The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-01-22
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
SIR WALTER SCOTT AND PREsBYTE-
RIANISM.
BY R. R. H.

Since the time when the well known move
cold Mortality" made its appearance,
has been very common to represent Sir Wa
ter Scott as the enemy of Presbyterian fait
and order, and as seeking by the weapons
ridicule and sarcasm as well as by downright
misrepresentation to injure the Church, o
wound the feelings of her adherents. Occa
Sionally articles setting forth such views hav
appeared 10 the Central and it is certain
that many worthy and intelligent member
of our Church, both male and female, hav
had strong Impressions of the truth of thes'
views. The high literary character anC
achievements of Sir Walter, and the noble
and sterling private virtues which adorned
his life, give to thi, question an Importance
and interest which otherwise would not be-
long to it. 1t may not be amiss, then, can
didly to consider it, upon such evidence as
can be relied on.
Sir Walter Scott was born in It'll, four
years before the beginning of our Revolu-
tionary War. At that time, the manners
and usages of ministers and people attending
the Church of Scotland were not what they
have since become. 1t cannot be denied
that certain sternnesS and ruggedness were
prevalent which repeled the aesthetic from
the very thoughts of habitual worshippers,
and which rebuked, as sinful, many innocent
enjoyments which God not only permits but
encourages as adapted to increase the cheer
full strength of His people. These stern
traits in the Presbyterian character of that
day need not surprise US. They were born
of the storm and tempest of the past Strug-
giles and they had their indispensable uses.
But they led to evils which gradually cor
rected themselves.
Scott's father was a firm Presbyterian
and so was his mother, who was descendent
from the staunch family of the Rutherfords.
While the boy, afterwards so distinguished,
was living at home, he was carefully taught
in the doctrines of the Westminster Cate
chism, and was required to conform himself
to the somewhat gloomy and depressing ideas
of religious worship and duty which then pre-
vailed. We have from the pen of his Son.in-
law and biographer, John Gibson Lockhart,
who married his oldest daughter Sophia, a
statement of the effect of this training which
is doubtless true. He says: Sir Walter
received strictly religious education under
the eyes of parents whose virtuous conduct
was in unison with the principles they de-
sired to instil into their children. From the
great doctrines thus recommended, he appears
Rever to have swerve&: 6uANs must DC num-
bered among the many who have incurred
considerable risk of doing SO, in consequence
of the rigidity with which Presbyterian heads
of families in Scotland were used to enforce
compliance with various relics of the puri-
tsnical observances. He took up early in
life repugnance to the mode in which pub
lie worship was conducted in the Scottish es-
tsblishment, and adhered to the sister
Church"
But in addition to the causes here men
toned by Lockhart, i; must be borne in mind
that young Walter Scott was an invalid al
most from his birth-that when he was only
eighteen months old his lameness began to
develop itself, and that his parents to pre-
serve his life, found it necessary to send him
to Sandy Kuowe, country place where much
of his childhood was passed. Occasionally
he was carried to other places for health, and
once, in his fifth year, he visited Bath in
England, of which he retained vivid recol
lection in after years. During this period
he was separated to a large extent from the
influence of his father and mother. Though
his lameness was permanent, his general
health became robust, and few lads of his
age excelled him in climbing, hunting, and
all other boyish sports. His mind was even
more robust than his body, and he devoured
books of all innocent kinds with an ardor
which knew no rest. 1t is not to be denied
that his reading did not run 10 the channels
which rigid PreSbyteriaus of that day would
have recommended. He preferred Spenser 8
Faerie Qusene, and PerCy'S ReliqueS to
Rouse Psalms-committed to memory the
Tristum of Thomas the Rbymer rather than
the stspzas of Sternhold and Hopkins, and
read Froissart's Chronicles and Amadis oi
Gaul rather than Zimmerman on Solitude
or Boston's Fourfold State. Oaher influences
also tended to divert him from the Church Of
his parents as he grew older He belonged
to the immense class of SCOTS who were de-
scended from Scott of Harden and he cher
ished, with enthusiasm, the traditions Of tht
family. Charles, Duke of BuCcleugb, wa'
the head of this clan, and was always 6
warm friend of young Walter, who looked
up to him with affecnonate reverence, anC
received material aid from him in the earlier
embsrrassments Aowing out of ScottS con
nection with the printers, James Ballantyn'
& Co. In the first years OF his manhood
Walter Scott fell warmly in love and wa
disappointed. Lockhart, though he tells o
the love and the disappointment, never re
calls the name of the lady but our conjec
lures seem reasonable in supposing that i
was the same lovely and fascinating woman
who afterwards became the Duchess o
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