ulate her
power.[321] With these two novelists he associated Miss Ferrier, as well
as the somewhat earlier writer, Fanny Burney.[322]

Aside from these women and Henry Mackenzie, perhaps the highest praise
that Scott bestowed on any contemporary novelist was given to Cooper.
Here, as in the case of Byron, Scott seemed to ignore the other writer's
indebtedness to himself. He speaks, in the general preface to the
Waverley Novels, of "that striking field in which Mr. Cooper has
achieved so many triumphs"; and at another time calls him "the justly
celebrated American novelist." In his _Journal_ he comments on _The Red
Rover_[323] and _The Prairie_;[324] _The Pilot_ he recommends warmly in
a letter to Miss Edgeworth.[325]

The personal relations between "the Scotch and American lions," as Scott
called himself and Cooper, when they met in Parisian society in
1826,[326] had some interesting consequences. Cooper suggested to Scott
that he try to secure for himself part of the profits arising from the
publication of his works in America, by entering them as the property of
some citizen.[327] They finally concluded to substitute for this plan
one suggested by Scott, which involved the writing by the Author of
Waverley, of a letter addressed to Cooper, to be transmitted by him to
some American publisher who would undertake the publication of an
authorized edition of which half the profits should go to the author.
Future works were to be sent over to this publisher in advance of their
appearance in England. The letter was really an appeal to the justice of
the American people, and contained an allusion to the publication of
Irving's works in England according to a plan very similar to that
proposed by Scott. But the scheme failed here in America, and apparently
the letter was not made public until Cooper, irritated by the appearance
in Lockhart's _Life of Scott_ of Sir Walter's comments on his personal
manner,[328] explained the affair (except the reason for dropping the
plan), and published the correspondence in the _Knickerbocker Magazine_
for April, 1838.[329] Later in the same year Cooper wrote a severe
review of the biography of Scott, attacking his character in a way that
seems absurdly exaggerated.[330] Yet Charles Sumner seems to have
thought that Cooper made his points, and Mr. Lounsbury is inclined to
agree with him.[331]

One of the milder strictures in Cooper's review was as follows "As he
was ambitious of, so was he