Waverley | Page 9

much more with the world than that of others; their opinions and
reasoning were liable to be taxed with partiality, or confronted with
opposing arguments and opinions; and the question was not so much
whether I should be generally acknowledged to be the Author, in spite
of my own denial, as whether even my own avowal of the works, if
such should be made, would be sufficient to put me in undisputed
possession of that character.
I have been often asked concerning supposed cases, in which I was said
to have been placed on the verge of discovery; but, as I maintained my
point with the composure of a lawyer of thirty years' standing, I never
recollect being in pain or confusion on the subject. In Captain
Medwyn's Conversations of Lord Byron the reporter states himself to
have asked my noble and highly gifted friend,' If he was certain about
these Novels being Sir Walter Scott's?' To which Lord Byron replied,
'Scott as much as owned himself the Author of Waverley to me in
Murray's shop. I was talking to him about that Novel, and lamented that
its Author had not carried back the story nearer to the time of the
Revolution. Scott, entirely off his guard, replied, "Ay, I might have
done so; but--" there he stopped. It was in vain to attempt to correct
himself; he looked confused, and relieved his embarrassment by a
precipitate retreat.' I have no recollection whatever of this scene taking
place, and I should have thought that I was more likely to have laughed
than to appear confused, for I certainly never hoped to impose upon
Lord Byron in a case of the kind; and from the manner in which he
uniformly expressed himself, I knew his opinion was entirely formed,
and that any disclamations of mine would only have savoured of
affectation. I do not mean to insinuate that the incident did not happen,
but only that it could hardly have occurred exactly under the
circumstances narrated, without my recollecting something positive on

the subject. In another part of the same volume Lord Byron is reported
to have expressed a supposition that the cause of my not avowing
myself the Author of Waverley may have been some surmise that the
reigning family would have been displeased with the work. I can only
say, it is the last apprehension I should have entertained, as indeed the
inscription to these volumes sufficiently proves. The sufferers of that
melancholy period have, during the last and present reign, been
honoured both with the sympathy and protection of the reigning family,
whose magnanimity can well pardon a sigh from others, and bestow
one themselves, to the memory of brave opponents, who did nothing in
hate, but all in honour.
While those who were in habitual intercourse with the real author had
little hesitation in assigning the literary property to him, others, and
those critics of no mean rank, employed themselves in investigating
with persevering patience any characteristic features which might seem
to betray the origin of these Novels. Amongst these, one gentleman,
equally remarkable for the kind and liberal tone of his criticism, the
acuteness of his reasoning, and the very gentlemanlike manner in which
he conducted his inquiries, displayed not only powers of accurate
investigation, but a temper of mind deserving to be employed on a
subject of much greater importance; and I have no doubt made converts
to his opinion of almost all who thought the point worthy of
consideration. [Footnote: Letters on the Author of Waverly; Rodwell
and Martin, London, 1822.] Of those letters, and other attempts of the
same kind, the Author could not complain, though his incognito was
endangered. He had challenged the public to a game at bo-peep, and if
he was discovered in his 'hiding-hole,' he must submit to the shame of
detection.
Various reports were of course circulated in various ways; some
founded on an inaccurate rehearsal of what may have been partly real,
some on circumstances having no concern whatever with the subject,
and others on the invention of some importunate persons, who might
perhaps imagine that the readiest mode of forcing the Author to
disclose himself was to assign some dishonourable and discreditable
cause for his silence.

It may be easily supposed that this sort of inquisition was treated with
contempt by the person whom it principally regarded; as, among all the
rumours that were current, there was only one, and that as unfounded as
the others, which had nevertheless some alliance to probability, and
indeed might have proved in some degree true.
I allude to a report which ascribed a great part, or the whole, of these
Novels to the late Thomas Scott, Esq., of the 70th Regiment, then
stationed in Canada. Those who remember that gentleman will