The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-02-03 00:00:00

LECTURE ON SIR WALTER SCOTT.

A lecture on the above subject was delivered under the
auspices of the Church of England Association on Mon-
day evening last, in the Union Hall, Enville-street.
Amongst those present were the Revs. H. Sherrard
(chairman), D. Robertson, J. J. Welch, G. Gilbanks,
Lane ; Captain Walker, Messrs. A. Freer, J. hicEwen, S.
Smith, S. Brooks, U. Birt, &c., &c.
. .

,
The lecture wait to have been read by C. Dalrymple,
Esq., M.P. for Bute; but in his absence the Rev. I).
it rbertson read it. There was but a poor attendance.
The Rev. H. Sherrard, who occupied the chair in the
unavoidable absence of Mr. W. E. Bernard (the Yresi.
dent of the Association), said he had to apologise to the
aMtence for a double disappointment, the first being the
absence of Mr. W. E. Bernard, who was to have occupied
the chair, but was prevented from doing so through do.
Diestic 81111CtiOn ; and the second being the absence of the
lecturer, who, he rt wetted to say, was prevented by ill.
nese from being present. He was happy to inform them,
however, that if they had not got the lecturer, they had
got tvbat was the next best thing—the lecture, and also
the Rev. D. Robertson, who was not only a near relative
,d Mr. Dalrymple, but also a coup ti yman of his, as well
of Sir Walter Scott's, had kindly cum, mad to read it,
aud no doubt he would do so with that enthusiasm which
t.ie subject demanded. Aficr ai few other remarks, he
h.iclly introduced the Rev. 1). hobertson (the Vicar of
tic Lye), to the audience. . . .

The rev. gentlemean, in his introductory remarks, said
lie hoped they could overlook any shortcomings there
might be in his reading of the lecture. as he had carry
recerved the manuscript the previous morning. old
altbough Mr. tb.lrynrpte's eritiog Non tokrabiy plain,
aiir he used cr-risin abbr, viations which took some Owe
.r, get accustomed to. Ile was slue no:hing would hare
dunes Mr. Ibbryurple more pleamre thru to Imre her 11
. ay., to read the it eta. to ; tut that was tul job.
as be liad been ceistineil to Ins bed for worn thaa
kir,: days. The rev geno.emati then commenced to
. • ad the lecture, widths op red with a bri, I di so iiition
the infancy of Sir %Vadat Seidl. The great poet or it
. _ .

. .
1..- woo b.o. io I mt 1.11. 15. h A ocuot,
i L. to woo Ihes. w of Vel.r Sot. W S d Alli.t.

....loofuns,d,nghter of Dr Johu ItatherforJ, Prof
4 31euleme in tun U”iver,iiy of Edotboro. Scuti, en,

AIL to whist th it in ni4 IMO country he set considered
trlOtte come it gcnCo blood. re be wit: descendtd hon.

