“The easy and transparent flow of the style of this novel; its beautiful simplicity; the wild magnificence of its sketches of scenery; the rapid and ever brightening interest of the narrative; the unaffected kindness of feeling; the manly purity of thought, everywhere mingled with a gentle humor and homely sagacity,—­but, above all, the rich variety and skilful contrast of character and manners, at once fresh in fiction, and stamped with the unforgeable seal of truth and nature, spoke to every heart and mind; and the few murmurs of pedantic criticism were lost in the voice of general delight which never fails to welcome the invention that introduces to the sympathy of the imagination a new group of immortal realities.”

Scott received about L2000 for this favorite romance,—­one entirely new in the realm of fiction,—­which enabled him to pay off his most pressing debts, and indulge his taste for travel.  He visited the Field of Waterloo, and became a social lion in both Paris and London.  The Prince of Wales sent him a magnificent snuff-box set with diamonds, and entertained him with admiring cordiality at Carlton House,—­for his authorship of “Waverley” was more than surmised, while his fame as a poet was second only to that of Byron.  Then (in the spring of 1815) took place the first meeting of these two great bards, and their successive interviews were graced with mutual compliments.  Scott did not think that Byron’s reading was extensive either in poetry or history, in which opinion the industrious Scottish bard was mistaken; but he did justice ta Byron’s transcendent genius, and with more charity than severity mourned over his departure from virtue.  After a series of brilliant banquets at the houses of the great, both of rank and of fame, Scott returned to his native land to renew his varied and exhausting labors, having furnished his publishers with a volume of letters on the subjects which most interested him during his short tour.  Everything he touched now brought him gold.

“Paul’s Letters to his Kinsfolk,” as he called this volume concerning his tour, was well received, but not with the enthusiasm which marked the publication of “Guy Mannering;” indeed, it had no special claim to distinction.  “The Antiquary” followed in May of the next year, and though it lacked the romance of “Waverley” and the adventure of “Guy Mannering,” it had even a larger sale.  Scott himself regarded it as superior to both; but an author is not always the best judge of his own productions, and we do not accept his criticism.  It probably cost him more labor; but it is an exhibition of his erudition rather than a revelation of himself or of Nature.  It is certainly very learned; but learning does not make a book popular, nor is a work of fiction the place for a display of learning.  If “The Antiquary” were published in these times, it would be pronounced pedantic.  Readers are apt to skip names and learned allusions and scraps of Latin.  As a story I think