heaven protect us, but this is dreadful; I was prepared for difficulties and annoyances when I came out here," exclaimed Mrs. Campbell; "but not for such trials as these."
"Never fear but we'll bring her back, ma'am," said Martin; "Malachi is a better Indian than them all, and he'll circumvent them." ”

“ The gallant Campbell centre, indeed, made a determined stand. They knew that they could hope for no mercy from their ancestral foes, and they were not forgetful of the honourable traditions of their race. ”

“ As the variform creature that was George Campbell crawled between the black blocks of stone thousands of worm-shapes prostrated themselves in the scintillating dust before it. A godlike power seemed to emanate from its weaving body as it moved with a slow, undulant motion toward a throne of spiritual empire transcending all the sovereignties of earth.
A trapper stumbling wearily through the dense woods of earth near the tent where the worm-creature dwelt in the body of George Campbell came to the gleaming waters of the lake and discerned something dark floating there. ”

“ Carved deep in the physical tissues of the brain, they spoke dimly as implanted instincts to George Campbell; and his human consciousness seized them and translated them to show him the way not only to safety and freedom, but to the power his soul, stripped to its primitive impulses, craved. Not as a slave would he dwell on Yekub, but as a king! Just as of old barbarians had sat on the throne of lordly empires. ”

“ Nutt and Lord Archibald Campbell have been in public controversy on the facts. Two clans, the Camerons and the Campbells, lay claim to this bracing story; and they do well: the man who preferred his plighted troth to the commands and menaces of the dead is an ancestor worth disputing. But the Campbells must rest content: they have the broad lands and the broad page of history; this appanage must be denied them; for between the name of Cameron and that of Campbell, the muse will never hesitate. ”

“ Campbell was educated at Glasgow, first at the academy and then at the university, graduating M.A. in 1866, with the highest honours in logic, philosophy, and English literature. Passing the Indian civil service examination in 1867, he went out to Bombay in November 1869, and served as an assistant collector. Quickly winning repute for interest in the history and customs of the people, he was in June 1873, when only twenty-seven, entrusted with the compilation of the provincial 'Gazetteer' of Bombay. ”

“ The Campbells, as everybody knows, can claim an incredibly long descent. There is a Clan Campbell Society, the chairman of which declared some years ago that he possessed a pedigree carrying the family back to the year 420, and no doubt there are enthusiasts who can trace it to at least the time of the Flood. The poet was not particular about his pedigree, but the biographer of a Campbell would be doing less than justice to his subject if he denied him that ell of genealogy which Lockhart deemed the due of every man who glories in being a Scot. ”

“ In the Proceedings of the Psychical Society (part xiv. p. 477) the late General Campbell sends, from Gwalior House, Southgate, N., April 27, 1884, a tale of personal experiences and actions, which exactly reproduces the story of the Egyptian Scribe. The narrative is long and not interesting, except as an illustration of survival,—in all senses of the word.
General Campbell says that his wife died in July, 1882. He describes himself as of advanced age, and cautious in forming opinions. In 1882 he had never given any consideration to ‘the subject of ultra-mundane indications’. ”

“ They marched into the valley of Glencoe, under pretence of levying the arrears of the land-tax and hearth-money. When Macdonald demanded whether they came as friends or enemies, Campbell answered, as friends; and promised, upon his honour, that neither he (Macdonald) nor his people would sustain the least injury! In consequence of this declaration, Campbell and his men were received with the most cordial hospitality, and lived fifteen days with the men of the valley, in all the appearance of the most unreserved friendship. ”

“ We have had great difficulty in getting back ourselves, led on as we were by the seductive John Gregorson Campbell, assuredly, if ever man was, since Campbell of Islay’s day, in the innermost secrets of the Elfin folk. Indeed, Campbell’s Popular Tales of the West Highlands, full to overflowing though they are, do not seem to us to express with anything like the same fullness and body the misty legend and wayward romance and quaint realism of the Celtic supernatural as does this plainer and prosaic notebook of an old parish minister between 1861 and 1891. ”

