SCOTT 1771-1832 SIR WALTER SCOTT, the most famous of historical novelists, was born in Edinburgh in 1771, and died in 1832. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, read law, and in 1792 was called to the Bar. In 1799 he was appointed sheriff, in 1806 was made clerk of the Court of Session, and in 1820, when he was forty-nine years old, received a baronetcy. His first literary effort was a translation of some of Bürger's ballads, which was published in 1796. Other translations followed, with three or four original poems; but not until 1805 did Scott attain the place of literary eminence which he afterwards held and adorned. His first great success was The Lay of the Last Minstrel," which appeared in that year, and was received with almost universal praise. 66 Marmion," ," "The Lady of the Lake," "Rokeby," and other poems were issued in quick succession, each confirming his poetical reputation and spreading his fame. But Scott is better known to the world as a novelist than as a poet. In 1814 "Waverley" was published at Edinburgh, and instantly attracted attention. No author's name appeared on the title-page, and the public was left in doubt as to the source of so brilliant a book. This was naturally increased, the next year, by the appearance of "Guy Mannering,” and, at brief intervals, of its successors. Scott was suspected of the authorship of these books, but stoutly denied it; and not till many years later did he admit the fact. In all the history of literature there is no record of such labors as his; one admires with equal warmth his lofty sense of honor, his unyielding fortitude, and his almost superhuman power of application, all shown under the burden of most grievous difficulties. The secret of Scott's success may be said to lie in his felicitous employment of common topics, images, and expressions. No writer before him had so vividly illustrated the characteristics of Scottish life and character. Not conspicuously surpassing all other novelists in single qualities, Scott yet possessed and combined all the qualities necessary for his work in nice and harmonious adjustment. While his novels fascinate us with all the charms of romance, they are also a storehouse of information as to the life of the times they treat of. Hutton, in his Life of Scott, thus comments on this aspect of the novelist's work: "The most striking feature of Scott's romances is that, for the most part, they are pivoted on public rather than mere private interests and passions. With but few exceptions, 'The Antiquary,' 'St. Ronan's Well,' and 'Guy Mannering' are the most important, Scott's novels give us an imaginative view, not of mere individuals, but of individuals as they are affected by the public strifes and social divisions of the age. And this it is which gives his books so large an interest for old and young, soldiers and statesmen, the world of society and the recluse alike. You can hardly read any novel of Scott's and not become better aware what public life and political issues mean. And yet there is no artificiality, no elaborate attitudinizing before the antique mirrors of the past, like Bulwer's, no dressing-out of clothes-horses like G. P. R. James. The boldness and freshness of the present are carried back into the past, and you see Papists and Puritans, Cavaliers and Roundheads, Jews, Jacobites, and freebooters, preachers, schoolmasters, mercenary soldiers, gypsies, and beggars, all living the sort of life which the reader feels that in their circumstances, and under the same conditions of time and place and parentage, he might have lived too. Indeed, no man can read Scott without being more of a public man, whereas the ordinary novel tends to make its readers rather less of one than before." SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND QUEEN ELIZABETH1 Ar this moment the gates opened, and ushers began to issue forth in array, preceded and flanked by the band of Gentlemen Pensioners. After this, amid a crowd of lords and ladies, yet so disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all sides, came Elizabeth herself, then in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty, and who would in the lowest walk of life have been truly judged to possess a noble figure, joined to a striking and commanding physiognomy. She leant on the arm of Lord Hunsdon, whose relation to her by her mother's side often procured him such distinguished marks of Elizabeth's friendship. The young cavalier we have so often mentioned had probably never yet approached so near the person of his sovereign, and he pressed forward as far as the line of warders permitted, in order to avail himself of the present opportunity. His companion, on the contrary, cursing his imprudence, kept pulling him backward, till Walter shook him off impatiently, letting his rich cloak drop carelessly from one shoulder; a natural action, which served, however, to display to the best advantage his well-proportioned person. Unbonneting at the same time, he fixed his eager gaze on the queen's approach, with a mixture of respectful curiosity and modest yet ardent admiration, which suited so well with his fine features that the warders, struck with his rich attire and noble countenance, suffered him to approach the ground over which the queen was to pass, somewhat closer than was permitted to ordinary spectators. 