qualities are so thoroughly diffused
through the work that there is no need of particularizing. His praise of
_Alexander's Feast_ may be referred to, however, as showing his
characteristic delight in objective poetry.[176] As a lyric poet, he
says, Dryden "must be allowed to have no equal."[177]

The peculiarly congenial qualities of the subject may have had something
to do with the fact that the style in which the _Life of Dryden_ is
written is noticeably better than that of Scott's ordinary work. It is
marked with a care and accuracy that were not, unfortunately, habitual
to him. Perhaps it was an advantage that when he wrote the book he had
not yet become altogether familiar with his own facility; certainly the
substance and the manner of treatment unite in making this the most
important of his critical biographies.

Various references indicate that Scott was acquainted in at least a
general way with English writers throughout the whole of Dryden's
century. He speaks of the poems of Phineas Fletcher as containing "many
passages fully equal to Spenser"[178]; he says that Cowley "is now ...
undeservedly forgotten"[179]; he calls _Hudibras_ "the most witty poem
that ever was written,"[180] but says, "the perpetual scintillation of
Butler's wit is too dazzling to be delightful"[181]; he talks of Waller
and quotes from him[182]; he refers to the charming quality of Isaac
Walton's work;[183] and he adopts Samuel Pepys as a familiar
acquaintance.[184] These references occur mostly in the _Dryden_ or in
the novels, and we may conclude that the work for the _Dryden_ gathered
up and strengthened all Scott's acquaintance with the literature of the
seventeenth century, from Shakspere and Milton down to writers of
altogether minor importance; and gave him material for many of the
allusions that appear in his later work. It is probably true that there
are more quotations from Dryden in Scott's books than from any other one
author,[185] though lines from Shakspere occurred more often in his
conversation and familiar letters.

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

_Swift_

The preparation of _Swift's Complete Works_--Comparison of the
_Dryden_ and the _Swift_--The bibliographical problem presented by
Swift's works--Inaccuracies in the biography--Scott's success in
portraying a perplexing temperament--Judicious quality of his
literary criticism.

As soon as the _Dryden_ was completed Scott was offered twice as much
m