“ He had the necessary [Pg vi] knowledge of Gaelic, the hereditary connection with the district which made him at home with the poorest peasant, and the sympathetic nature which proved a master-key in opening the storehouse of inherited belief. It is not likely that another Campbell of Islay will arise, and, indeed, in these days of decaying tradition, he would be born too late.
In reading his book, then, for the first time, what impressed me more than anything else in his pages were statements such as the following:—
"The ancient Gauls wore helmets which represented beasts. ”

“ Campbell at once gained a wide and strong influence. His natural ability, his scholarship and literary culture, made him much superior to the preachers in that region; and his deep religious fervor and zeal and his rare courtesy of manner won the hearts of the people. He did not respect in his labors the narrow spirit and strict, illiberal rules and habits of the Seceder Church. Besides this, he had found near him a number of excellent people who had come over from Ireland, Presbyterians and Independents, some of whom had been his acquaintance and cherished friends in his native land. ”

“ Mr Campbell has a fair standing in credit, as far as I am able to learn, yet, if I mistake not he is such a man as I should have to watch if I did much business with him, though they all speak of him as though Rev. J. Lee had more than ordinary confidence in him. We have made arrangements where nearly all the Indian scholars will be as well off in families as they would be in school until they die or run away. ”

“ Let every man manufacture his own nonsense, say I. Expect me home soon, and--to whisper you a secret--in company with the poet Campbell, who purposes to visit Wyoming and enjoy the shadow of the laurels that he planted there. Campbell is now an old man. He calls himself well, better than ever in his life, but looks strangely pale, and so shadow-like that one might almost poke a finger through his densest material. ”

“ A temple to love is this bosom of mine;
Then smile on thy victim, Louisa, for ever,
I 'll kneel at thine altar, sweet Flower of the Tyne.
[Pg 255] THOMAS CAMPBELL.
Thomas Campbell, author of the "Pleasures of Hope," was descended from a race of landed proprietors in Argyleshire, who claimed ancestry in Macallummore, the great head of clan Campbell, and consequent propinquity to the noble House of Argyle. Alexander Campbell, the poet's father, had carried on a prosperous trade as a Virginian merchant, but had suffered unhappy embarrassments, at the outbreak of the American war. ”

“ Campbell says, males and females; they have web-feet, yellow hair, green dresses, tails, manes, and no noses; they marry human beings, are killed by light, are hurt by steel weapons, and in crossing a stream they become restless. ”

“ Campbell. Ladies, I fear I must run away, for I have an engagement. I will leave [Pg 41] Martin Super, Mr. Campbell, as you would probably like a little conversation together."
The Surveyor-General then took his leave, and Martin Super remained. Mrs. Campbell was the first who spoke: "Super," said she, "I hope we shall be very good friends, but now tell me what you mean by your—totem, I think you called it?"
"Why, ma'am, a totem is an Indian's mark, and you know I am almost an Indian myself. All the Indian chiefs have their totems. One is called the Great Otter ”

“ The spirit manifested here is, we believe, as strong even at the present day when hundreds will flock from many miles around to hear a Gaelic sermon by a Scotch minister. Campbell, in his travels in British America, mainly undertaken with the purpose of seeing how the new Highland colonists were succeeding, called at the house of a Mr Angus Mackintosh on the Nashwack. He was from Inverness-shire, and his wife told Campbell they had every necessary of life in abundance on their own property, but there was one thing which she wished much to have—that was heather. ”

“ Still later, in his account of the voyage of the Challenger, Lord George Campbell expressed himself even more warmly: "There are no people in the world," he says, "who strike one at first so much as these Friendly Islanders. Their clear, light, copper-brown coloured skins, yellow and curly hair, good-humoured, handsome faces, their tout ensemble, formed a novel and splendid picture of the genus homo; and, as far as physique and appearance go, they gave one certainly an impression of being a superior race to ours." ”

