“Were I to begin by telling you all the regret I had
at not finding you in London, and at being obliged to leave it before your
return, this very handsome sheet of paper, which I intend to cover with more
important and interesting matters, would be entirely occupied by such a
Jeremiade as could only be equalled by Jeremiah himself. I
will therefore waive that subject, only assuring you that I hope to be in
London next spring, but have much warmer hopes of seeing you here in summer. I
hope Bath has been of service; if not so much as you expected, try easy
exercise in a northward direction, and make proof of the virtues of the Tweed
and Yarrow. We have been here these two days, and I have been quite rejoiced to
find all my dogs, and horses, and sheep, and cows, and two cottages full of
peasants and their children, and all my other stock, human and animal, in great
good health—we want nothing but Mrs
Ellis and you to be the strangers within our gates, and our
establishment would be complete on the patriarchal plan. I took possession of
my new office on my return. The duty is very simple, consisting chiefly in
signing my name; and as I have five colleagues, I am not obliged
| 98 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“My principal companion in this solitude is John Dryden. After all, there are some passages in his translations from Ovid and Juvenal that will hardly bear reprinting, unless I would have the Bishop of London and the whole corps of Methodists about my ears. I wish you would look at the passages I mean. One is from the fourth book of Lucretius; the other from Ovid’s Instructions to his Mistress. They are not only double-entendres, but good plain single-entendres—not only broad, but long, and as coarse as the mainsail of a first-rate. What to make of them I know not; but I fear that, without absolutely gelding the bard, it will be indispensable to circumcise him a little by leaving out some of the most obnoxious lines. Do pray look at the poems and decide for me. Have you seen my friend Tom Thomson, who is just now in London? He has, I believe, the advantage of knowing you, and I hope you will meet, as he understands more of old books, old laws, and old history than any man in Scotland. He has lately received an appointment under the Lord Register of Scotland, which puts all our records under his immediate inspection and control, and I expect many valuable discoveries to be the consequence of his investigation, if he escapes being smothered in the cloud of dust which his researches will certainly raise about his ears. I sent your card instantly to Jeffrey, from whom you had doubtless a suitable answer.* I saw the venerable economist and antiquary, Macpherson, when in London, and was quite delighted with the simplicity and kindness of his
* Mr Ellis had written to Mr Jeffrey, through Scott, proposing to write an article for the Edinburgh Review on the Annals of Commerce, then recently published by Mr David Macpherson. |
| APRIL, 1806. | 99 |
“I met with your friend, Mr Canning, in town, and claimed his acquaintance as a friend of yours, and had my claim allowed; also Mr Frere, both delightful companions, far too good for politics, and for winning and losing places. When I say I was more pleased with their society than I thought had been possible on so short an acquaintance, I pay them a very trifling compliment and myself a very great one. I had also the honour of dining with a fair friend of yours at Blackheath, an honour which I shall very long remember. She is an enchanting princess, who dwells in an enchanted palace, and I cannot help thinking that her prince must labour under some malignant spell when he denies himself her society. The very Prince of the Black Isles, whose bottom was marble, would have made an effort to transport himself to Montague House. From all this you will understand I was at Montague House.
“I am quite delighted at the interest you take in
poor Lord Melville. I suppose they are
determined to hunt him down. Indeed, the result of his trial must be ruin from
the expense, even supposing him to be honourably acquitted. Will you, when you
have time to write, let me know how that matter is likely to turn. I am deeply
interested in it; and the reports here are so various, that one knows not what
to trust to. Even the common rumour of London is generally more authentic than
the ‘from good authority’ of Edinburgh. Besides, I am now in the
wilds (alas! I cannot say woods and wilds),
| 100 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
