clearly the life and influence of the larger institutions whose repre sentatives came upon the stage as actors in this smaller drama; the state, behind and above the rivalry of Richard and John; the crusades, out of whose stir and enthusiasm Richard and Wilfred have dropped for an hour; the petty wars to which De Bracy's condottieri troop away; the stately chivalry, whose pomp we wit ness in these brief hours at Ashby and at Templestowe; the Order of the Templars; the church; the outlaw brotherhood; the waning English hopes; the inexplicable fanaticism that persecuted the Jews-from out this enormous activity emerge the thrilling action and moving passions of our story. Upon the nearer setting of his story Scott expended much pains. His delight in the details of mediæval manners, and his antiquarian studies supplied him abundance of material. And there is something peculiarly charming in those details which give both verisimilitude and enrichment to the picture. Such are the glimpses we have of hall and castle and tower, of lists, of hermitage, of dungeon, of arras, of kirtle and cloak and plume and jewel. The local setting of the action is explained by the fact that in travelling from Ashby-de-la-Zouche to the valley of the Don, it was necessary to pass through Sherwood Forest; and by this passage through the Forest hangs the tale. Here much of the action takes place, and considering this fact, we should naturally expect to find much reflection of the woods and wild nature. But as a matter of fact, the forest setting is quite apart from the story. It is the world of man we are concerned with; Sherwood Forest is everywhere intersected with foot-paths worn by human tread, with bridle-roads that often know the hoof of knightly charger or churchly palfrey; the dingle holds the hermit's cell, the thickets are chapels for St. Nicholas's clerks; the wild goose wings the outlaw's shaft or gives the Abbot a pen; the red deer stock the hermit's larder; only by inference can we tell the season of the year- no flowers are at our feet, and not a bird sings on the bough. XI. The Style. — In the matter of style, as in so many other matters that concerned his work, we find Scott quite aware both of his defects and his qualities. He says, "I am sensible that if there be anything good about my poetry, or prose either, it is a hurried frankness of composition which pleases soldiers, sailors, and young people of bold and active dispositions."1 One need seek no further thanhurried frankness of composition" for a phrase that adequately distinguishes Scott's style. It is the characteristic epic style, barring the grandeur; rapid, unadorned, unimaginative, not pausing for delicate phrases, sparing of figures. Scott had nothing of the lyric gift. The power of introspection, of analysis, of comparison, with its accompanying delicacy and finish of expression, was not his. We may say of him what Goethe so wisely said of Byron, "the moment he reflects he is a child" (sobald er reflectirt ist er ein Kind). A reader must be very young who does not smile at the "Satanic" eloquence in which the Templar gives Rebecca his emotional history. Luckily, there are few such passages in all Scott's work; even his verses are of the epic, ballad kind. It is wise, therefore, to take the attitude of the soldiers, sailors, and young people of bold and active dispositions, and enjoy Scott's hurried frankness of composition as the most appropriate vehicle for his subject-matter. It is seen at its best in Ivanhoe in the passage describing the first encounter between Ivanhoe and the Templar in the lists at Ashby. It did not seem desirable to point out in special notes the many inaccuracies and errors, grammatical and rhetorical, that may be found in Ivanhoe. If the student is sensitive to such things he will easily discover them; and if he does not detect them he is probably destined to be a soldier, a sailor, or some such bold and active person to whom the technicalities of expression will not matter. The epic manner is not suited for dialogue. So long as the talk is oratory, a formal discussion, or a series of set speeches, it goes well enough. But the give and take, the quick flashes and sup pressed steps of actual conversation, fare badly in the epic style. Scott's dialogues have the air of set speech. They are usually overworked, being compelled to carry forward the story, and even to bring up arrears of information from outside the limits of the story. The most natural and skilful dialogue in Ivanhoe is that in the twenty-ninth chapter between Rebecca and the wounded knight. Perhaps this owes its success to the fact that its purpose 1 Lockhart's Life of Scott, Vol. VIII., 370. is quite frankly that of giving information, and that it does not profess to be an exchange of ideas. From the Dedicatory Epistle we learn that Scott had carefully considered the difficulty of imparting an antique flavor to