“I have too long delayed to thank you for the most
kind and acceptable present of your three volumes. Now am I doubly armed, since
I have a set for my cabin at Abbotsford as well as in town; and, to say truth,
the auxiliary copy arrived in good time, for my original one suffers as much by
its general popularity among my young people, as a popular candidate from the
hugs and embraces of his democratical admirers. The clearness and accuracy of
your painting, whether natural or moral, renders, I have often remarked, your
works generally delightful to those whose youth might
| CORRESPONDENCE WITH CRABBE. | 27 |
“You must be delightfully situated in the Vale of
Belvoir—a part of England for which I entertain a special kindness, for the
sake of the gallant hero, Robin Hood, who,
as probably you will readily guess, is no small favourite of mine; his
indistinct ideas concerning the doctrine of meum and tuum
being no great objection to an outriding Borderer. I am happy to think that
your station is under the protection of the Rutland family, of whom fame speaks highly. Our lord of the
‘cairn and the scaur,’ waste wilderness and hungry hills, for many
a league around, is the Duke of Buccleuch,
the head of my clan; a kind and benevolent landlord, a warm and zealous friend,
and the husband of a lady—comme il y en a
peu. They are both great admirers of Mr Crabbe’s poetry, and would be happy
to know him, should he ever come to Scotland, and venture into the Gothic halls
of a Border chief. The early and uniform kindness of this family, with the
friendship of the late and present
Lord Melville, enabled me, some years
ago, to exchange my toils as a barrister, for the lucrative and respectable
situation of one of the Clerks
| 28 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“I have often thought it is the most fortunate
thing for bards like you and me to have an established profession, and
professional character, to render us independent of those worthy gentlemen, the
retailers, or, as some have called them, the midwives of literature, who are so
much taken up with the abortions they bring into the world, that they are
scarcely able to bestow the proper care upon young and flourishing babes like
ours. That, however, is only a mercantile way of looking at the matter; but did
any of my sons show poetical talent, of which, to my great satisfaction, there
are no appearances, the first thing I should do would be to inculcate upon him
the duty of cultivating some honourable profession, and qualifying himself to
play a more respectable part in society than the mere poet. And as the best
corollary of my doctrine, I would make him get your tale of ‘The Patron’ by heart
from beginning to end. It is curious enough that you should have republished
the ‘Village’
for the purpose of sending your young men to college, and I should have written
the Lay of the Last Minstrel for
the purpose of buying a new horse for the Volunteer Cavalry. I must now send
this scrawl into town to get a frank, for, God knows, it is not worthy of
postage. With the warmest wishes for your health,
| CORRESPONDENCE WITH CRABBE. | 29 |
