letter
of March, 1820, when Scott and Lockhart and all the Reviews were in a
full chorus of acclaim, he says: "I wish I did possess more of it, but
it seems my curse at present to have anything but confidence in myself
or pleasure in anything I have written."

In a similar strain he had written, in September, 1819, on the news of
the cordial reception of the "Sketch-Book" in America:--

"The manner in which the work has been received and the eulogiums
that have been passed upon it in the American papers and periodical
works, have completely overwhelmed me. They go far, _far_ beyond my
most sanguine expectations, and indeed are expressed with such
peculiar warmth and kindness as to affect me in the tenderest
manner. The receipt of your letter, and the reading of some of the
criticisms this morning, have rendered me nervous for the whole
day. I feel almost appalled by such success, and fearful that it
cannot be real, or that it is not fully merited, or that I shall
not act up to the expectations that may be formed. We are
whimsically constituted beings. I had got out of conceit of all
that I had written, and considered it very questionable stuff; and
now that it is so extravagantly bepraised, I begin to feel afraid
that I shall not do as well again. However, we shall see as we get
on. As yet I am extremely irregular and precarious in my fits of
composition. The least thing puts me out of the vein, and even
applause flurries me and prevents my writing, though of course it
will ultimately be a stimulus....

"I have been somewhat touched by the manner in which my writings
have been noticed in the 'Evening Post.' I had considered Coleman
as cherishing an ill-will toward me, and, to tell the truth, have
not always been the most courteous in my opinions concerning him.
It is a painful thing either to dislike others or to fancy they
dislike us, and I have felt both pleasure and self-reproach at
finding myself so mistaken with respect to Mr. Coleman. I like to
out with a good feeling as soon as it rises, and so I have dropt
Coleman a line on the subject.

"I hope you will not attribute all this sensibility to the kind
reception I have met to an author's vanity. I am sure it proceeds
from very different sources. Vanity could not bring the tears into
my eyes as they have bee