, vol. ii. p. 502) mentions a dinner-party on June 26, 1812, at the Princess of Wales's, where she heard him read his "first discourse," delivered at the Institution. Again (
ibid
., vol. iii. p. 6), she dined with Madame de Stael, March 9, 1814:
"Nobody but Campbell the poet, Rocca, and her own daughter. After dinner, Campbell read to us a discourse of his upon English poetry, and upon some of the great poets. There are always signs of a poet and critic of genius in all he does, often encumbered by too ornate a style."
Campbell's best work was done between 1798 and 1810. Within that period were published
The Pleasures of Hope
(1799),
Gertrude of Wyoming
(1809), and such other shorter poems as
Hohenlinden