“ Campbell.
"Yes, ma'am, so you will, and then I'll be always with the boy to look after him, and you'll always know where we are, and not be frightened."
"Very true, Malachi," said Mr. Campbell; "I consider it a very good arrangement. We must build you a better lodge than the one that you are in."
"No, sir, not a better one, for if you have all you want, you can't want more; it's big enough, but perhaps not quite near enough. I'm thinking that when the sheep-fold is finished, it might be as well to raise our lodge inside of the palisades, and then we shall be a sort of guard to the creatures." ”

“ His knowledge of Orissa caused him to be again employed in the Goomsoor war of 1836-7, and at the end of this war he was placed in civil charge of the Khonds, or hill tribes of Orissa, with special instructions to suppress the practices of human sacrifice and female infanticide. Campbell soon obtained a marvellous control over them, and, without resorting once to the use of troops, managed to save the lives of hundreds of destined victims by a consistent policy of expelling from the hills all refractory village headmen, and by refusing to trust to native agents. ”

“ CAMPBELL, JOHN FRANCIS, of Islay (1822–1885) , Gaelic scholar, was born on the 29th of December 1822, heir to the beautiful Isle of Islay, on the west coast of Argyllshire. Of this inheritance he never became possessed, as the estate had to be sold by his father, and he began life under greatly changed conditions. Educated at Eton and at Edinburgh University, he occupied at various times several minor government posts. His leisure was largely employed in collecting, translating and editing the folklore of the western Highlands, taken down from the lips of the natives. ”

“ It so happened that the Indian was not seen by Mrs Campbell or any of them in the house, either upon his arrival or departure; and when Mr Campbell and the others returned to the house, they found that no one there had any idea of such a visit having been paid. The secret was kept, but it occasioned a great deal of anxiety for some days. At last the alarm of Mr Campbell gradually subsided. Malachi had gone out with John, and had discovered that all the Indians had come down near to them, to meet in council, and that there were many other parties of them in the woods. ”

“ Out of the darkness emerges a smooth-shaven, high bred, masterful physiognomy more like that of the statesmen who were the fathers of the republic, than of a member of any priesthood. Campbell’s cheeks and eyes are still fired with youth and authority militant. ”

“ Campbell devoted a great portion of his leisure to the collection of folklore tales in the western highlands. For this purpose he was in the habit of mixing with the natives in free and easy intercourse, so as to gain their complete confidence, and thus induce them to relate to him stories which the uneducated are so diffident in telling to strangers. ”

“ The "black speck" will still "stain the American character," for the people will receive the everlasting gospel, nor can men nor devils prevent it. The people may rage and the heathen imagine a vain thing: but HE who sits in the heavens will laugh, the Lord will have them in derision, and ere long, he will speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Mr. Campbell has been invited to show himself a man of principle—after repeated insults to the church of the "Latter Day Saints," and to exchange papers and cut a quill like a man ”

“ That is my thought.'"
"It is, as you say, Captain Sinclair, difficult to argue with men who look so straight forward and are so practical in their ideas. Nevertheless," said Mrs. Campbell, "a false creed must often lead to false conduct; and whatever is estimable in the Indian character would be strengthened and improved by the infusion of Christian principles and Christian hopes,—so that I must still consider it very desirable that the Indians should become Christians,—and I trust that by judicious and discreet measures such a result may gradually be brought about." ”

“ The whole lot seemed to suspect some evil design on my part; and I have never seen the one who told the story or the woman since, though I met their comrade afterwards.’
In enumerating the sources of his Gaelic stories (i. p. xxiv.) , Campbell gives (a) a West Country fisherman; (b) an old dame of seventy; (c) a pretty lass; or (d) ‘it is an old wandering vagabond of a tinker who has no roof but the tattered covering of his tent.... There he lies, an old man past eighty, who has been a soldier, and “has never seen a school”; too proud to beg, too old to work ”