“My literary amusements have of late been much
retarded and interrupted, partly by professional avocations, and partly by
removing to a house newly furnished, where it will be some time before I can
get my few books put into order, or clear the premises of painters and workmen;
not to mention that these worthies do not nowadays proceed upon the plan of
Solomon’s architects, whose saws and hammers
were not heard, but rather upon the more ancient system of the builders of
Babel. To augment this confusion, my wife has fixed upon this time as proper to
present me with a fine chopping boy, whose pipe, being of the shrillest, is
heard amid the storm, like a boatswain’s whistle in a gale of wind. These
various causes of confusion have also interrupted the labours of young
Leyden on your behalf; but he has
again resumed the task of transcribing ‘Arthour,’ of which I once again transmit a part. I have to
acknowledge, with the deepest sense of gratitude, the beautiful analysis of
Mr Douce’s Fragments, which
throws great light upon the romance of Sir Tristan.
In arranging that, I have anticipated your
| LETTERS TO ELLIS—1801. | 337 |
“I am glad that Mrs Ellis and you have derived any amusement from the House of Aspen. It is a very hurried dramatic sketch; and the fifth act, as you remark, would require a total revisal previous to representation or publication. At one time I certainly thought, with my friends, that it might have ranked well enough by the side of the Castle Spectre, Bluebeard, and the other drum and trumpet exhibitions of the day; but the ‘Plays of the Passions’* have put me entirely out of conceit with my Germanized brat; and should I ever again attempt dramatic composition, I would endeavour after the genuine old English model . . . . . . The publication of ‘The Complaynt’† is delayed. It is a work of multifarious lore. I am truly anxious about Leyden’s Indian journey, which seems to hang fire. Mr William Dundas was so good as to promise me his interest to get him appointed secretary to the Institution;‡ but whether he has succeeded or not, I have not yet learned. The various kinds of distress under which literary men, I mean such as have no other profession than letters, must labour, in a commercial country, is a great disgrace to society. I own to you I always tremble for the fate of genius when left to its own exertions, which, however powerful, are usually, by some bizarre dispensation of nature, useful to every one but themselves. If Heber could learn by Mackintosh, whether
* The first volume of Joanna Baillie’s “Plays of the Passions” appeared in 1798. Vol. II. followed in 1802. † “The Complaynt of Scotland, written in 1548; with a Preliminary Dissertation and Glossary, by John Leyden,” was published by Constable in January, 1802. ‡ A proposed Institution for purposes of Education at Calcutta. |
| 338 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
