and it was with no little reluctance that they proceeded on their journey. They admired that noble prospect in the Sound of Mull, of the wall of mountains stretching between Ben Cruachan and Ben Nevis, as between two mighty watch-towers. They touched at the beautiful little town of Oban, and examined the ruins of Dunolly and Dunstaffnage Castles; the latter commanding a grand view of Loch Etive, Ben Cruachan, and the supposed site of the ancient Caledonian city of Beregenium. Thence they crossed over to the Giant's Causeway, watching the Paps of Jura, and listening to the roar of the whirlpool of Corrievreckan on their way. When they reached Port Rush, Scott learned the news of the death of the Duchess of Buccleugh, a most admirable woman, and one of his warmest friends. And, in fine, he returned to Edinburgh, 'having enjoyed as much pleasure as in any six weeks of his life.' He had left, as we saw, on the 29th of July, and returned on the 9th of September-six weeks, to a day. This tour did not merely tend to strengthen his body and to exhilarate his mind, but had an important influence on his genius. It brought him in contact with scenery and manners of a new and very peculiar kind, and qualified him for writing his Lord of the Isles and The Pirate,

which, if not the best of his works, are yet valuable for their pictures of the wildest and most romantic Scottish scenes, and because one of them at least preserves the memory of interesting customs and characters which have now passed away. During the journey he was often in a truly bardic state of inspiration, sometimes 'pacing the deck rapidly, muttering to himself,' and at Loch Corriskin quite overwhelmed with his feelings as he roamed and gazed about by himself.

On his return, to balance the sadness produced by the death of the good Duchess, he found that during his abence two editions of Waverley had gone off,-that the applause was universal, and that equally so was the curiosity about the name of the author. It was surmised by many that it was Scott-such acute judges as Jeffrey and Mat Lewis knew at a glance the fine Roman hand; but the secret had been entrusted to only a few, including, besides the Ballantynes and Constable, Erskine and Morritt. He had scarcely reached home till he resumed the Lord of the Isles, which he meant as a trial of strength-in order to determine the question whether he should retire or not from the poetical arena. He wrote the last three cantos with fiery rapidity, finished them in

December 1814, and started for Abbotsford to 'refresh the machine,' which might well be worn out with the labours of the year. These included the Life of Swift, Waverley, the Lord of the Isles, two essays in the Encyclopædia supplement, several annotated reprints of old treatises and memoirs, and a vast mass of correspondence, besides the journal kept during his six weeks' tour. Probably no man has ever, unless Scott at another time, compressed so much valuable literary work into twelve months before or since. And ere the bells rung in the year of Waterloo, he had commenced another and one of the very happiest efforts of his genius.

CHAPTER X.

THE FIRST THREE WAVERLEY NOVELS.

W

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E have often envied those who lived while the great battles of Napoleon were succeeding each other; heard safely on this side of the Channel, like successive peals of distant thunder, by those basking in sunshine, serving to enhance the sense of security, and to deepen the feeling of repose, and yet starting the sublimest emotions. How many eyes must have kindled, and hearts beat high, when the news of Austerlitz arrived! And so have we envied those who had reached their full consciousness when the first Waverley Novels came forth in softer music, like sweet and lofty melodies succeeding each other from the harp of some great minstrel, who was himself unseen! Ere we were capable of appreciating them, their prestige was in some measure lessened, and their

power in some measure gone. Guy Mannering or Old Mortality read fresh from the press! what a luxury there is in the mere idea; how much more in the reality!

The publication of Waverley, strange to say, had been preceded by considerable misgivings on the part of Constable and his house. To test its merits, and secure for it friends, proof-sheets of some of its chapters were put by James Ballantyne into the hands of Henry Mackenzie, Dr. Thomas Brown, Mrs. Hamilton (the authoress of.. The Cottagers of Glenburnie), and others, who were unanimous in its favour. Then Constable came to terms. When it appeared, these critics were of course ready to take its part openly, as they had done in private; and the result was, after a little hesitation on the part of the public, triumphant success. One smiles at all this now, but it has not been uncommon in the history of popular works. With Childe Harold, for instance, a similar tentative process took place. With Vanity Fair, again, it was worse, as it had to go the round of the trade before it was accepted. It is quite possible that some real masterpieces have been strangled in the effort to be born, and that Mr. Horne in his False Medium was right after all.