4/13 It was his first important prose work; and prose requires continuous labour. It cannot, like a piece of poetry, be thrown off at a heat while the fit is on. Campbell stopped occasionally in the midst of his work to write poems, among others, his "Gertrude of Wyoming," which confirmed his poetical reputation. Murray sent a copy of the volume to Walter Scott, and requested a review for the _Quarterly_, which was then in its first year. What Campbell thought of the review will appear from the following letter: _Mr.T.Campbell to John Murray_. |