Modern English Books of Power | Page 7

BY E. FINDEN]
Thus for forty years, while he was a working lawyer and a sheriff of his
county, he was really laying up stores of material upon which he drew
for his many novels. His literary tastes were first developed by study of
German and by the translation of German ballads and plays. This
practice led him to write The Lay of the Last Minstrel, and its success
was responsible for Marmion, and The Lady of the Lake. But great as
was his triumph in verse, he dropped the writing of poems when
Byron's work eclipsed his own.
Then, in his forty-third year, he turned to prose and began with

Waverley; that series of novels which is the greatest ever produced by
one man. The success of his first story proved a great stimulus to his
imagination, and for years he continued to produce these novels, three
of which may be ranked as the best in English literature. The element
of mystery in regard to the authorship added to Scott's literary success.
It was his habit to crowd his literary work into the early hours from
four to eight o'clock in the morning; the remainder of the day was given
up to legal duties and the evening to society. His tremendous energy
and his power of concentration made these four hours equal to an
ordinary man's working day. His mind was so full of material that the
labor was mainly that of selection. Creative work, when once seated at
his desk, was as natural as breathing. Scott came to his desk with the
zest of a boy starting on a holiday, and this pleasure is reflected in the
ease and spontaneity of his stories.
But much as he liked his literary work, Scott would not have produced
so great a number of fine novels had he not been impelled by the desire
to retrieve large money losses. His old school friend, Ballantyne, forced
into bankruptcy the printing firm in which Scott was a secret partner.
The novelist was not morally responsible for these debts, but his keen
sense of honor made him accept all the responsibility, and it drove him
to that unceasing work which shortened his life. He paid off nearly all
the great debt, and he gave in this task an example of high courage and
power of work that has never been surpassed and seldom equaled. You
may read the record of those last years in Lockhart's fine Life of Scott.
Get the one volume edition, for the full work is too long for these busy
days, and follow the old author in his heroic struggle. It will bring tears
to your eyes, but it will make you a lover of Scott, the man, who was as
great as Scott, the poet and novelist.
Ruskin, when he was making up a list of great authors, put opposite
Scott's name, "Every line." That bit of advice cannot be followed in
these strenuous times, but one must make a selection of the best, and
then, if he have time and inclination, add to this number. To my mind,
the four great novels of Scott are Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward, The
Talisman and The Heart of Midlothian. The first gives you feudal
England as no one else has painted it, with a picture of Richard the

Lion-Hearted which no historian has ever approached. It contains some
of the most thrilling scenes in all fiction.
James Payn, who was a very clever novelist, relates the story that he
and two literary friends agreed to name the scene in all fiction that they
regarded as the most dramatic. When they came to compare notes they
found that all three had chosen the same--the entry of the unknown
knight at Ashby de la Zouch, who passes by the tents of the other
contestants and strikes with a resounding clash the shield of the
haughty Templar. This romance also contains one of Scott's finest
women, the Jewess Rebecca, who atones for the novelist's many insipid
female characters. Scott was much like Stevenson--he preferred to draw
men, and he was happiest when in the clash of arms or about to
undertake a desperate adventure.
Quentin Durward is memorable for its splendid picture of Louis XI,
one of the ablest as well as one of the meanest men who ever sat on a
throne. The early chapters of this novel, which describe the adventures
of the young Scotch soldier at the court of France, have never been
surpassed in romantic interest. The Talisman gives the glory and the
romance of the Crusades as no other imaginative work has done. It
stands in a class by itself and is only approached by Scott's last novel,
Count Robert of Paris, which gives flashes of the same spirit.
Of the Scotch