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The reception of "Guy Ma
"There are few spectacles in the literary world more lamentable than to view a successful author, in his second appearance before the public, limping lamely after himself, and treading tediously and awkwardly in the very same round, which, in his first effort, he had traced with vivacity and applause. We would not be harsh enough to say that the Author of 'Waverley' is in this predicament, but we are most unwillingly compelled to assert that the second effort falls far below the standard of the first. In 'Waverley' there was brilliancy of genius.... In 'Guy Ma
"The character of Dirk Hatteraick is a faithful copy from nature, - it is one of those moral monsters which make us almost ashamed of our kind. Still, amidst the ruffian and murderous brutality of the smuggler, some few feelings of our common nature are thrown in with no less ingenuity than truth. . . . The remainder of the personages are very little above the cast of a common lively novel. . . . The Edinburgh lawyer is perhaps the most original portrait; nor are the saturnalia of the Saturday evenings described without humour. The Dominie is overdrawn and inconsistent; while the young ladies present nothing above par. . . .
"There are parts of this novel which none but one endowed with the sublimity of genius could have dictated; there are others which any ordinary character cobbler might as easily have stitched together. There are sparks both of pathos and of humour, even in the dullest parts, which could be elicited from none but the Author of 'Waverley.' . . . If, indeed, we have spoken in a ma
"We ca
The "Monthly Review" sorrowed, like the "British," over the encouragement given to the follies of astrology. The "Critical Review" "must lament that 'Guy Ma
The "Quarterly Review" distinguished itself by stupidity, if not by spite. "The language of 'Guy Ma
It is in reviewing "The Antiquary" that the immortal idiot of the "Quarterly" complains about "the dark dialect of Anglified Erse." Published criticism never greatly affected Scott's spirits, - probably, he very seldom read it. He knew that the public, like Constable's friend Mrs. Stewart, were "reading 'Guy Ma
Indeed, it is much better to read "Guy Ma
The characters of the young ladies have not always been applauded. Taste, in the matter of heroines, varies greatly; Sir Walter had no high opinion of his own skill in delineating them. But Julia Ma
"I expect," says Colonel Ma