The New York herald., 1871-08-22

=. Shelton Mackenzie. Boston: James r. Osgood
tn Co. 1871. 12mo., PIP. XIII, 4Ss.
Fhen the poet Rogers dryly remarked Of the Sec
hand wits OF his time. .rhe world Is far gone In
-anecdotage," he prefgured the class OF books to
ich DR.. mackenze's life ol Scott belongs. To say
Z we have been much disappointed in the book
PyO bring into the account the raised expectations
|Ilch the preliminary flourish OF trumpets over the
PAhcoming "new books excited. That the work Is
|bA In any sense new no reader Of that strIkingy
cinating biography, Lockhart's 'Tile OF Scott"
i need 10 be told. Nor Is 1t skifu condensation
Il 1.-THE Old, SINCE exgences OF publication or some
|k1er cause. have left upon the whole execu.
II n OF the book such marks OF haste reputable
Mater ought willingly to be guilty Of The
.th0r begins his preface by informing us, in much
'Ar-w0rKed adjectives, that he has attempted to
pate a "reliable" and '.popular'' biography. He
os us, on page 2O3 that the Dame aux Camelias,
the younger Dumas. is ''the apotheosis OF pro-
zslonal impure" whatever that may mean The
e of the book is inferior in clearness as well as In
Npsh. o. course we nave no right TO expect
VI Xrgtnaty in what must he, from the nature OF the
We, mere compilation; bur we can fnd no reason
III heradng the book as contributing valuable per-
Hal "reminiscences of Scott, when the whole inter-
Strse between Dr.. Mackenzie and Sir Walter was
hnned to two interviews OF II few minutes each, at
Eilch nothing notable occurred one taking place In
ntland when Mackenzie was sixteen years old, and
], other In London, when he had reached the age
|Y twenty-five. The following loosely constructed
htenccs form not unfair specimen OF the re-
ndant and careless style In which the work Is
lmposed-
la treating Of what when was school boy, and
.ng after. was great literary mystery, have not
zen LOO dlffuse, hope The subject, IL appears to
'fc, even alter the lapse OF all these years, Is not
fntlng IN interest even yet; and indeed consider
ess with which he endeavcred to protect all his
.be stratagems OF authorship and publication from
,ibiic view, must be considered as exhibiting one
hculiarity of idlosyncrasy In very decided
ianner.
!Wc are told OF the Roxburghe Club always
ielled by DR.. Mackenzie without the final sen that
was "a plbli0mOnac social confederation OF a
hricuiarly exclusive character" and similar hete-
bgeneous use Of eplthes dIslgures many parts Of
he biography. Lord Byron Is called 'Hhat wayward
pilde--himself monarch Of song.' Topographic
a errors. such as the omission OF connecting words
'fe disagrceably frequent Mr. Robert Surtees, the
iistOrian OF Durham, Is four times called
Eartees. Yet, with all his faults, 1t cannot be said
bat DIR. Mackenzie has succeeded rendering the
Ife OF Scout dull. II the eXigency OF book-mahlng
for there no doubt that the work was produced
10 order TO meet probable demand on occasion OF
he centennial anniversary OF the great novelist)
as led the compiler TO hasty and unskllfu work 1t
$ what his famous subject had done before him,
ind no more than many other writers cOntin-
lally doing, both at home ard abroad. 1t has not
Deen possible SO to spoil by condensation the story
)f ScOts life as told III the entertaining volumes Of
Ockhart. first published In 1886, to eliminate its
interest FOR the reader. the most wonderful fact
about Sir Walter Scott's personal history concerns
MS enormous pecunary gains and losses. Alone OF
literary men he sunk more than million
lOllars. made By his pen, in a secret partnership
with publishers, who became bankrupt, and in
erecting a costly edlflce at AbbOtsfOrd. THIS magni
1cent domestic castle cost upwards OF thirty thou
sand POUNDS sterling, and when 1t was built ITS
famous owner became the lifelong ana helpless
victim OF his own magniiccnce. He was run after
by lords and ladies' and haunted by mobiles Of every
degree to whom he felt obliged to show every
lesy and hospitality. says Dr.. Mackenzie on this
head
From the time OF hts removal to Abbotsford in 1872
until the commercial catastrophe OF 1926 Scott enter
tained least One-slXIh Of the entire nobility OF
Great Britain and Ireland. TO sustain the enormous
expense OF thls winch also involved great waste
Of precious tiine-tO him at once health and money
Inc labor of one head and one hand had 10 provide
when worldly trouble smote him severely IN ms
AbbOtsfOrd mad to learn like Others that to win for
tune Is one tnng, To retain Is another. He had re-
Ceived as compensation ;or his writings sum much
larger IN The aggregate lhan up TO mat time nad
ever been paid for literary labor--a greater
amount believe than even Mr.. Dickens OBTAINED
during his remarkable career. Sir Walter Scott.
VINO could so well advise Others. who knew well
how To regulate the aIiallS Of others, who was at
once sIrewd and practical, was not man OF busl-
ness for nmSef Between his publisher and his
prnter he became responsible for large debts OF
EheIrs OF the existence or which he was ignorant.
In 1896 at the advanced age Oh atty ave after life
Dl unprecedented mental labor. he found himself in
VOlved to the enormous extent OF fl20,00 With a
feeing which The world mas always
lOnOred he resolved TO quldate The debt by his pen
alone, feeling that
Come what. may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
and doggedly down to do it. He labored through
pve weary years, until at last when his purpose was
nearly accomplished, the strain proved TOO great
and ne was struck down oy ap0pie,cm m PahaSsis h' ~
politics. had the noble grace to oer to clear MS eu-
out Of the public treasury, put ne
gratefully declined He sought renewal OF health III
the south OF Europe. but returned home TO die. AT
che age OF sxty one body ana mind were alike pros
traled and he breathcd his last at home TO the MUIR
muir o he gently rolling Tweed, which he had loved
40 wen. He fulfilled ms promise, at the cost OF a
life SO valuable to literature society TO the Kin
rired who so dearly loved tnat great and tender
hearted man, and 10 fair humanity Itself.
Lady Scott well characterized the onerous hospi
tailty TO which Sir waiter and his family were made
victims 10y saying that "Abboisford was very like a
large motel except that people did not pay" The
scale OF expenditure was, for considerable time, at
the rate of about ten Thousand pounds a year. Sir
Walter Scott was In the chrome habit Of "dscoun-
lngu the future, and raising MONEY on books yet TO
be written. He had at one time almost unlimited
faith IN hts capacities aud told his friend Words.
worth that che could easily make any amount OF
money that he required" He did make an
amount-e15, ,oOo--by his poems alone,
which Emerson has cdvaery styled "a
rhymed directory OF Scotland;' 100000 from
sswaverly,u more from ''Rob Roy" and
still more from 'Guy Mannerng' the
three novels having produced for their author
fs5. 900. over three hundred thousand dollars for
three actions, and all In the space OF less than
twenty years. When writing "Woodstock'' Scott
wrote that ne had turned OF volume In fifteen days,
and thought that, "for bet,' he could have done 1t
In ten. "A volume, AT the cheapest he calculated
this was after the sale of the novels had faen OF
greatly "Is worth thousand pounds. This is work
At the rate OF twenty thousand pounds per an
num-. NO wonder the strained bow snapped at last.
Here IA slight sketch OF Scotts appreciation Of
Lord Byron
During his tour lie first read English Bards and
Scottish Reviewers In when the noble and youth
ful author, who had "run mucK'' at the principal