Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-11-10
SIR SCOTT.

From the New York Evening Post.l
We are glad that our fellow-citizens o
Scottish decent have placed a statue O
Sir Walter Scott in our beautiful Cen.
tral Park. He was One who, in respect
to his character as a writer and as q
man, merited some enduring memorial,
and we are confident that his pure and
gentle and romantic tastes would have
been satisfied with the sylvan quiet and
picturesque beauty of the spot which to-
day was the theaUer of the simple cere-
monies attending the unwilling Of his
statue.
SCOTS stories, as Ben Johnson said OF
Shakespeare, are "nOt of an age, but for
all time" Coming in after the literary
era of Fielding, Richardson and Smol-
lett, who wrote concerning the people
and the customs of their own genera
ton, and followed by Dickens, George
Eliot and Thackeray, who for the most
part treat Of the men and women and
manners Of their generation, ScOtt's
works stand forth like some ANTIQUE
figure in relief high up 0 n the side of a
great cavern. In this cavern the gem
eratiOns Of men follow each other in
regular succession. At one time ssPa-
AAAG4A EDA4AE1 Will utI AAEllklE anu ELtN@
a sentimental tear, while ''TOm JONES'
disturbs the quiet by recounting to a
crowd Of bOOn-cOmpanions his wild ad-
ventures; anon the self-f0rgetful peek
sniff appears with his sweet children
and poor Tim Pinch, 10 whom, in a
moment Of Observation-Disclosures, he ex-
tolls his own benevolence, while wonder
awkward Captain Dobbin, -
rrfghnn0r in On in awHa.sr1.e o., -rr.-- g. 4l.A
he has not. Each group is no.
in its day; each is understood and
appreciated by its own audience. But
On another level stands the quaint
As apparent and attractive 10
those OF the n generation as those OF
he other. To drop the smile, Scott
wrote what was history in his own dav
into romance; and from The first il re-
the stamp of popular approval.
To-day, when u first writer's set them
selves to the d~elineation Of character
Scotts still retain their original charac-
and therefore their original at
-ractiveness. Like the antique statue,
heir excellence does not depend upon
heir conformity to the fashion ofthe
lines, but to their conformity to nature;
lnd as time passes this quality will
SO that while the English lam
yuage is spoken, the enchanting power
d the wizard 81 the North must en-
lure.
The permanent of SCOTS reputation,
moreover, is assured by another fact.
books are full OF a stir and move
nent specially captivating to youth.
They deal largely with events, and about
hem IS that atmosphere of high resolve, .
IF an almost fantastic honor and o fchiv-
uric daring so coagenial 10 young and
generous spirits. Beautiful women and
iuong men; midnight pl0ttings and
ierce onsets; the passionate apprecia-
ion Of outdoor life; devotion to friends
generosity to foes; in short. all that
hurry and tumult of action which con-
most childrenis ideal of life. are
o be found in them. Afterward the
cute observation, the keen humOr, the
,entle sarcasm and the mate manliness
manifest, serving to cement in
more mature years the liking which had
Is beginning in the impetuosity and
uncomfortable riot of the Youthful blood.
The statue to-day uncovered in the Cen
raj Park VIII not represent a stranger
o those who come after US.
Aside from his literary character.
however, Sir Waiter Scott's name de-
erves TO be p-erpetuated because he was
man. His life furnishesa splendid ex-
Of moral strength and bravery i'm
ime Of misfortune. He was sensitive,
lmOst fastidiOus, in his tastes; artificial
ank was held in high esteem by him:
nd yet, when misfortune feIlupOn him,
o acute was his sense Of honor, 50 strong
his Integrity and so courageous was
Is spirit, that he deliberately went to
'ork TO earn more than half a million
{ dollars by writing, that he might dis
barge the obligations under which he
Iund himself staggering and keep his 4,
anne unstained. lie died like a martyr ;
this tremendous struggle with sudden 4,
though not until be had Virtually +
,complished his henculean task. Such 7
D example deserves 10 be preserved in !
sting stone. Here was one who !
that that intangible thing we +
III reputation was OF more account :
lands and houses; that character I
as better than bank notes. Kindred Z
lamples are not so common that we +
~ afford 20 let this notable one be lost; =
ID years hence, when the little ones of 4
day are walking ia Central Park with s
cir children, as they pass from the n
atue Of n great man 10 another, we r.
'pe when they come 10 SCOTS that, =
ter telling VA grandchildren that this a
iu memory Of the "Waverly Novels a
e parents Of that day viii add-and Of z
honest man. n