Betrothed," in "The Tales of the Crusaders," did not satisfy James Ballantyne's practical and critical judgment; and though it was printed, all but a chapter or two, Scott was willing to cancel it, which would have involved considerable expense. But "The Talisman," on the other hand, was so good, that it was thought the other tale might venture abroad under its wing. When the work was published, "The Talisman" was exceedingly well received. The contrast between Saladin and Cœur de Lion was well marked. Indeed, this is the best of his shorter stories. There was an amusing Introduction, too, quietly satirizing the existing mania for jointstock speculations. The announcement of Sir Walter's intention of turning to a new line in literature ran thus: "The world, and you, gentlemen, may think what you please," said the chairman, elevating his voice: "but I intend to write the most wonderful book which the world ever read; a book in which every incident shall be incredible, yet strictly true; a work recalling recollections with which the ears of this generation once tingled, and which shall be read by our children with an admiration approaching to incredulity. Such shall be the Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, by the author of Waverley.""

As he never loitered over an undertaking, Sir Walter at once began to write a sketch of the French Revolution prior to the appearance of Bonaparte on the scene. Materials came in from many quarters. Constable, among other books, sent a wagon-load (about a hundred large folios) of the Moniteur;" and, as the work went on, it soon was apparent that there could be no hope of completing it within the compass of four small volumes: it was resolved to print it separately, in four larger volumes; and it finally occupied nine.

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CHAPTER XXII.

In Ireland.-By Boyne Water. - Reception in Dublin. -County-Wicklow Scenery.-Irish Wit.-Edgeworthtown.-At Killarney.-"The Athens of Ireland."-Portrait by Maclise.-Scene at Fermoy.-A Full-dress Interview.-Lockhart, Maria Edgeworth, and Anne Scott.

STR

1825.

IR WALTER SCOTT could scarcely be said to have visited Ireland in the lighthouse voyage which he made in the summer of 1814; though he had landed at Port Rush and Dunluce, and sailed so close to the Giant's Causeway that he "could easily see that the regularity of the columns was the same as at Staffa." He always had regretted having seen so little of a country in which he was much interested; but had no impelling inducement to go thither until the solicitation of his son and daughter-in-law, then residing in Dublin, and the earnest request of Miss Edgeworth, gave him a motive. Lady Scott, who considered that Ireland was a country of ragged savages, preferred to stay at home; and the party from Abbotsford consisted of Sir Walter, Miss Anne Scott (then a fine healthy girl of twenty-two, highspirited and lively), and Mr. Lockhart. The party crossed from Glasgow to Belfast; visited the field on which the battle of the Boyne had been fought on the 1st of July, 1690; and reached Dublin on the 14th of July, 1825, - their head-quarters being St. Stephen's Green, in which Capt. and Mrs. Scott had rented a mansion. Mr. Lockhart truly describes

this Green as the most extensive square in Europe. I remember that the general opinion in Dublin was that the outer foot-path was an Irish, and the enclosed inner portion an English, mile in circumfer

ence.

The attention paid to Sir Walter in Dublin was very great. From the Viceroy to the street-sweeper, the utmost courtesy was shown. The heads of all the professions, civil, military, and clerical, vied with each other in the endeavor to honor and gratify him. Wherever his carriage moved, crowds followed it; when he entered a street, the word was passed on, and the shop-keepers and their wives stood at the doors bowing and courtesying as he went along; while attendant crowds of men and boys, as numerous and excitable as the lazzaroni of Naples, huzzaed as at the chariot-wheels of a conqueror. His morning

levées at his son's house were crowded. In the Cathedral of St. Patrick's he paused before the monument of Swift (a bust by Roubilliac) and the pillar which marks the resting-place of poor Stella. To this hour, though Swift died in 1745, his memory is cherished in the hearts of the inhabitants of Dublin; for he fought and won a hard fight for the rights of the masses in Ireland: and the fact, which seemed generally known, that Sir Walter had written the Life of their favorite, contributed to swell his popularity. In the theatre, when he was recognized, the performances were suspended by order of the gallery gods, who have the reputation of being at once the wittiest and most free-spoken of play-goers, until he had spoken a few words of acknowledgment. In Trinity College, Dublin, he was presented with the degree of Doctor of Laws, causâ honoris, — a compliment always very charily paid by that university.

The beautiful scenery of the county of Wicklow, which lies at the very foot of Dublin, as it were, had

ÆT. 54.]

IRISH REPARTEE.

353

to be visited; for the Dargle, the Vale of Avoca, St. Kevin's Bed, the Seven Churches, Powerscourt Fall, and other picturesque places, were not to be unregarded. A very original guide, known as Judy of Roundwood, attracted Sir Walter's attention; for her interjectional remarks exhibited a natural, racy humor. After he had walked off, Lord Plunket, the great lawyer, who lived in the vicinity, told her that the lame gentleman was a great poet. "A pote!" she exclaimed: "divil a bit of it!-he's an honorable gentleman: sure, he gave me half a crown."

Sir Walter was fond in after-days, when he spoke of his Irish excursion, of repeating witty and sharp replies which even the beggars had made. One particularly charmed him. A mendicant, who was not to be refused, clamored for a sixpence on the strength of having picked up his walking-stick. Sir Walter handed him a shilling, saying, "You owe me sixpence." The coin was gratefully accepted, with the exclamation, "The Lord reward you, sir! May you live until I bring you back the change!"

Another specimen of wit, and something more, from the lips of a beggar-woman, deeply impressed him. A traveller in one of Bianconi's cars (this was before the railway time), who had been eating hamsandwiches as he sat on the vehicle during the stoppage to change horses, made a motion as if he would bestow the untasted portion upon a pale-faced, hungry-eyed beggar who stood close by, with a baby in her arms. She cried out, just as the car was moving off, "May good luck follow you all the days of your life!"-the vehicle went off, the traveller putting the remainder of his lunch into his pocket with a smile; and the disappointed woman shouted out in a shrill and clear voice the terrible commination, by way of finale, "and never overtake you!"

Sir Walter remained over a fortnight in Dublin,

and then passed on to Edgeworthtown, in the school of which Oliver Goldsmith had been educated; having been born at Pallasmore, then and now part of the Edgeworth property. The very eccentric father of Maria Edgeworth had died in 1817; but her brother was one of the best and most popular landlords in Ireland. He was hospitable too, with ample means; and a succession of highly-educated friends, the élite of Irish society, contributed very much to Sir Walter's gratification. He was so much and so pleasantly occupied during the weeks he was in Ireland, that his letters were "few, and far between."

After a very happy week at Edgeworthtown, where Capt. and Mrs. Scott were of the party, Sir Walter continued his journey with the purpose of visiting the Lakes of Killarney, and prevailed on Maria Edgeworth to occupy the vacant seat in his carriage. Their journey literally was an ovation. The resident nobility and gentry were proud to receive two such lions as Sir Walter Scott and Miss Edgeworth (few at that time had heard of Lockhart); and certainly a great deal of the country was exhibited to such visitors. Scott, it may be added, was well content with what he saw of the place and the people, and had great hopes of both. He arrived at the conclusion, Tory as he was, that more harm was done by refusing, than could possibly occur from granting, Catholic emancipation. It was, as I well recollect, a season of great political agitation in Ireland; and Scott was afraid, that if the causes of this excitment were not removed, that terrible misfortune and evil, a civil war, might arise. He had some sympathy, too, with those who indignantly protested against the suppression of the Irish Parliament, just as, had he lived in the time of Queen Anne, he would have objected to the suppression of the ancient Legislature of Scotland. He condemned as well as