invasion. "The transport of an army by sea is often more easy than the march over a considerable tract of land. The fate of a naval engagement is generally more quick, decisive, and dependent upon fortune, than the siege of barrier towns, or the forcing of mountainous passes; and the elements may, by retaining the British fleets in Plymouth and Portsmouth, while they waft the enemy's squadrons from Brest to the Texel, destroy in a moment that bulwark to which we vainly intrusted our national defence, and render utterly useless the whole natural force of the country, which, after a change of weather, may display, triumphantly, its flags over every sea in Europe, while the Consular legions are revelling in the plunder of the Bank, or burning all the dock-yards in the kingdom. Το say that England may trust to her fleets, then, is to recommend a full reliance upon the chance of a single battle, or the event of a sea chace; to inculcate a silly confidence in good fortune, and to advise, that the fate of Great Britain should be committed to the chances of the elements, the shifting of a wind, or the settling of a fog. It is to her armies that every nation, insular or continental, must look for her sure and natural defence."*

As if convinced of this, all England began to be on the alert. The drum and fife, or the awakening bugle, gave to every city, town, and hamlet, an animating air of gaiety and bustle, which had the happy effect of dissipating alarm, whilst it gave double energy to preparation. The

* See TYTLER'S Life of Sir W. Raleigh, p. 81. Cabinet Library. VOL. II.

I

learned members of our Universities, inverting the adage, "cedant arma toga," were under arms almost to a man. Grave Professors and Fellows of Colleges, each according to his collegiate rank and pretensions, were to be seen enacting the part of officers, whilst their pupils, the undergraduates, were shouldering muskets, and learning practically to form squares and other military configurations. Country squires, not already embodied in their respective militias, were the raw materials out of which were formed, with almost magical promptitude, Captains, Majors, and even Colonel-Commandants, throughout the rural districts; whilst professional gentlemen, merchants, and tradesmen of every degree and denomination, were figuring in the chivalry of our towns, and displaying the badges of their respective ranks, from the sparkling epaulette to the distinctive stripes of lace upon their sleeves. Meantime, the cunning contractors for the requisite supplies were everywhere making fortunes, and snapping their fingers at honest John Bull, who was almost petrified at the rapid increase of taxes. It was in the contemplation of this perilous, yet virtually glorious crisis, that Scott said to me, "Oh! that I could but distribute over the whole Island, Akenside's beautiful and heart-stirring Ode to the Country Gentlemen of England.' It breathes a spirit that should be transfused into every heart. And I would have," he further added, “a sermon preached from every pulpit in the realm, on the text, (Nehemiah, c. iv, 14) Be not ye afraid of them; remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your

daughters, your wives, and your houses.' I am unable to say whether or not this appropriate text was adopted by any of the popular preachers of the day; but, as far as I could in my own limited sphere, I took care to spread the knowledge of it, as well as of Akenside's Ode. It is not by their writings merely that such as Scott ought to be judged. The effect of their daily conversation, and personal influence on society, must be taken into account; and who shall presume to number the benefits that accrue, in all these various ways, from the energies of such patriotic, wise, and good men, to the generation in which they flourish ?

Sir Walter was fond of cracking an occasional joke with our old hostess, Mother Trumbull, who was decidedly at the head of the establishment, old Sandy, her husband, being well content to enjoy his pipe in the chimney corner, and eat the bread of idleness. His cara sposa was tall and somewhat swarthy, with too much of the milk of human kindness for a Meg Merilees, but a little in that way. She was a sincere member of the Scottish Kirk, and the dialogue between the Sheriff and her usually turned upon some text of Scripture. It is pleasing beyond expression, to trace in the remembrance of this particular period, to myself so interesting the prestige of Scott's future career. He had already risen above the horizon, and was prepared, by natural genius, and the habits of his early life, to run precisely that brilliant course in which he achieved so many victories. And here I cannot help reverting to the contrast betwixt him and Milton. Aspiring

at Utopian perfection, the latter, by far the greater poet of the two, was engaged in perpetual conflict with the religious and political institutions of his country, and, unable to find happiness in the realities of life, was not philosopher enough, with all his learning, to discover the foundation of his disappointment; it never occurred to him to apply to himself, "quod petis hic est." He was a restless, proud, but conscientious Republican.

Scott, on the other hand, was of a happy temperament; and, with a capacity for enjoying life himself, it was his constant wish, and endeavour, to enable others to do the

same.

His were the glowing heart, and sparkling mien;

To be beloved-he needed but be seen.

And now he's resting in his lowly bed,

To be beloved-he needs but to be read.

Even when, owing to his unfortunate speculations with his Edinburgh Booksellers, he suddenly fell from the height of prosperity to narrow circumstances, his elasticity of mind. and honesty of purpose would have enabled him, had life and health been prolonged, to have repaired his fortune and amplified his fame.

Such as I saw him, during our short intercourse, he appears throughout his writings; in reading which I seem still to be in his company. At the age of thirty, which must have been about his age at the time I met him, the characters of most men, especially of such as are destined to perform a conspicuous part, are so far settled

as to preserve a close identity with the remainder of their lives. The seed-time is past, the blossoms have well-nigh disappeared, and a tolerably correct judgment may be formed of the advancing fruit. And as man, in his highest state of cultivation, may be said to resemble, in his intellectual attributes, the ever-blooming ever-fruiting orange-tree, so, in either, there is a summer season when the main crop will be produced-the crop by which the sterling value of the tree is known.

Perhaps I shall be excused for mentioning even the following trivial anecdote : Sir Walter had with him at Clovenford two horses, both guiltless, I believe, of any stumbling propensity; but one day, when we were inspecting them, he told us how a Scotch horsedealer had evaded an awkward question. He was asked by a customer, whether a horse he was examining was not apt to come down. Apt to come down! exclaimed the dealer indignantlyand no more was said upon the subject. This he related with so much archness, that I did not forget it; and I have more than once traced the exact turn of the anecdote in his Novels. For instance, in the Bride of Lammermoor- -"Have ye no heard of our letter," said the motherin-law to Caleb Balderstone (whose wits were sent a woolgathering by the question), " making our John the Queen's cooper for certain? and scarce a chield that had ever hammered gird upon tub but was applying for it ?” “ Have I heard !!!" said Caleb, (who now found how the wind set) with an accent of exceeding contempt at the