(moil on the Borth r of o:d extreelion. wlcch
./.no,, ii elf Irons the nisiun correct of (be Wood of Bur-
-l• itch, and wlurh lid pri,ducf il some remarkable char
,et,rs—such as Auid Watt of Harden, fanious in (Surd, r
Aory, and in the song of his great descendant, and
iteurdie (so-called from an enormous beard alliah he had
sever cut is token of his regret for the banished House
of Stuart), who was the great grandfather of the poet
3ir Walter was proud of his lineage and of his counts.
Lion with the Border, and almost looked on Harden as
~is birthplace. He was born in a house at the head of
ihe College NVynd, which was afterwards pulled down to
isake room for a part of the New College. He was a
very healthy child till 18 months old, when he was affec-
ted with a teething fever, at the close of which he was
found to have lost the use of his right leg. All manner
of expedients were resorted to, to cure him, but they
were of no avail, His grandmother and aunt told him
tales and sung him songs about the old Border thievi s
and their daring exploits, and sowed in his mind the seeds
of future Deloraines and Clinthill Christies• Some old
books were read to him by his aunt Janet Scott, who was
his chief instructress, and was the true nurse to him of
the poet. In 1778, after spending some time of private
study under one Leechman and one French. he was sent
to the High School under the charge of Luke Frazer,
whom he describes as a good scholar and very worthy
man; and thence he passed to the Rector's class taught
by the celebrated Dr. Adam. Scott, in his youth, how-
ever, gave no promise of that greet genius with which he
afterwards startled the world, for he wm considered by
most of his contemporaries at this time to breather dull
and stupid, more apt to shine in the playground than at
school; for nothwithstanding his lameness he waa the
bravest of football players, the swiftest of runners; in
fact a thorough adept in all athletic sports. About this
time bin health becoming delicate, his father was induced
to send him to Kelso, where, once more being under the
care of kind aunt Janet, he added to the stores of his
reading, which in Edinburgh had been very extensive;
and at the school of one Lancelot Whale, which he at-
tended for some months, he increased his classical know•
ledge, besides making the acquaintance of James Hellen-
tyne, a man whose fortunes were ever afterwards closely
liuked with his own. He was 130011 afterwards recalled to
Edinbargh, where he went instantly to Hill's Latin and
to Dalziell's Greek class, at neither of which did he profit
much, and at the latter so little that he earned from his
fellow-students the title of the 'Greek Blockhead."
Scott was naturally Gothic in his Malec and the only
writer in Greek with whom he meld have had much
sympathy would have been Homer. He was in a great
measure a self-taught genius, and made himself an en-
eellent French and Italian scholar. On the 15th May,
1786, he was bound apprentice to his father as W.S., and
shortly afterwards wrote • poem of 1600 lines, entitled
The Conqaest of Grenada," which so soon as it was
finished he committed to the flames. He never met with
Barns to have any intercourse with him but on one occa-
sion, and that was in the year of 1786, in the house of
Mr. Ferguson, in the city of Edinburgh. Burns was
looking at some lines at the bottom of • picture which
'fleeted him to tears, and on turning round and enquir-
ing who was the author, Scott was able to answer his
query, and Burns rewarded him with a grateful look
which he never forgot- But although his love and rim.
ranee for Burns was most profound, and he on different
OCOSSiOIIII met him in the streets of Edinburgh, Burns
failed to recognize him. In 1788 he was sent to attend
the class of Civil Law, where he met with some of his
former associates at the High School, such as Irving and
Ferguson, as well as with a few other young men who
united literary tastes with legal aspirations, and they
taught him to be disgusted with the tame life of a W.S.,
and to look forward to the Bar. In the year 1797 he be-
came acquainted with Chariotte Margaret Spencer, who
was the daughter of a French Emigrant, and whom he
afterwards married. In the year 1797 Scott was consti-
tuted Sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire, with £3OO a-year
and little to do, and a still freer and fuller access than
before to the regions of Border beauty and Border song.
In 1800 and 1801. he was busy with the "Minstrels!,'
with the duties of his sheriffsbip, and with the bar, where
he was slowly increasing his business. In some of his
professional visits to Selkirkahire he bemuse eepreinted

