page_0002

marvellous modesty and his fortitude
and honourableness in misfortune. A
well, there is something in being a
Scotsman after all; and one of the advantages
in it is that this man, by so far
the greatest and best character in the
history of letters, is so near to us, and
so much easier understood by us. And
that's the other great thing about your
book - you understand Scott and
all his surroundings and his background
and the source of his inspiration, and the
things that nourished his genius, and
you understand his novels and his poetry
in a way that no writer about him except
yourself could do. You are so much at
home in that life of Scotland - of the Capital
and the country both; so conversant with