rm, and some a hand,
And some the waving of a gown:
The guests in silence prayed and shook,
And terror dimmed each lofty look,
But none of all the astonished train
_Was so dismayed as Deloraine,_
&c. &c.
{367}
At length, by fits, he darkly told,
With broken hint, and shuddering cold,
That he had seen, right certainly,
_A shape with amice wrapped around,_
_With a wrought Spanish baldric bound,_
_Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea,_
And knew--but how it mattered not--
IT WAS THE WIZARD, MICHAEL SCOTT."

After this final consummation, it is amusing to notice a slight "incuria"
on the part of the poet, which I wonder has never been corrected in the
later editions. Having described the nuptial ceremony of Cranstoun and
Margaret in the early part of the last Canto, he says in Section xxviii.,

"Nought of the bridal _will_ I tell,
Which _after_ in short space befell,"
&c. &c.

I think I have now succeeded in proving that the Goblin Page, so far from
being a mere "_intruder_" into this glorious poem--so far from being a mere
after-thought, or interpolation, to "suit the taste of the cottagers of the
Border," as Mr. Jeffrey "suspects,"--is the essential instrument for
constructing the machinery of the plot. We have, indeed, the author's word
that it formed the foundation of the poem. My readers will therefore form
their own estimate of the value of Mr. Jeffrey's criticisms, couched as
they are in no very considerate, much less complimentary phraseology. I
cannot but admire the "douce vengeance" of the gentle-spirited subject of
his rebukes, who has contented himself with printing these worthless
sentences of an undiscerning critic along with the text of his poems in the
last edition,--there to remain a standing memorial of the wisdom of that
resolution adhered to throughout the life of the accomplished author, who
tells us,

"That he from the first determined, that without shutting his ears to
the voice of true criticism, he would pay no regard to that which
assumed the form of satire."

In point of fact, Sir Walter had no very exalted opinion of the _genus_
Critic; and I could give one or two anecdotes, which I heard from his own
lips, strongly reminding one of the old fable of the painter who pleased
nobody and everybody.

In conclusion, I beg leave to observe, that in these "Notes" I do not
presume to underrate, in any degree, Mr. Je