his life in 1832, Scott was
engaged, in the intervals of other occupations, in writing these
introductions and notes for his novels, for an edition which he always
called the _Opus Magnum_. This was a pleasant task, charmingly done.
Indeed we may call it the last of those great editorial labors by which
Scott's fame might live unsupported by anything else. First came the
_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, then the editions of Dryden and
Swift. Next we may count the _Lives of the Novelists_, even in the
fragmentary state in which the failure of the _Novelists' Library_ left
them; and finally the _Opus Magnum_. When, in addition, we remember the
mass of his critical work written for periodicals, and the number of
minor volumes he edited, it becomes evident that a study of Scott which
disregards this part of his work can present only a one-sided view of
his achievement. And the qualities of his abundant criticism, especially
its large fresh sanity, seem to make it worthy of closer analysis than
it usually receives, not only because it helps to reveal Scott's genius,
but also on account of the historical and ethical importance which
always attaches to the ideals, literary and other, of a noble man and a
great writer.

CHAPTER II

SCOTT'S QUALIFICATIONS AS CRITIC

Wide reading Scott's first qualification--Scott the
antiquary--Character of his interest in history--His
imagination--His knowledge of practical affairs--Common-sense in
criticism--Cheerfulness, good-humor, and optimism--General aspect of
Scott's critical work.

Wide and appreciative reading was Scott's first qualification for
critical work. A memory that retained an incredible amount of what he
read was the second. One of the severest censures he ever expressed was
in regard to Godwin, who, he thought, undertook to do scholarly work
without adequate equipment. "We would advise him," Scott said in his
review of Godwin's _Life of Chaucer_, "in future to read before he
writes, and not merely while he is writing." Scott himself had
accumulated a store of literary materials, and he used them according to
the dictates of a temperament which had vivid interests on many sides.

We may distinguish three points of view which were habitual to Scott,
and which determined the direction of his creative work, as well as the
tone of his criticism. These were--as all the world knows--the
historical, the romantic, the practical.

He was, as he