Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Sir Walter Scott to Lord Montagu of Boughton, 15 June 1824
“Edinburgh, 15th June, 1824.
“My dear Lord,
“I was much interested by your Lordship’s last
letter. For some certain reasons I rather prefer Oxford to Cambridge, chiefly
because the last great University was infected long ago with liberalism in
politics, and at present shows some symptoms of a very different heresy, which
is yet sometimes blended with the first—I mean enthusiasm in religion—not that
sincere zeal for religion, in which mortals cannot be too fervid, but the far
more doubtful enthusiasm which makes religion a motive and a pretext for
particular lines of thinking ![]()
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in politics and in temporal
affairs. This is a spirit which, while it has abandoned the lower classes,
where perhaps it did some good, for it is a guard
against gross and scandalous vice—has transferred itself to the upper classes,
where, I think, it can do little but evil—disuniting families, setting children
in opposition to parents, and teaching, as I think, a new way of going to the
Devil for God’s sake. On the other hand, this is a species of doctrine
not likely to carry off our young friend; and I am sure Mr Blakeney’s good sense will equally
guard him against political mistakes, for I should think my friend Professor Smyth’s historical course of
lectures likely to be somewhat Whiggish, though I dare say not improperly so.
Upon the whole, I think the reasons your Lordship’s letter contains in
favour of Cambridge are decisive, although I may have a private wish in favour
of Christ Church, which I dare say will rear its head once more under the
new Dean. The neighbourhood of
Newmarket is certainly in some sort a snare for so young persons as attend
college at Cambridge: but, alas! where is it that there be not snares of one
kind or other? Parents, and those who have the more delicate task of standing
in the room of parents, must weigh objections and advantages, and without
expecting to find any that are without risk, must be content to choose those
where the chances seem most favourable. The turf is no doubt a very forceful
temptation, especially to a youth of high rank and fortune. There is something
very flattering in winning, when good fortune depends so much on shrewdness of
observation, and, as it is called, knowingness; the very sight is of an
agitating character; and perhaps there are few things more fascinating to young
men, whose large fortune excludes the ordinary causes of solicitude, than the
pleasures and risks of the race ![]()
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course; and though, when indulged to excess, it leads to very evil
consequences, yet, if the Duke hereafter should like to have a stud of racers,
he might very harmlessly amuse himself in that way, provided he did not suffer
it to take too eager possession of his mind, or to engross his time. Certainly
one would rather he had not the turn at all, but I am far more afraid of
sedentary games of chance, for wasting time and fortune, than I am of any
active out-of-door’s sport whatsoever.
“Old Paradise did not number a neighbourhood among
its pleasures; but Gattonside has that advantage, and great will be the regret
of the said neighbours, if Sir Adam and
Lady Eve are turned out. I parted
with them at Blair-Adam on this day—for, taking a fit of what waiting-maids
call the clevers, I started at six this morning, and got
here to breakfast. As it blew hard all night, there was a great swell on the
ferry, so that I came through
‘Like Chieftain to the Highlands bound, Crying, boatman, “do not
tarry—”’* |
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or rather, ‘Like Clerk unto the Session bound.’
|
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“I could have borne a worse toss, and even a little
danger, since the wind brought rain, which is so much wanted. One set of
insects is eating the larch—another the spruce. Many of the latter will not, I
think, recover the stripping they are receiving. Crops are looking well, except
the hay, which is not looking at all. The sheep are eating roasted grass, but
will not be the worse mutton, as I hope soon to prove to your Lordship at
Abbotsford.—I am, always, my dear Lord,
Yours faithful to command,
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LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
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“P.S.—I am here, according to the old saying,
bird-alane; for my son Charles is
fishing at Lochleven, and my wife and daughter (happy persons!) are at
Abbotsford. I took the opportunity to spend two days at Tyninghame.
Lord Haddington complains of want
of memory, while his conversation is as witty as a comedy, and his anecdote
as correct as a parish register.
“I will be a suitor for a few acorns this year,
if they ripen well at Ditton, or your other forests. Those I had before
from you (raised in the nursery, not planted out) are now fine oak
plants.”
John Theophilus Blakeney (1774 c.-1856)
The son of Colonel William Blakeney; he was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge and
the Inner Temple, and was fellow of St. John's (1816-56).
Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)
Scottish poet and man of letters; author of
The Pleasures of Hope
(1799),
Gertrude of Wyoming (1808) and lyric odes. He edited the
New Monthly Magazine (1821-30).
Sir Adam Ferguson (1771-1855)
Son of the philosopher and classmate and friend of Sir Walter Scott; he served in the
Peninsular Campaign under Wellington, afterwards living on his estate in
Dumfriesshire.
Charles Scott (1805-1841)
The younger son of Sir Walter Scott; educated at Oxford, he pursued a career in diplomacy
and died in Tehran.
Samuel Smith (1765-1841)
Educated at Westminster and Christ Church Oxford; he was dean of Christ Church (1824-31)
and sub-dean of Durham (1831-41).
William Smyth (1765-1849)
The son of a Liverpool banker, he was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was
Professor of Modern History at Cambridge (1807). He published of
English
Lyricks (1797) and
Lectures on Modern History
(1840).
