Marmion | Page 8

in the 1830
Introduction:--

'The publishers of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," emboldened by the
success of that poem, willingly offered a thousand pounds for
"Marmion." The transaction being no secret, afforded Lord Byron, who
was then at general war with all who blacked paper, an apology for
including me in his satire, entitled "English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers." I never could conceive how an arrangement between an
author and his publishers, if satisfactory to the persons concerned,
could afford matter of censure to any third party. I had taken no
unusual or ungenerous means of enhancing the value of my

merchandise--I had never higgled a moment about the bargain, but
accepted at once what I considered the handsome offer of my
publishers. These gentlemen, at least, were not of opinion that they had
been taken advantage of in the transaction, which indeed was one of
their own framing; on the contrary, the sale of the Poem was so far
beyond their expectation, as to induce them to supply the author's
cellars with what is always an acceptable present to a young Scottish
housekeeper, namely, a hogshead of excellent claret.'
A second point on which Scott was attacked was the character of
Marmion. It was held that such a knight as he undoubtedly was should
have been incapable of forgery. Scott himself; of course, knew better
than his critics whether or not this was the case, but, with his usual
good nature and generous regard for the opinion of others, he admitted
that perhaps he had committed an artistic blunder. Dr. Leyden, in
particular, for whose judgment he had special respect, wrote him from
India 'a furious remonstrance on the subject.' Fortunately, he made no
attempt to change what he had written, his main reason being that
'corrections, however in themselves judicious, have a bad effect after
publication.' He might have added that any modification of the hero's
guilt would have entirely altered the character of the poem, and might
have ruined it altogether. He had never, apparently, gone into the
question thoroughly after his first impressions of the type of knights
existing in feudal times, for though he states that 'similar instances were
found, and might be quoted,' he is inclined to admit that the attribution
of forgery was a 'gross defect.' Readers interested in the subject will
find by reference to Pike's 'History of Crime,' i. 276, that Scott was
perfectly justified in his assumption that a feudal knight was capable of

forgery. Those who understand how intimate his knowledge was of the
period with which he was dealing will, of course, be the readiest to
believe him rather than his critics; but when he seems doubtful of
himself, and ready to yield the point, it is well that the strength of his
original position can thus be supported by the results of recent
investigation.
Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh Review, not being able to understand and
appreciate this new devotion to romance, and probably stimulated by
his misreading of the reference to Fox in the Introduction to Canto I,
did his utmost to cast discredit on 'Marmion.' Scott was too large a man
to confound the separate spheres of Politics and Literature; whereas it
was frequently the case with Jeffrey--as, indeed, it was to some extent
with literary critics on the other side as well--to estimate an author's
work in reference to the party in the State to which he was known to
belong. It was impossible to deny merits to Scott's descriptions, and the
extraordinary energy of the most striking portions of the Poem, but
Jeffrey groaned over the inequalities he professed to discover, and
lamented that the poet should waste his strength on the unprofitable
effort to resuscitate an old-fashioned enthusiasm. They had been the
best of friends previously--and Scott, as we have seen, worked for the
Edinburgh Review--but it was now patent that the old literary intimacy
could not pleasantly continue. Nor is it surprising that Scott should
have felt that the Edinburgh Review had become too autocratic, and
that he should have given a helping hand towards the establishing of
the Quarterly Review, as a political and literary organ necessary to the
balance of parties.
V. THE TEXT OF THE POEM.
Scott himself revised 'Marmion' in 1831, and the interleaved copy
which he used formed the basis of the text given by Lockhart in the
uniform edition of the Poetical Works published in 1833. This will
remain the standard text. It is that which is followed in the present
volume, in which there will be found only three--in reality only
two--important instances of divergence from Lockhart's readings. The
earlier editions have been collated with that of 1833, and Mr. W. J.

Rolfe's careful and scholarly Boston edition has likewise been
consulted. It has not been considered necessary