Sir Walter Scott.

Mr. E. Charlton Black lectured to a large audience last night on the works of Sir Walter Scott.

Walter Scott was born in August, 1771 at a time that may well be called "the meeting of two worlds"; the old world of chivalry and romance was then passing into the modern world, and to Scott it was given to gather up the picturesqueness of the past of Scotland and hand down to us in his poems and his novels, the history of the heroic deeds of the North from the time of Robert Bruce and William Wallace. It has been said that Scott was a dull boy but nothing can be farther from the truth. He was early driven by lameness to seek occupation different from those of other boys, and he turned to literature. He was descended from a long line of true Scotch men and he loved Scotland and everything about it. His eyes and ears were steeped in the best of its scenery and tradition. So he naturally turned to the study of Scotch history and tradition. He went to school and college at Edinburgh, studying principally history and reading much romance. He cared very little for classics. According to his father's wishes he studied law and at the age of 21 was admitted to the bar. About this time he fell in love but he was doomed to bitter disappointment which made a deep impression on him, and lent to many of his works a peculiar shade of pensive melancholy. In 1797, however, he married a bright and pretty French girl, and he seems to have been happy with her. In 1796 he began to write. His works are naturally divided into two periods, the first from 1796 to 1814. the period of his poetry, the second from 1814 to 1832 in which he wrote all the Waverly novels.

In 1802 he published "The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," a collection of ballads and traditions from which he drew much of the material for his later works. His first great poem, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," was published in 1805. This was very successful and at once raised Scott to prominence. For the next two years he was at work in writing a life of Dryden and in publishing an edition of his works. In 1808 appeared "Marmion." In this Scott is at his best, he has a truly romantic subject, and his wonderful faculty of invention is at its height. In this poem he shows himself a master of narration. He shows an almost Homeric spirit in the animation and sustained energy of his style and in the Grimness and freshness of his descriptions. "The Lady of the Lake" which appeared two years later is perhaps sweeter and more artistically developed. Scott's poetry is not studied and is open to a good deal of criticism, it is wild, free and unrestrained. Everywhere is evident his humble and unselfish love of nature.

In 1814 Scott published his first novel "Waverly," anonymously. It met with tremendous success and was followed by the series of "Waverly Novels," following one another in rapid succession. His prose works show much the same characteristics as his poetry though in varying proportions. Here there is much room for his humor. Though critics have much to say against him his position in literature is unassailable and is as secure as that of Shakespeare or Homer.