respectably out.”  I thanked him, and ventured to entreat that he would add to the obligation he was laying me under by giving me a few notes to the proposed publication.  In short, the result of an hour’s conversation was that he undertook to arrange everything about the publication with a bookseller, and to give me the notes I asked, and, in fact, to do everything in his power to assist me, and I left him with very great regret that a matter of business prevented me from accepting of his pressing invitation to breakfast.  Before parting, he wrote for me the ensuing letter to Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharpe, which I was deprived of an opportunity of delivering by the shortness of my visit to Edinburgh.’

Sir Thomas soon afterwards completed his transcript, and on 7th June 1823 he wrote:—­

  ’Relugas, near Forres,
  7th June 1823.

’MY DEAR SIR WALTER,—­Can you pardon me for thus troubling you, in order to have my curiosity satisfied about our old friend Fountainhall, whose work I gave you in July last.  I hope you received the remainder of the Manuscript in October from my agent, Mr. Macbean.  If you can spare time to say, in a single line, what is doing about him, you will confer a great obligation, on yours very faithfully,

  T.D.  LAUDER.’

Sir Walter replied:—­

’MY DEAR SIR,—­We have not taken any steps about our venerable friend and your predecessor, whose manuscript is lying safe in my hands.  Constable has been in London this long time, and is still there, and Cadell does not seem willingly to embark in any enterprize of consequence just now.  We have set on foot a sort [of] Scottish Roxburgh Club[16] here for publishing curiosities of Scottish Literature, but Fountainhall would be a work rather too heavy for our limited funds, although few can be concerned which would come more legitimately under the purpose of our association, which is made in order to rescue from the chance of destruction the documents most essential to the history and literature of Scotland.

’We are having a meeting on the 4th July, when I will table the subject, and if we possibly can assist in bringing out the worthy Judge in good stile, we will be most ready to co-operate with your pious endeavours to that effect.  I should wish to hear from you before that time what you would wish to be done in the matter respecting the size, number of the impression, and so forth.  Whatever lies in my limited power will be gladly contributed by, dear sir, your very faithful servant,

  ’WALTER SCOTT.
  ’Castle Street, 18 June 1823.’

    [16] The Bannatyne Club was instituted on 15th February 1823.  Its
        object was to print works of the history, topography, poetry, and
        miscellaneous literature of Scotland in former times.  Sir Walter
        Scott was president till his death.  The Club’s last meeting was in
        1861, but there were some publications till 1867.