ON his next adventure, Sir Walter took a wider field. In the romance of
"Quentin Durward," which appeared in June 1823, he portrayed characters
and events connected with the history and times of Louis XI. and Charles
the Bold. "The sensation," writes Mr Lockhart, "which this novel, on its
first appearance, created in Paris, was extremely similar to that which
attended the original 'Waverley' in Edinburgh, and 'Ivanhoe' afterwards
in London. For the first time, Scott had ventured on foreign ground;
and the French public, long wearied of the pompous tragedians and feeble
romancers, who had alone striven to bring out the ancient history
and manners of their country, were seized with a fever of delight....
Germany had been fully awake to his merits years before, but the public
there also felt their sympathies appealed to with hitherto unmatched
strength and effect. The infection of admiration ran far and wide on the
Continent, and soon reacted most potently on Britain."
The accompanying illustration represents one of the most stirring scenes
in the novel. Louis of Bourbon, Bishop of Liege, having accused De la
Marck of sacrilege, and advised him to array himself in sackcloth and
ashes, and proceed on a pilgrimage to Rome, the rage of the tyrant
rose gradually with the admonitions of the priest, until he at length
determined upon vengeance. Raising himself in his chair as Louis ceased,
he looked to Nickel Blok, and lifted his finger, without speaking a
word. The ruffian struck, as if he had been doing his office in the
shambles, and the murdered Bishop sunk at the foot of the Episcopal
throne.
Mr Cruikshank is in his element in describing Cardinal Balue's
predicament at the boar hunt. While the Cardinal was in conversation
with the king, his horse, seizing the bit with his teeth, set off at an
uncontrollable gallop, leaving the king and Dunois far behind. The limbs
of the quadruped, no way under the rider's control, fly at such a
rate as if the hindermost meant to overtake the foremost, while the
cardinal's body, instead of sitting upright, hangs crouched on the back
of the animal, representing a picture sufficiently ludicrous. His short
violet-coloured gown, which he used as a riding-dress, his scarlet
stockings, and scarlet hat, with the long strings hanging down, together
with his utter helplessness, impart infinite zest to his exhibition of
horsemanship.
[Illustration: 097]
[Illustration: 099]