.The Figures between parentheses, thus (1), refer to Notes at the end of each Poem; those marked thus, to Memoir of Sir Walter Scott. SIR WALTER SCOTT, descended from one of the through life, and whose loss he sincerely lamentmost ancient families of Scotland-the Scotts of ed. Of his early pursuits little is known, except Harden, is the eldest surviving son of a gentle- that he evinced a genius for drawing landscapes man of the same name, who was an eminent after nature.-At a proper age he was sent to writer to the signet at Edinburgh, where the the High School at Edinburgh, then directed subject of this sketch was born, August 15, 1771. by Dr Alexander Adam. In this school, young His mother was Miss Rutherford, daughter of an Scott passed through the different forms witheminent physician. Many biographers have fal-out exhibiting any of those extraordinary powers len into the error of confounding this Miss Rutherford with another lady of the same name who afterwards obtained some success as an authoress. Sir Walter Scott alludes to this mistake in the following passage appended as a note to his Remarks on Popular Poetry : I cannot here suppress some complaint of the newspapers of my own native city, which have repeatedly stated my mother to be the daughter of Mrs Scott of Wauchope, born Miss Rutherford, and daughter of a gentleman of good family of that name, who was a writer to the signet. Mrs Scott of Wauchope was authoress of Corah and other poems, and a correspondent of Burns. My mother was fond of poetry, but contented herself with admiring what she never dreamed of imitating. Dr Rutherford, her father, was a man of high reputation in his time, and one of the four pupils of the celebrated Boerhaave, who first brought the University of Edinburgh into public notice, as a school of medicine. The error which I have noticed, is of very little consequence in itself, but surely when it is thought worth while to mention so trivial a subject, some little care might be taken to make it accurate. Mrs Scott of Wauchope, instead of being my grandmother, was as young as my mother, her supposed daughter. The only points in common between the ladies were, that they were both born of the respectable name of Rutherford, and both changed it by marriage for that of Scott. The circumstance is not much worth notice, but the author is rather too okl to be stolen from his parents.» Walter, from the tenderness of his constitution, and the circumstance of his lameness, occasioned by a fall from his nurse's arms at two years of age, was in a great measure brought up at home, under the immediate care and instruction of this excellent parent, to whom he was much attached of genius, which are seldom remembered till the person to whom they are ascribed has become, by the maturity of his talents, an object of distinction. It is said, that he was considered in his boyhood rather heavy than otherwise, and that the late Dr Hugh Blair had discernment enough to predict his future eminence, when the master of the school lamented his dulness; but this only affords another instance of the fallacy of human opinion in pronouncing upon the real capacity of the youthful understanding.' Barrow, the greatest scholar of his age, was discarded as a blockhead by successive teachers; and his pupil, the illustrious Newton, was declared to be fit for nothing but to drive the team, till some friends succeeded in getting him transplanted to college. We learn however from himself that, although not distinguished by application to the routine of school business, the mind of Walter Scott was not inactive, and the future magician of the north was already able to rivet the attention of his schoolfellows by spells as potent, in the circle of their influence, as the maturer efforts of his genius, by which he has brought the whole world within the sphere of his enchantment, have proved to be in theirs. He thus alludes to this circumstance in the Preface to the last edition of the Waverley Novels: The prediction of Dr Blair, here alluded to, arose out of the following circumstances. Shortly after Dr Paterson succeeded to the grammar-school, Musselburgh, where Walter Scott was a short time a pupil, Blair, accompanied by some friends, paid him a visit; in the course of which he examined several of his pupils, and paid particular attention to young Scott. Dr Paterson thought it was the youth's stupidity that engaged the doctor's notice, and said, «My predecessor tells me, that boy has the thickest skull in the school.» «May be so,» replied Dr Blair, « but through that thick skull I can discern many bright rays of future genius.»