Image of
Ireland_ from a copy in the Advocates' Library, and Gosson's _School of
Abuse_. Scott's statement in the Advertisement as to why he did not omit
any of the original collection shows his unpedantic attitude toward the
kind of studies which he was encouraging by the republication of this
series. He says: "When the variety of literary pursuits, and the
fluctuation of fashionable study is considered, it may seem rash to pass
a hasty sentence of exclusion, even upon the dullest and most despised
of the essays which this ample collection offers to the public. There
may be among the learned, even now, individuals to whom the rabbinical
lore of Hugh Broughton presents more charms than the verses of Homer;
and a future day may arise when tracts on chronology will bear as high a
value among antiquaries as 'Greene's Groats' Worth of Wit,' or 'George
Peele's Jests,' the present respectable objects of research and
reverence."

In editing this collection Scott made little attempt to decide disputed
problems of authorship when the explanation did not lie upon the
surface. Indeed the following note regarding the tract called _A New
Test of the Church of England's Loyalty_ shows that he sometimes
neglected very obvious sources of information, for the piece is given in
one of Defoe's own collections of his works: "This defence of whiggish
loyalty," says Scott, "seems to have been written by the celebrated
Daniel De Foe, a conjecture which is strengthened by the frequent
reference to his poem of the True-born Englishman."[197] He was not
often so careless, but the rapidity and range of his work during these
years undoubtedly gave occasion for more than one lapse of accuracy,
while at the same time it perhaps increased the effectiveness of his
comment.

His notes and introductions vary in length according to the requirements
of the case, for he aimed to provide such material as would prevent the
necessity of reference to other works. Matters that were obscure he
explained, and he wrote little comment on those that were generally
understood. When he left himself so free a hand he could indulge his
personal tastes somewhat also, and we are not surprised to find an
especial abundance of notes on an account of the Gowrie Conspiracy which
presented a perplexing problem in Scottish history.

The connection of _Somers' Tracts_ with other things that Scott did has
already been remarked upon.[198] That he found some sort of stimulation