New-York tribune., 1899-07-23
TOM CAMPION.
A VANISHING TYPE-THE ENGLISH YEO-
MAN FARMER.
From Blackwood's Magazine.


And a downright unneighborly act calls II,
and don't care what nobody says neither ex.
claimed old Tom Campion when he was informed
that one of his tenants could not be called upon
to replace chimney which had been blown
down in recent hurricane, on the ground that
the damage had been caused by the act OF Coo
Here have l stood fair 10y Him all my life,
never missed Sunday o church. not as
/ could help leastwayS paid my fees ana
my tthes regular, and now HeVe gone ana
acted like this by me. | shant go nigh HIS
house l reckon not for month, seeing as lie
won't leave my houses alone, and don't care
what no parsOn says TO the contrary
And cid Tom good as his word. In
deed though the rector scolded me upstairs and
downstairs for saying so, viii own that was
positively glad that, after having been heard 10
make the remarks which have been recorded,
the old mans seat in church should have been
vacant for the next four Sundays. For Tom
Campions integrity Of purpose was sort of by
word in parish. 1t was all very well for that
licensed backbiter John Ball to stigmatize old
Tom the very obstinatest old devil as ever
capt eyes on" Different people may call the
same thing 10y different names, and what John
meant and what | mean come to pretty nearly
the same thing in the end, and prefer to call 1t
integrity of purpose.
1t was that quality, at any rate. call 1t by
what name you please. that made Tom Cam
pion the best liked and the most highly respected
man in our parish
Glad to see the old gemman's time up" re-
marked the parish clerk to the rector when Tom
made his temperance in church; 'it didn't
seem natural like not to see him in his place.
But Lord bless your heart alive, sir! it would
have been the worst thing for the parish as ever
was for any one to go and think as old Tom
Campion could ever go back on what he's once
said. There'd be no dependency left whatso-
ever"
friends as they were, fell into rather warm
discussion OF the matter. and it then. be-
cause l showed myself to be OF the clerks way
OF thinking. that the rector fell foul Of me.
You are more than half a heather at heart
yourself, George" he said at last.
What makes you think that, sr?"
"Why, your making such point OF a mans
merit in keeping heathenish vow of that sort"
We'll you go and talk ii out with old Tom
himself. sir" l replied. don't waste your wrath
upon me- am very poor game.
The rector apparently took my suggestion, and
three days later came and called upon me for
the express purpose Of telling me that was not
very far wrong after all.
We'll George" he said, II not going so
far as to say that you are right or that / am
convinced, but | will allow that you have rea-
son. as the French say"
"You don't think old Tom and myself pair Of
heathens, then, sr|
I'VE will leave you out OF the question. George;
but I'll grant you that, according to his lights.
Tom Campon is a better Christian than many
of us are. His is Christianity Of a rugged type,
ard anthropomorphic to degree; but fancy 1t
will pass muster when many other claims are re-
jected. Look you here Reverend he said to
me, you've had your say, and I've listened to
you. but then preaching is your trade, and not
mine. What do say. and holds to It, is that
ii downright unneighborly act to blow
down the chimneNS of my house, ana done
what | said I'd do. to show as | don't think II
kind OF Him. But there-that is gone and past,
and count we're square; and just To show that
| don't bear no i'll Will, what | says now is this:
IL anybody blows the chimneys Of His house
down, seeing that He amt got no chimneys
to speak on. if anything goes wrong to the roof
ing or the tiles, or the tower well. my name is
tori dam nd
then before left the house, he put half SOW
eregn into my hand. What's that for, Mr..
Campion?' I said. Well, ne said. L most in
general puts my half crown into tn" bag on sun
days; and if | did stop at home, same as | said
l would do, | never counted as were going to
make no money out of the job, and ! amt ago
ing to. neither"
This anthropomorphic Christian. to borrow the
rector's phraseology was a specimen OF class
practically extinct in England, yeoman farmer
-for farmer he preferred to call himself-"ho
could trace his pedigree back for some twenty
generations, as lord Of the manor and large
3anded proprietor, 10 all intents and purposes
hereditary squire Of our parish How ii came to
pass that the world, which had educated so
many families out Of all resemblance TO their
fOrefathcrs, had apparently overlooked the Cam
pOns and left each successive generation as IL
htcrate as its predecessor. | cannot pretend to
say. But this much ! know of my own knoWl-
edge that unsOphisticated and rough of speech
as he was, old Tom had more Of the instincts OF
a gentleman than half the men one meets in the
world who wear tall hats and frOck coats and
arc dubbed csqures or known 10y some higher
title. If he spoke the Queens English much
after the fashion and with the accent OF an or
dary yoke. if his knowledge Of grammar was
faulty and he had failed TO master the laws cf
euphemism. | can safely say that never heard
the old fellow use an expression that would
either raise a blush on womans cheek or
shock the ears of the IN Dst strait laced Puritan
He was Conservative to the bac <bonc-& Con-
servative Il the deepest dye if We accept Nut
tails definition Of the term as zone who would
conserve old institutions and is averse to
change" Though he took little or no interest in
contemporary politics and sturdily refused to
register his vote for our local candidate from