4 Thus the adventurous youth stood full in Elizabeth's eye, an eye never indifferent to the admiration which she deservedly excited among her subjects, or to the fair proportions of external form which chanced to distinguish any of her courtiers. 1 The selection is from "Kenilworth." 2 attendants of the sovereign, who were paid from the pension fund • Raleigh, afterwards Sir Walter Raleigh Accordingly, she fixed her keen glance upon the youth, as she approached the place where he stood, with a look in which surprise at his boldness seemed to be unmixed with resentment, while a trifling accident happened which attracted her attention toward him yet more strongly. The night had been rainy, and just where the young gentleman stood, a small quantity of mud interrupted the queen's passage. As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant,1 throwing his cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to insure her passing over it dry-shod. Elizabeth looked at the young man, who accompanied this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence, and a blush that overspread his whole countenance. The queen was confused, blushed in her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and embarked in her barge without saying a word. "Come along, Sir Coxcomb," said Blount," your gay mantle will need the brush to-day, I wot."8 "This cloak," said the youth, taking it up and folding it, "shall never be brushed while in my possession." "And that will not be long, if you learn not a little more economy." Their discourse was here interrupted by one of the band of Pensioners. "I was sent," said he, after looking at them attentively, "to a gentleman who hath no cloak, or a muddy one. You, sir, I think," addressing the younger cavalier," are the man; you will please to follow me." "He is in attendance on me," said Blount,-" on me, the noble Earl of Sussex's Master of Horse." "I have nothing to say to that," answered the messenger; my orders are directly from her Majesty, and concern this gentleman only." So saying, he walked away, followed by Walter, leaving the others behind, Blount's eyes almost starting from his head with the excess of his astonishment. At length he gave vent to it in an exclamation, "Who in the world would have 1 A richly-attired, courtier-like man. 2 a companion of Raleigh Derivation? 3 "I wot," an obsolete form="I know" (A.-S. wât). thought this!" And shaking his head with a mysterious air, he walked to his own boat, embarked, and returned to Deptford. The young cavalier was, in the mean while, guided to the waterside by the Pensioner, who showed him considerable respect, a circumstance which, to persons in his situation, may be considered as an augury 1 of no small consequence. He ushered him into one of the wherries which lay ready to attend the queen's barge, which was already proceeding up the river with the advantage of that flood-tide of which, in the course of their descent, Blount had complained to his associates. The two rowers used their oars with such expedition, at the signal of the Gentleman Pensioner, that they very soon brought their little skiff 2 under the stern of the queen's boat, where she sat beneath an awning, attended by two or three ladies, and the nobles of her household. She looked more than once at the wherry in which the young adventurer was seated, spoke to those around her, and seemed to laugh. At length one of the attendants, by the queen's order apparently, made a sign for the wherry to come alongside, and the young man was desired to step from his own skiff into the queen's barge, which he performed with graceful agility at the fore part of the boat, and was brought aft to the queen's presence, the wherry at the same time dropping to the rear. The youth underwent the gaze of majesty not the less gracefully that his self-possession was mingled with embarrassment. The muddied cloak still hung upon his arm, and formed the natural topic with which the queen introduced the conversation. "You have this day spoiled a gay mantle in our service, young man. We thank you for your service, though the manner of offering it was unusual and something 3 bold." "In a sovereign's need," answered the youth, "it is each liegeman's duty to be bold." "That was well said, my lord," said the queen, turning to a grave person who sat by her, and answered with a grave inclination of the head and something of a mumbled assent. "Well, 1 omen, favorable sign 2 Derivation? 3 here an adverb somewhat |