THE POETICAL WORKS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A POEM, IN SIX CANTOS. Dum relego, scripsisse pudet; quia plurima cerno, ADVERTISEMENT TO EDITION 1833. THE INTRODUCTION to THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL, written in April 1830, was revised by the Author in the autumn of 1831, when he also made some corrections in the text of the Poem, and several additions to the notes. The work is now printed from his interleaved copy. was once so popular, may still attract public attention record the manner and circumstances under which and curiosity, it seems to me not without its use to the present, and other Poems on the same plan, attained for a season an extensive reputation. the period at which I broke off in the Essay on the I must resume the story of my literary labours at It is much to be regretted that the original MS. of enjoyed the first gleam of public favour, by the sucImitation of Popular Poetry, [see post,] when I had this Poem has not been preserved. We are thus cess of the first edition of the Minstrelsy of the Scotdenied the advantage of comparing throughout the tish Border. The second edition of that work, pubAuthor's various readings, which, in the case of Mar-lished in 1803, proved, in the language of the trade, mion, the Lady of the Lake, the Lord of the Isles, &c. are often highly curious and instructive.—ED. INTRODUCTION TO EDITION 1830. A POEM of nearly thirty years' standing' may be supposed hardly to need an Introduction, since, without one, it has been able to keep itself afloat through the best part of a generation. Nevertheless, as, in the edition of the Waverley Novels now in course of publication, [1830,] I have imposed on myself the task of saying something concerning the purpose and history of each, in their turn, I am desirous that the Poems for which I first received some marks of the public favour, should also be accompanied with such scraps of their literary history as may be supposed to carry interest along with them. Even if I should be mistaken in thinking that the secret history of what 1 Published in 4to. (£1, 58 January 1803. rather a heavy concern. The demand in Scotland had been supplied by the first edition, and the curiosity of the English was not much awakened by poems in the rude garb of antiquity, accompanied with notes referring to the obscure feuds of barbarous clans, of whose very names civilized history was ignorant. It was, on the whole, one of those books which are more praised than they are read." At this time I stood personally in a different position from that which I occupied when I first dipt my desperate pen in ink for other purposes than those of my profession. In 1796, when I first published the translations from Bürger, I was an insulated individual, with only my own wants to provide for, and having, in a great measure, my own inclinations alone to consult. In 1803, when the second edition of the Minstrelsy appeared, I had arrived at a period of life 2 The Lay' is the best of all possible comments on the Border Minstrelsy."-British Critic, August 1805. A when men, however thoughtless, encounter duties | and circumstances which press consideration and plans of life upon the most careless minds. I had been for some time married-was the father of a rising family, and, though fully enabled to meet the consequent demands upon me, it was my duty and desire to place myself in a situation which would enable me to make honourable provision against the various contingencies of life. Such, however, was not my case; for the reader will not wonder that my open interference with matters of light literature diminished my employment in the weightier matters of the law. Nor did the solicitors, upon whose choice the counsel takes rank in his profession, do me less than justice, by regarding others among my contemporaries as fitter to discharge the duty due to their clients, than a young man who was taken up with running after ballads, whether It may be readily supposed that the attempts which I Teutonic or national. My profession and I, therehad made in literature had been unfavourable to my suc- fore, came to stand nearly upon the footing which cess at the bar. The goddess Themis is, at Edinburgh, honest Slender consoled himself on having established and I suppose everywhere else, of a peculiarly jealous with Mistress Anne Page; "There was no great love disposition. She will not readily consent to share her between us at the beginning, and it pleased Heaven authority, and sternly demands from her votaries, not to decrease it on farther acquaintance." I became only that real duty be carefully attended to and dis-sensible that the time was come when I must either charged, but that a certain air of business shall be buckle myself resolutely to the "toil by day, the observed even in the midst of total idleness. It is lamp by night," renouncing all the Delilahs of my prudent, if not absolutely necessary, in a young bar-imagination, or bid adieu to the profession of the law, rister, to appear completely engrossed by his profes- and hold another course. sion; however destitute of employment he may in reality be, he ought to preserve, if possible, the appearance of full occupation. He should, therefore, seem perpetually engaged among his law-papers, dusting them, as it were; and, as Ovid advises the fair, "Si nullus erit pulvis, tamen excute nullum." I Perhaps such extremity of attention is more especially required, considering the great number of counsellors who are called to the bar, and how very small a proportion of them are finally disposed, or find encouragement, to follow the law as a profession. Hence the number of deserters is so great, that the least lingering look behind occasions a young novice to be set down as one of the intending fugitives. Certain it is, that the Scottish Themis was at this time peculiarly jealous of any flirtation with the Muses, on the part of those who had ranged themselves under her banners. This was probably owing to her consciousness of the superior attractions of her rivals. Of late, however, she has relaxed in some instances in this particular, an eminent example of which has been shown in the case of my friend, Mr. Jeffrey, who, after long conducting one of the most influential literary periodicals of the age, with unquestionable ability, has been, by the general consent of his brethren, recently elected to be their Dean of Faculty, or President,-being the highest acknowledgment of his professional talents which they had it in their power to offer. But this is an incident much beyond the ideas of a period of thirty years' distance, when a barrister who really possessed any turn for lighter literature, was at as much pains to conceal it, as if it had in reality been something to be ashamed of; and I could mention more than one instance in which literature and society have suffered much loss, that jurisprudence might be enriched. 1 If dust be none, yet brush that none away. Mr. Jeffrey, after conducting the Edinburgh Review for twenty-seven years, withdrew from that office in 1829, on being I confess my own inclination revolted from the more severe choice, which might have been deemed by many the wiser alternative. As my transgressions had been numerous, my repentance must have been signalized by unusual sacrifices. I ought to have mentioned, that since my fourteenth or fifteenth year, my health, originally delicate, had become extremely robust. From infancy I had laboured under the infirmity of a severe lameness, but, as I believe is usually the case with men of spirit who suffer under personal inconveniences of this nature, I had, since the improvement of my health, in defiance of this incapacitating circumstance, distinguished myself by the endurance of toil on foot or horse-back, having often walked thirty miles a-day, and rode upwards of a hundred, without resting. In this manner I made many pleasant journeys through parts of the country then not very accessible, gaining more amusement and instruction than I have been able to acquire since I have travelled in a more commodious manner. I practised most silvan sports also, with some success, and with great delight. But these pleasures must have been all resigned, or used with great moderation, had I determined to regain my station at the bar. It was even doubtful whether I could, with perfect character as a jurisconsult, retain a situation in a volunteer corps of cavalry, which I then held. The threats of invasion were at this time instant aud menacing; the call by Britain on her children was universal, and was answered by some, who, like myself, consulted rather their desire than their ability to bear arms. My services, however, were found useful in assisting to maintain the discipline of the corps, being the point on which their constitution rendered them most amenable to military criticism. In other respects, the squadron was a fine one, consisting elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. In 1830, under Earl Grey's Ministry, he was appointed Lord Advocate of Scotland, and, in 1834, a Senator of the College of Justice by the title of Lord Jeffrey.-ED. |