> tion, was, as might have been expected, peculiarly rich in works of fiction. It exhibited specimens of every kind, from the romances of chivalry, and the ponderous folios of Cyrus and Cassandra, down to the most approved works of later times. I was plunged into this great ocean of reading without compass or pilot; and unless when some one had the charity to play at chess with me, I was allowed to do nothing save read, from morning to night. I was, in kindness and pity, which was perhaps erroneous, however natural, permitted to select my subjects of study at my own pleasure, upon the same principle that the humours of children are indulged to keep them out of mischief. As my taste and appetite were gratified in nothing else, I indemnified myself by becoming a glutton of books. Accordingly, I believe I read almost all the romances, old plays, and epic poetry, in that formidable collection, and no doubt was unconsciously amassing materials for the task in which it has been my lot to be so much employed. « I must refer to a very early period of my life, were I to point out my first achievements as a taleteller-but I believe some of my old schoolfellows can still bear witness that I had a distinguished character for that talent, at a time when the applause of my companions was my recompense for the disgraces and punishments which the future romance writer incurred for being idle himself, and keeping others idle, during hours that should have been employed on our tasks. The chief enjoyment of my holidays was to escape with a chosen friend, who had the same taste with myself, and alternately to recite to each other such wild adventures as we were able to devise. We told, each in turn, interminable tales of knight-errantry and battles and enchantments, which were continued from one day to another as opportunity offered, without our ever thinking of bringing them to a conclusion. As we observed a strict secrecy on the subject of this intercourse, it acquired all the character of a concealed pleasure, and we used to select, for the scenes of our indulgence, long walks through the solitary and romantic environs of Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Braid Hills, and similar places in the vici-ance with the specious miracles of fiction brought nity of Edinburgh; and the recollection of those holidays still forms an oasis in the pilgrimage which I have to look back upon. » "At the same time I did not in all respects abuse the license permitted me. Familiar acquaint with it some degree of satiety, and I began, by degrees, to seek in histories, memoirs, voyages and travels, and the like, events nearly as wonderful as those which were the work of imagination, with the additional advantage that they It was about this period that a circumstance occurred which may probably have laid the real foundation of that facility which has character-were at least in a great measure true. The lapse ized the fictitious productions of our author. A severe illness interrupted the course of his studies, and rendered him incapable of any bodily exertion. The effect which this produced on his mind, will best be described in his own words. My indisposition arose, in part at least, from my having broken a blood-vessel; and motion and speech were for a long time pronounced positively dangerous. For several weeks I was confined strictly to my bed, during which time I was not allowed to speak above a whisper, to eat more than a spoonful or two of boiled rice, or to have more covering than one thin counterpane. When the reader is informed that I was at this time a growing youth, with the spirits, appetite, and impatience of fifteen, and suffered, of course, greatly under this severe regimen, which the repeated return of my disorder rendered indispensable, he will not be surprised that I was abandoned to my own discretion, so far as reading (my almost sole amusement) was concerned, and still less so, that I abused the indulgence which left my time so much at my own disposal. of nearly two years, during which I was left to the exercise of my own free will, was followed by a temporary residence in the country, where I was again very lonely but for the amusement which I derived from a good though old-fashioned library. The vague and wild use which I made of this advantage I cannot describe better than by referring my reader to the desultory studies of Waverley in a similar situation; the passages concerning whose course of reading were imitated from recollections of my own.-It must be understood that the resemblance extends no farther.. Having completed his classical studies at the High School, with as much reputation, we suppose, as others of his standing, Walter Scott was removed to the University of Edinburgh, where, also, he passed the classes in a similar manner. His continuance here, however, could not have been long; for, after serving the prescribed terms in the office of a writer to the signet, he was admitted an advocate of the Scotch bar, when he had not quite attained the age of twen There was at this time a circulating library,inty-one. Edinburgh, founded, I believe, by the celebrated His success at the bar, although not brilliant, Allan Ramsay, which, besides contai ing a most was sufficient to justify the friendship with which respectable collection of books of every descrip- his social disposition, added to the fund of general to, proves that the carelessness and indifference to formal rules, which still characterise our author, were equally conspicuous in his early productions: In the mean time, my friend Lewis found it no easy matter to discipline his northern