Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-11-20

From the London Nep Momthiy Magaeine, for Oct.
DEArn OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.

"A
i he blow is struck-ihc lyro is shattercd-thc
music ~ hushcd at length Tho grsatc"t-the
farious-the most commanding genius OF modern
times has left to seek for that successor to his
ronown which, III all probability, remote genera
ton alone will furnish forth II is true that we have
bceu long prepared for the cvcut--it does not fall
upon us suddenly -ica after lcafwas stripped from
that noble trro before iccd TO the earth at
last;--our sympathy in his decay has softcncd to
us the sorrow for hiS death. II is not now our in
'ontion To trace tho character to enumcrate the
works OF the great man whose carccr is ruu:-to
every ego that rcads-cvcry ear that hears-evary
heart that remembers, this much, a. least of his
character is already kuown,-that he had al, the
pNubcrancn of genius and uonc of it's exccsscs that
no was at once equitable and gencrous-that his
heart was ever open to churity-that his life has
probably been shortened hy his scrupulous regard
for Justice. His career splendid rerutatio
OF the popular tallucv, that genius has of necessity
viscs-that ITS light must be mcteoric--and its
courses hayward and uncontrolled. He has left
mankind two great lessons,-we scarcely know
which is tho most valuable. Tic has taught us how
much delight one human being confer upon the
word;-he has taught us also that the ia ginati on
may aspire to the widest flights without wandering
INTO error. OF whom else among our great list OF
namcs-thc hcirlooms Of our nation-can we say
that he has lett as everything to admire and nothing
to forgivel
1t is III four different paths of intellectual emf.
ncnce that Sir Walter Scott has his fame; as
poet, biographcr, an historian, aud novelist.
IL IS not now II time (with the great mans clay
scarce cold to enter into the ncetics of critical
discussion. We cannot now weigh and sift and
compare. We feel too deeply at this moment to
reason well-but we ourselves would incline to con-
sder nun greatest as poet. Whether it be that to
our earliest rccollcctions lie was most endeared by
these mighty lays which called from antiquity all
ais nobest spirit and brcathed lite and nature in
TO That literature, which then languishing I'M
der the drowsiness of eternal imitation, and the
trappings OF Il false and Gallo arciality of school,
at once burthensomc and frivolous:-w!iatcvcr be
the cause OF our differing from the world i'm gen
era on this point certain it is, that think him
even create. as poet than novclist,-and were
II possible that time could witcr up the interest OF
the world in either, think that the prose of
WaVerly might suffer before the verse of Marmi- |
on. Never, indeed, has there been poet tho |
roughly Homcric as Scott--thc battlc-tho feast |
the council-thc guard-room at Sirling-tho d ying
warrior at Floddcn-the fierce Bcrram speeding |
up the aisle-all are Homoric;-all livc-movo-
breathe and burn--ake poetry, but alike lfo!--- |
There is this difference, too marked ard prominent |
between his verse and his prose;--the first is en-
phatically tie verse of Scott-the latter 1--WE mean
IN its stylc) may he the prose of any one--the
striking originality. the daring holiness, the as
tonlshln8 vlgour OF the style, in the Lay of the |
Inst Minstrel, arc lost in the Antiquary and Guy
Mannering.
Scott may be said, in prose, to have style. |
There are those, we know, who call this very alb |
sence of style mcrit-we will not dispute it: if il |
be Scott is the first great prose writer from Ba
con to Gibbon,-nay, from Herodotus in Greek, to |
Paul Courier in French-who has laid Claim TO it,
For our own part think him great, in spite of
the want OF style. and not because oft. As bio.
graphcr, he has been untog tunac in his subiccts
the two most important of the various lives ne has
either de'incated or sketchcd-that of Dryden and
That OF SwIL--are men, TO whose mex pcablc base.
ness genius could neither give the dignity of vir-
tue nor the interest of error. Nor, perhaps if we
may presume TO say so, the bent of the bogra-
piers mind that OF the JUDGE: he had more Of the
spirit OF veneration than that of inquiry. And in
ms estimate, both of men and of books his reason
ing seldom satisfies us SO much as his enthusiasm
charms, lie was born not to compose criticisms. |
but TO create critics. and the lessons Inc would draw
from the lives and genius ofother men,-thc poet
the ronancer-the c!ltic-the philosopher of future
ngcs-wIil deduce from his own.
As an historian, confess that we prize him |
moro highly than biogra phcr: it is that the
same faults are apparent in both, but there is i'm
tho grand History of Napoleon moro scope for re-
deemIng beauties. His great, his unrvalled, ex-
oel!ence IN description is here brought into full and
ample display his battles are vivid, with colours
winch no other historian ever could command. And
nil the errors OF the history still leave scenes and
touches ot unrivalcd majesty the book.
AS novelist, Scott has been blamed for not i'm.
parting more useful moral to his fctions, and for
dwelling with too inconsideratc interest on the
ci"airc illusions of the past. To charges of this
nature all writers are liable. Mankind divided
INTO two classes; and ne who belongs to one will
ever incur the reproach of not seeing through the
medium of the other. Certain it is, that we, with
utterly different notions political truths from The
great writer who is more, might feel some regret
some natural Pain-that the which we
DclleVe tile best, was not honored by his advocacy;
bat when reflect the real influence of his
works, we are satisfied they have been directed to
tho nobleSt ends, and have embraced the largest
circle of human interests. We do not speak of
the delight he has poured forth over the earth-of
the lonely hours he has charmed-of the sad
hearts he has bcgucd-oft the beauty and the music
winch he has summoned to world where all ira
Yali and none reposc: this indeed, is some hing
inns, indeed, is moral this indeed, has been
benefit to mankind. And this is a new corrobo
rant OF one among the mobiles: Of intellectual
truths,-viZ. that the books which please, arc
always books that, in ,epsc, benefit; and that
the work which is largely and permanently popu.
lar-whIch sways, mOulds, and sofcns the uni.
versal heart-cannol appeal to vulgar and unwor-
thy passions (such appeals never widely or long
1rumphaniM; the delight it occasions 10 Il proof
OF the moral it inspires.
But this power TO charm and to beguilo is not
that moral excellence TO which we refer Scott
cas- been the first great genius-FIlding alone ex-
cePtcd-who invited thorough and unconde-
scendlng sympathy to the wide mass Of the human
tanily-who has stricken (for in this artificial world
IL requires dn citorD into our hearts IA love and re-
bPcct LOT those chosen from the people Shakspcare
mas not done ths-Shakspearc paints the follios of
the mob with a strong and unfriendly hand
Where, in Shakespeare, is there . Jcanc Deans?
take up which you will Of those numerous works
which have appeared, from "Wavcrly" to the
chronicles OF the CanoDgatc open where YOU
please, you will find portraits from the people
and your interest Looping watch beside tho poor I
mans hearth. Not, in Scott, as they were i'm the
dramaists of our language, are the peasant tho ar
ticer' the farmer, dragged the stage merely to
6e i'ughcd at Tor their broguc and made to seem
[dIcul"uS because they useful.
lac paints them, II is true, in their natural lam
gnage, out the language is subscryicnt to the cha
rocter; he does net bow the to the phrase but