a mode of
convincing you that I am perfectly serious in my denial--pretty similar
to that by which Solomon distinguished the fictitious from the real
mother--and that is by reviewing the work, which I take to be an
operation equal to that of quartering the child.... Kind compliments to
Heber, whom I expected at Abbotsford this summer; also to Mr. Croker and
all your four o'clock visitors. I am just going to Abbotsford, to make a
small addition to my premises there. I have now about seven hundred
acres, thanks to the booksellers and the discerning public.

Yours truly,

WALTER SCOTT.

The happy chance of securing a review of the Tales by the author of
"Waverley" himself exceeded Murray's most sanguine expectations, and
filled him with joy. He suggested that the reviewer, instead of sending
an article on the Gypsies, as he proposed, should introduce whatever he
had to say about that picturesque race in his review of the Tales, by
way of comment on the character of Meg Merrilies. The review was
written, and appeared in No. 32 of the _Quarterly_, in January 1817, by
which time the novel had already gone to a third edition. It is curious
now to look back upon the author reviewing his own work. He adopted
Murray's view, and besides going over the history of "Waverley," and the
characters introduced in that novel, he introduced a disquisition about
Meg Merrilies and the Gypsies, as set forth in his novel of "Guy
Mannering." He then proceeded to review the "Black Dwarf" and "Old
Mortality," but with the utmost skill avoided praising them, and rather
endeavoured to put his friends off the scent by undervaluing them, and
finding fault. The "Black Dwarf," for example, was full of "violent
events which are so common in romance, and of such rare occurrence in
real life." Indeed, he wrote, "the narrative is unusually artificial;
neither hero nor heroine excites interest of any sort, being just that
sort of _pattern_ people whom nobody cares a farthing about."

"The other story," he adds, "is of much deeper interest." He describes
the person who gave the title to the novel--Robert Paterson, of the
parish of Closeburn, in Dumfriesshire--and introduces a good deal of
historical knowledge, but takes exception to many of the circumstances
mentioned in the story, at the same time quoting some of the best
passages about Cuddie Headrigg and his mother. In respect to the
influence of Claverhouse and General Dalzell, the reviewer states th