recruits. He was a martinet, if I may so term him, in the accuracy of rhymes and of numbers; I may add, he had a right to be so, for few persons have exhibited more mastery of rhyme, or greater command over the melody of poetry. He was, therefore, rigid in exacting similar accuracy from others, and as I was quite unaccustomed to the mechanical part of poetry, and used rhymes which were merely permissible, as readily as those which were legitimate, contests often arose amongst us, which were exasperated by the pertinacity of my Mentor, who, as all who knew him can testify, was no granter of propositions. an instance of the obstinacy with which I had so lately adopted a tone of defiance to criticism, the reader will find in the Appendix a few specimens of the lectures which I underwent from my friend Lewis, and which did not at the time produce any effect on my inflexibility, though I did not forget them at a future period.» As information collected from his desultory studies, had induced many of the leading literary characters of the Scottish metropolis to honour him. In the year 1788 German literature, then almost unknown to the English public, was brought particularly under the notice of the literati, by an Essay on the subject, read to the Royal Society by Henry Mackenzie, the celebrated author of the «Man of Feeling. This essay attracted great attention, particularly in Edinburgh, where the resemblance between the Lowland Scottish and German languages rendered the attainment of the latter comparatively easy. Several young men, amongst whom was Walter Scott, formed a class for the cultivation of the German language and literature. Shortly afterwards, the great success of M. G. Lewis, both as a romancer and balladwriter, in the German school, inspired our young | student with the desire of attempting an excursion in the same path; and an opportunity was afforded him in the summer of 1793, by the enthusiasm excited in Edinburgh by Miss Aikin's (afterwards Mrs Barbauld) recitation of a translation, by Taylor, of Bürger's poem of Leonore. Miss Aikin did not leave any copy of this translation in Edinburgh, and Walter Scott having heard of the poem from Dugald Stewart, and with some A variety of circumstances, unconnected with difficulty obtained a copy of the original, under- the intrinsic merit of the work, prevented the took to translate it for his friends, which he did | « Tales of Wonder» from being successful as a between supper and day-break. He soon after- bookselling speculation, though the ballads of wards translated « Der Wilde Jager,» and several | Scott obtained favourable notice from the critics. ballads by Bürger and others, which he distributed among his acquaintance, so much to their satisfaction that he was requested to print them. He accordingly, in 1796, brought out his versions of « Leonora," and the « Wild Huntsmen,» in a thiu quarto volume, the sale of which (owing probably to the number of translations of Leonora published about the same time, by Taylor, Pye, Spenser and others) was insufficient to cover the expenses of publication. In 1798 Mr Scott had married Miss Carpentier, a French lady, and in 1800 was appointed SheriffDepute of the county of Selkirk; a situation which, though productive of an emolument of 3ool. per annum, allowed him more time to prosecute his favourite studies than was compatible with the active exercise of forensic duties in Edinburgh. This opportunity was not neglected, and, drawing on his extensive stores of Border lore, he produced, in 1802, his first great work, in two volumes, which was called The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," beautifully printed at Kelso, by Ballantyne. This collection immediately arrested general attention, and though the pieces of which it is composed are very unequal, the master-mind and soaring genius of the poet are conspicuous throughout. In 1803 he produced a third volume of this work. He, however, continued his German studies with great perseverance, and about three years afterwards published a translation of Goethe's tragedy of Goetz of Berlichingen," which was but indifferently received. About this time he made his first attempt at original composition in a ballad called Glenfinlas.» An amusing account of the manner in which this little piece was submitted to the criticisms of the author's The studies of our author at this time were enfriends, and the treatment it received from them, tirely antiquarian. He lived and breathed only will be found in the « Introductory Remarks on among the knights, the heroes, the monks, and Popular Poetry.» «Glenfinlas, together with robbers of olden time; the feats of chivalry, and another ballad called the Eve of St John,» the rough heroism of northern warfare and borwere given by the author to his friend Monk der feuds, were the scenes in which his soul deLewis, to incorporate in his work called Tales lighted to dwell. He drank deeply of the stream of Wonder. The following passage, extracted of history as it darkly flowed over the middle from the Introductory Remarks,» before referred ages, and his spirit seemed for a time to be im |