SCOTT. 



163 



John Ballantyne, Who subsequently became inti- 

 mately connected with him in public life. He en- 

 tered the high school of Edinburgh in 1779, when 

 the class with which he was ranked (that of Mr 

 Luke Eraser) was commencing its third season. 

 Under this master he continued during two years, 

 after which he entered the rector's class, then 

 taught by Mr Alexander Adain. In October, 1783, 

 having completed the usual classical course, he was 

 matriculated at the university of Edinburgh, study- 

 ing Latin, under professor Hill, and Greek, under 

 professor Dalzell. Another year under Dalzell, and 

 a third in the logic class, taught by professor Bruce, 

 appear to have formed the sum of his unprofessional 

 studies at college. He was much devoted at this 

 period to reading ; and an illness, which interrupted 

 his studies in his sixteenth year, afforded him an 

 unusually ample opportunity of gratifying this taste. 

 He read, by his own confession, all the old romances, 

 old plays, and epic poems, contained in the exten- 

 sive circulating library of Mr Sibbald, (founded by 

 Allan Ramsay ;) and soon after extended his stu- 

 dies to histories, memoirs, voyages, and travels. 

 On the restoration of his health, he commenced, in 

 his father's office, an apprenticeship to legal business, 

 which was completed in July, 1792, by his entering 

 at the Scottish bar. 



The leisure hours of his early life, as an advocate, 

 were devoted to the study of German ; and the re- 

 sult was, a translation of " Burger's Lenore," and 

 " Der Wilde Jager," which he published in a small 

 quarto volume in 1796. The success of this at- 

 tempt was by no means encouraging ; yet he perse- 

 vered in his German studies, and, in 1799, gave to 

 the world a translation of Gb'the's "Goetz of Ber- 

 lichengen." Previously to the latter event, namely, 

 on the 24th December, 1797, he had married Miss 

 Carpenter, a young Frenchwoman of good parent- 

 age, whom he accidentally met at Gilsland wells, in 

 Cumberland, and who possessed a small annuity. 

 It is also worthy of notice, that, in 1799, he was 

 appointed sheriff of Selkirkshire, a situation to 

 which an income of three hundred pounds was 

 attached. 



Soon after he commenced the collection of those 

 ancient ballads, which, in 1802, were published in 

 two volumes octavo, as the Minstrelsy of the Scot- 

 tish Border. On the reprinting of this work, in 

 the ensuing year, he added a third volume, consist- 

 ing chiefly of original ballads, by himself and others. 

 The work was, upon the whole, a pleasing melange 

 of history, poetry, and tradition ; and it gained the 

 author a considerable reputation, though certainly 

 not that of an original poet in any eminent degree. 

 In the annotations to the ancient romance of Sir 

 Tristrem, which he published in 1804, he gave still 

 more striking proof of the extent of his acquire- 

 ments in metrical antiquities. 



It was not till the year 1805, when Scott had 

 reached the age of thirty-four, and had a family ris- 

 ing around him, that he attracted decided attention 

 as an original poet. He published in that year his 

 "Lay of the Last Minstrel," an extended specimen 

 of the ballad style, and one which fell upon the 

 public mind as something entirely new in poetry. 



In 1806, he received the appointment of a 

 principal clerk of session, through the interest of 

 the Buccleuch and Melville families, which he 

 had conciliated, partly by his talents, and partly by 

 the zeal with which he entered into the volunteer 

 system at the close of the past century. He suc- 

 ceeded Mr George Home, upon an arrangement, by 



which that gentleman was to enjoy the salary for 

 life; so that it was not till 1811 that the poet 

 reaped any actual benefit from it. The appoint- 

 ment was given by Mr Pitt, but was formally com- 

 pleted under the ensuing administration of Lord 

 Grenville. 



In 1808, Scott published his second poem of 

 magnitude, " Marmion," which displayed his metri- 

 cal genius in greater perfection than the Lay of the 

 Last Minstrel, and greatly increased his reputation. 

 While the latter work had produced him 600, the 

 present secured one thousand guineas. Previously 

 to 1825, no fewer than thirty-six thousand copies of 

 Marmion were sold. In the same year, he published 

 an edition of Dryden's works, with notes, and a life 

 of that poet. In 1809, he edited the State papers 

 and letters of Sir Ralph Sadler; and soon after he 

 became a contributor to the Edinburgh Annual Re- 

 gister, started by Mr Southey. 



" The Lady of the Lake," in which his poetical 

 genius seems to have reached the acme of its powers, 

 was published in 1810. His earlier efforts were less 

 matured and refined ; and the later are all, in va- 

 rious degrees, less spirited and effective. In 1811 

 appeared " Don Roderick," a dreamy vaticination 

 of modern Spanish history. In 1813 he published 

 " Rokeby," in which he attempted, but without 

 success, to invest English scenery, and a tale of the 

 civil war, with the charm which he had already 

 thrown over the Scottish Highlands and Borders, 

 and their romantic inhabitants. Rokeby was fol- 

 lowed, in 1814, by " The Lord of the Isles ;" but 

 partly owing to the public having become satiated 

 with his peculiar style, which had lost the charm of 

 novelty, and partly owing to the appearance of Lord 

 Byron, who had now commenced his brilliant 

 career, Scott's poetry began to fall in popularity. 

 As if to try how far his name now operated in pro- 

 moting the sale of his writings, he produced, anony- 

 mously, two small poems in succession, " Harold the 

 Dauntless," and " The Bridal of Triermain." Nei- 

 ther made any considerable impression upon the 

 public ; and he, therefore, seems to have concluded 

 that poetry was no longer a line in which he ought 

 to exercise his talents. 



The appearance of the prose romance of Waver- 

 ley, in 1814, forms an epoch in modern literature as 

 well as in the life of Scott. The circumstances 

 which led him to attempt this new style of compo- 

 sition, and induced him for so long a period care- 

 fully to conceal his authorship, are detailed in a very 

 interesting manner in his introduction to the new 

 edition of this extraordinary series of tales. We 

 cannot do more than merely refer to his own narra- 

 tive. But we may remark in passing, that, however 

 well the secret was kept, and however vehement 

 and ludicrous the controversies to which it gave 

 rise, it was in reality no secret at all to any one (to 

 any Scotchman, at least, of literary sagacity,) who 

 was acquainted with Sir Walter's other works, 

 or with his trains of thought. and modes of ex- 

 pression. Among the literary men of Edinburgh, 

 assuredly there was scarcely even the shadow of a 

 doubt from the beginning. 



While the Court of Session was sitting, Scott 

 lived in Edinburgh, in a good substantial house in 

 North Castle Street. During the vacations he 

 resided in the country, and entered with ardour 

 into the ordinary occupations and amusements 

 of country gentlemen. After he was appointed 

 Sheriff of Selkirk, he hired for his summer resi- 

 dence the house and farm of Ashiesteil, in a ro- 

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