[465] See "Ellandonan Castle," in the _Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border_, Scott's _Poetical Works_, vol. iv. p. 361.
[466] Now the Bishop of St. Andrews. As has been already said,
Wordsworth arrived on the 19th and left on the 22d September, _i.e._ the
visit lasted from Monday till Thursday. There are no dates in the
Journal between May 25 and October 8, but Wordsworth says, "At noon on
Thursday we left Abbotsford, and on the morning of that day Sir Walter
and I had a serious conversation _tête-à-tête_, when he spoke with
gratitude of the happy life which upon the whole he had led."--Knight's
_Wordsworth_, vol. iii. p. 201.
[467] Wordsworth notes that on placing the volume in his daughter's
hand, Sir Walter said, "I should not have done anything of this kind but
for your father's sake; they are probably the last verses I shall ever
write."--Knight's _Wordsworth_, vol. iii. p. 201.
[468] Lord Brougham.
[469] The introductory address to _Count Robert of Paris_ bears the date
October 15th, 1831.
[470] _Twelfth Night_, Act II. Sc. 3.
[471] See Moore's edition of _Byron's Works_, vol. vii. pp. 43-44, note.
[472] Scott's views received strong confirmation a few days later at
Bristol, where the authorities, through mistaken humanity, hesitated to
order the military to act.
[473] At Malta, accordingly, we find Sir Walter making inquiry regarding
this Arabian conjurer, and writing to Mr. Lockhart, on Nov. 1831, in the
following terms:--
"I have got a key to the conjuring story of Alexandria and Grand Cairo.
I have seen very distinct letters of Sir John Stoddart's son, who
attended three of the formal exhibitions which broke down, though they
were repeated afterwards with success. Young Stoddart is an excellent
Arabian scholar--an advantage which I understand is more imperfectly
enjoyed by Lord Prudhoe and Colonel Felix. Much remains to be explained,
but the boldness of the attempt exceeds anything since the days of the
Automaton chess-player, or the Bottle conjurer. The first time
Shakespeare was evoked he appeared in the complexion of an Arab. This
seems to have been owing to the first syllable of his name, which
resembled the Arabian word _Sheik_, and suggested the idea of an Arabian
chief to the conjurer. A gentleman named Galloway has bought the secret,
and talks of being frightened. There can be little doubt that, having so
far interested himself, it would become his interest to put the conjurer
more up to the questions likely to be asked. So he was more perfect when
consulted by Lord Prudhoe than at first, when he made various blunders,
and when we must needs say _falsum in uno falsum in omnibus_. As all
this will come out one day, I have no wish to mingle in the
controversy.... There are still many things to explain, but I think the
mystery is unearthed completely."
See also Lane's _Egyptians_ for an account of what appears to be the
same man in 1837. Also _Quarterly Review_, No. 117, pp. 196-208, for an
examination of this "Magic Mirror" exhibition.
[474] A hoard of seventy-eight chessmen found in the island of Lewis in
1831. The greater number of the figures were purchased for the British
Museum, and formed the subject of a learned dissertation by Sir
Frederick Madden; see _Archæologia,_ xxiv. Eleven of these very
interesting pieces fell into the hands of Scott's friend, C.K. Sharpe,
and afterwards of Lord Londesborough. More recently these identical
pieces were purchased for the Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh, where
they now are. See _Proc. Soc. Antiq.,_ vol. xxiii.
[475] Sir John Malcolm, who was at this time M.P. for Launceston. His
last public appearance was in London, at a meeting convened for the
purpose of raising a monument of his friend Sir Walter, and his
concluding words were, that when he himself "was gone, his son might be
proud to say that his father had been among the contributors to that
shrine of genius." Sir John was struck down by paralysis on the
following day, and died in May 1833.
[476] The celebrated Brahmin philosopher and theist; born in Bengal
about 1774, died at Stapleton Grove, near Bristol, September 27, 1833.
[477] Sir Walter's fears for the country were also shared by some of the
wisest men in it. The Duke of Wellington, it is well known, was most
desponding, and he anticipated greater horror from a convulsion here
than in any other European nation.
Talleyrand said to the Duke during the Reform Bill troubles, "Duke of
Wellington, you have seen a great deal of the world. Can you point out
to me any one place in Europe where an old man could go to and be quite
sure of being safe and dying in peace?"--Stanhope _Notes_, p. 224.
[478] See Mr. Charles Cowan's privately printed _Reminiscences_ for
Scott's recollections of his visit to Portsmouth in 1816, and his
stories, of the wonders he had seen, to the little boy at his side.
[479] Compare Froude's _History_, vol. iv. p. 424.
[480] Mr. Horace Smith, one of the authors of _Rejected Addresses_.
[481] An anonymous novel, published some years earlier in 4 vols. 12mo.
[482] Cowper's Monody.