with William Laidlaw and .Taanee Hogg. the latter of
whom hi better known as the " Ettrick Shepherd." Both
of these men adored Scott, both were instantly pressed
by him into the service of the " Minetreley," and both
materially aided him in his researches. The first two
volumes of the work appeared in January 1802, and al-
though they did not corowaud a very rapid sale they
excited great enthusiasm amongst all lovers of poetry,
arid were highly spoken of by George Lewis, Pinkerton,
Chalmers, Ritson, Miss Seward, and others. In 1805
appeared the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel," which wall
received with unbounded and universal applause. This
year he entered on his memorable partnership with the
Bellantynes. In 1807 he was appointed one of the prin-
cipal Clerks of the Sessions (at the death of his col-
league) at • salary of £BOO a year. In November of the
same year he commenced " Marmion," for which before
it was finished, and are he had read • line of it, Constable
(a well known publisher) offered 1,000 guineas—a sum
then thought enormous, and which Scott instantly accep-
ted. In the May of the year 1810, which was one of
S.•iitt's brightest years, the 'Lady of the Lake " appeared
and it WU received with boundless enthusiasm. Critics
vied with each other in their eulogiums. On all the roads
leading to the Trosachs was suddenly heard the rush of
ninny chariots and horsemen. Inns were crowded to
suffocation. Every corner of that fine gorge was ex-
plored, and every foot of that beautiful loch was traversed
by travellers carrying copies of the books in their hands.
In 1611 his lease of Aehestiel having expired, he bought
a farm near it which was destined to mature and expand
Into the world-famed Abbotsford. Here he determined
to take up his future residence, and to become, what of
all things he most coveted, a Scottish laird. His habits
at this time were very regular and methodical. He rose
at five o'clock every morning, dressed and shaved very
leisurely, for he was quite a martinet in the point of
dress, and had no sympathy with the "gown and slipper
slovenliness,' which some literary men affect; and we.
seated at his desk in the shooting jacket or other cos-
tume which he intended to wear for the day by six
o'clock; and by breakfast time had, as he expressed it,
broken the back of the day's work; and by noon he w.
"his own man,'' at liberty to enjoy himself in whatever
way he thought best About this time he, in company
with William Erskine and other friends, took a tour
round the Northern coast of Scotland, from which he
derived the greatest pleasure, which was augmented on
his return by finding that during his absence two editions
of " Waverley " had gone off and that the approbation
was universal. In the meantime he ,was progressing
with the 'Lord of the Idles." and wrote the last three
cantos with "fiery rapidity," finishing them in Decem-
ber 1814. He then started for A.bboteford to, as he des-
cribed it, " refresh the machine," which might well be
worn out with the labours of the year, which included
the " Life of Swift," " Waverley," the " Lord of the
Isles," two essays for the " Encylomedia Supplement,"
several annotated reprints of old treatises and memoirs,
and a vast mass of correspondence, besides the journal
kept in his six weeks' tour. No sooner had he reached
Abbotsford, however, than he commenced "refreshing
the machine " by the composition of " Guy Manneriug,"
which he finished in about six works; and it is a very
doubtful question whether such a feat has ever been ac-
complished by any other author. About this time Scott
had an interview with Byron, and though the opinions of
the two men were diametrically opposite—both in politi-
cal and religious matters—there grew up a friendship
between the two great rivals for the public favour which
never afterwards abated. About this time Scott's house
at Abbotsford was daily thronged with visitors, most of
whom were uninvited guests, who had come there to
gratify their curiosity by a sight of great poet and nove-
list. In fact, so much was this the case, that his wife
declared that Abbotsford was more like a hotel than a
gentleman's private residence. This constant influx of
visitors, and the distance that Abbotsford was from the
market town, led to an amusing incident. There were
14 or 15 guests in the house one day, most of whom were
uninvited, but whom Scott, with his ideas of princely
hospitality, could not think of sending dinnerless away,
when the coach failed to bring its usual basket of meat
from Edinburgh. In this dilemma, the gentry in the
neighbourhood were applied to for whatever joints they
could spare from their respective larders to nuke up the
deficiency. On the guests entering the dining-room they
saw four large covers on the table, which when removed,
disclosed four legs of mutton to their astonished gaze.
Scott, however, made so much fun over the affair that
they all declared afterwards they never enjoyed a meal so
much in their lives. The lecture afterwards gave des-
criptions of " Ivanhoe," and other great works of Scott,
together with an account of his meeting with Miss Edge-
worth, and his tour through Ireland, which wan more like
a triumphal march than the visit of a privateaentleman
and a few friends. It also spoke of his meeting with the
Prince Regent, and of his subsequently obtaining that
prize as much coveted by him—a baronetcy. Then fol-
lowed a graphic account of Scott's getting into difficul-
ties and his manly struggles to pay his creditors to the
uttermost farthing ; a feat which he ultimately 1100003.
plished, although the price was his own life. For it is i
generally admitted that it was his herculean efforts to do
this, with a frame that had been already enfeebled by
over.exertion, which precipitated his end. It will readily
be seen from the foregoing necessarily brief summary,
that the lecture was an exceedingly interesting one, and
the Rev. D. Robertson's readieg of it being all that could
be desired, the audience had the pleasure of enjoying a
thoroughly intellectual treat.
Mr. A. Freer, in very fiatterring terms, proposed a vote
of thanks to the Rev. D. Robertson, for the very able
manner in which he had read the lecture; and in doing
so passed • very high eulogium on the works of Sir Wal-
ter Scott, which he said were—unlike those of some au-
thors of the present day, who held a very high position
in the literary world—such as no gentleman need be
ashamed of having on his table.
Captain Walker seconded the proposition, which was
carried ananimoaely, and the meeting separated.

Lancstry.—At the Petty Sessions, yesterday, before B.
Littlewood, J. Holcroft, Revs., and Major Fletcher,
Joseph Jeffries, an old man, was fined 2. Ott and casts for
stealing two trestles, on the 29th ultimo, she property of
noon' Allen, of Wollaston. . . . . .

• LIQUIDATIoN x'amicool.We observe that 11 circular has
been issued by the Treasury, directing Registrars of
County Courts to refuse to receive (for transmission to
creditors), any notices wherein the name of the debtor's
solicitor, or other person, has been inserted in the form
of proxy attached to such notices.
A nuiliONEsi A SSIBTANT.—At the Police Court, on
Tuesday, before Mr. B. Littlewood, Henry Allbrighton,
.4roeer's assistant, was charged with stealing Lls 7d., the
property of his master, Mr. Christopher Data, grocer,
Lye. After bearing the evidence the Bench committc i
prisoner to take his trial st the Worcester Sessi