Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1833-09-12
WHOLE No. $50.


here brought into full and nihpie display,
his bat'les are vivid, with colors which
no other historian ever could command.
And all. the errors OF the history st,ll
leave scenes and touches or unrivsllej
ajesty to the book.
! AS novelist, Scott has been blamed
for not imparting a more useful moral to
his hctions, and for dwelling with too
inconsiderate an interest on The chivala
ric illusions Of the past TO charges
of this nature all writer's are liable.
Mankind ale divided into two classes;
and he who belongs to the one will ever
incur the reproach of not seeing through
the medium Of the other Certain il is,
that We, with utterly different notions or
politica! truth from the great writer who
d is no more, might feel some regret
some natural paili--that cause which we
believe the best, was not honored By hs
advocacy; bat when we reflect on the
reot influence of his works, we are satis-
fed they have been directed to the no.
blest ends, s have embraced the largest
circle of human interests We do not
speak Of the delight he has poured forth
over the ear'h-of the lonely hours he
has charmed-o Of the sad-hearts he mas
/, ,beguiled-of the beauty and the music
/ which he has summoned ~ a world where
/, all travail and zone repose; this, indeed,
is a moral-this, indeed, has been BEN
eft TO mankind. And this is new Cor
roborant Of one among the nOblest of in
telectual truths.---viz. that the books
which please, are always books that, III
one sense, benefit; and that the work
which is largely and permanently popu-
lar--whch sways, moulds, and soltgGs,
the universal hear-cannot appeal to
vulgar and unworthy passions, (such ap-
peals are never widely or long triuin-
pbant,) the delight il occasions is apfoof
, of the moral 1t inspires.
J., But this power to charm and 10 seguile
IS not tina. moral excellence 10 which we
refer. Scott has been the first great ge~
nius--Fielding alone excepted--whoi in
vied thorough and notwithstanding
sympathy to the wide mass of the humans
tamil ily--who has stricken (or in this arfi-
fical world it requires an effort into our
hearts love and respect for those cho-
sen from the people. Shakespeare has
not done this--Shakspcare paints the
foiies of the mob with a strong and unS
friendly hand. Where, I'M Shakespeare,
is there a Jeanie Deansi Take up which
you will of those numerous works which
have appeared, from "Waverly" to tho
&C hronicles Of the Canongate ,"--opeH
where you please, you will find portraits
from the people--and your interest keep
ing watch beside the poor mans hearth
Not, in Scott, as they were in the dra'
: matists of our language, are the peasant,
It the arti6cer, the farmer, dragged on the
e stage merely to be laughed at for their
J, brogue, and made to seem ridiculous be-
D cause they are useful.
- He paints them, it is true, in their ma
e tural language, but the language is sub
'e servcnt to the character, he does not
- to the man. Neither does he natter on
e the one hand, rs he does not slight on the
: other.--Unlike the maudln pastoralls
e of France, he contents himself with the
y simple truth--he constructs the dark shar.
n dows of Meg MerriIies, or Of Edie Och
&c ihroe, with the holy and pure fights that
G redeem and sanctiiy them--he gives us
e the poor, even to the gypsey and tho
!, bcggar, as they really are-conte nted !,
j.. if our interest is excited, and knowing
that nature is sufficient to excite it,.
e From the palaces OF kings, from the
:, tents Of warriors, he equally at
a home with man in all aspects-to the
,. cotter's hearth; he bids us turn from the
n pomp Of the Plantagenets 10 Bow the
J. knee to the poor Jews daughter--he
n makes us sicken at the hollowness Of tire
n royal Rothsay, to sympathize with the
n honest love of Hugh, the smith. No,
&c never was there onc-not even Burns
4 himself-who forced us more Intimately
st to acknowledge, or more deeply to feel,
l. that,
OF "The rank i. but the guinea stamp,
to The mans the sowd, for a that
Id And is this being TO whom intelleet
ne taught philanthropy, to be judged by or
We dinary rules?--arc we to guage and metc
of his capacities of good, by tho common
y: me asures we apply to common nen'--
on No There was IN him a large and
IL Catholic sympathy with all cl'sses, all
n tempers, all conditions Of men; and this
is was that redeemed his noble works
ot from all the leaves Of sectarianisn; this
T. it was that made him, if the Tory in prip-
W ciple, the alb embracing leader in Prac-
D, tice. Compare with what he has done
= for the people, the works of poets CAL
e. led Liberal by the doci,ines-comparo
the writings OF Scott with those OF byron
,e which have really tended the most 10
a bind ne 10 the poor?-the first bss tosclr-