his dialogue while avoiding the absurdity of a mock-antiquated diction. The compromise which he adopted - an essentially modern speech strongly reminiscent of Shakespeare and King James's Bible has ever since been accepted as the proper vernacular of what Robert Louis Stevenson called "Tushery." In descriptions of physical nature we find what we should expect in Scott, a quick but apprehensive glance at the salient features of the scene. But in descriptions of buildings, dress, and other appointments, the antiquarian is likely to get the better of the story-teller; and the narrative waits while he lingers lovingly over the details that so fascinated him. This, one may notice in the description of Cedric's Hall, in the preparations for the tournament, but especially in the description of the castle of Coningsburgh. One does not often read a book of any kind that has in it so little of the gnomic element as has Ivanhoe. Not only does Scott make no comment in his own person, but we find that no person in the story utters a sentence of what we may call wisdom. Beyond a half-dozen of the most obvious reflections, there is not a philosophic, ethical, or even practical generalization in the book. In this matter Scott well-nigh achieves the complete self-effacement of the folk-balladist. In General. Every book has a right to demand that its reader meet it on its own ground. If it is worth reading at all it is worth adjusting oneself to in sympathy, so as to apprehend its centre, its first intention. To expect delicate character study in Ivanhoe would be as unwise as to ask heroic adventures in The Vicar of Wakefield, or mediæval manners in The Last of the Mohicans. But to mention the specific things that we may expect to find in Ivanhoe is not an easy task - so many and so various are its contributions to our joy. First, it satisfies the universal human craving for a good tale, carrying us in delight from incident to incident, from picture to picture, through to a satisfying close. Then it has the indefinable charm of romance - giving us the freedom of a world "afar from the sphere of our sorrow," a dateless, unchanging world always within easy reach. In Ivanhoe we breathe the sane and wholesome air of a heroic simple life the life of objective deeds and sheer accomplishment. To the brave company that peoples our world of dreams it adds many figures, noble, bold, beautiful, gay-knights and ladies, merry-men and troubadours, pilgrim and crusader, friar and jester. It touches the past with a glow of poetry, lighting up situations, institutions, and men, making real and rich for us those things that in the technical records seem meagre and colorless. Its style gives us the refreshment of writing which, though it may not be delicately correct, is also not consciously fine nor painfully precise, but which moves buoyantly forward without strain and without weariness. LIST OF BOOKS. The Life of Scott. J. G. Lockhart. (The references in this volume are to the edition of 1882, A. & C. Black.) Scott. Richard H. Hutton. (English Men of Letters.) Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott. Waverley. (Preface to the edition of 1829.) The Antiquary. The Monastery. The Talisman. English and Scottish Ballads, vol. v. F. J. Child. England under the Angevin Kings. Kate Norgate. A Short History of the English People. J. R. Green. (All his torical references in this volume have been made to the Short History as probably accessible to most students.) xxiv SUGGESTED EMENDATIONS. SUGGESTED EMENDATIONS. Certain obvious slips of memory, or of the pen, such as "William Rufus, his grandfather," page 77, "the six hundred crowns," page 353, "your sire Henry" etc., have been pointed out in the notes. Certain others not so obvious require special mention. They have stood so long in the text, it would have seemed a sort of irreverence to remove them. Therefore they are collected here. A few of these which seem entirely reasonable have not been noted, so far as I have been able to find, by any previous editor. ... Page 12. In" Quaker beauty who while she . . . continues to give " etc., for continues read contrives. (Not previously noted.) P. 69. In "Richard de Malvoisin," for Richard read Philip. P. 89. In "general device of his rider," for rider read Order. (Not previously noted.) P. 102. In "signs and sounds of a tumultuous concourse," for signs read sights. (Not previously noted.) P. 196. In "better than a cow-keeper," for cow-keeper read crowkeeper. See crow-keeper in the Century Dictionary and in the New English Lictionary, noting the connection in the citations between crow-keeping and poor archery. (Professor Perry also suggests this reading.) P. 223. In " twice-winded without the castle," for twice read thrice. P. 266. In" and yet retain the power to prevent," for prevent read repent. (Not previously noted.) P. 402. In "Nathan ben Samuel," for Samuel read Israel. See p. 371. |