f Scott, but such a one as the
proudest he might not disdain to claim. Scott was descended from the old
cow-stealers of Buccleuch--was he? Good! and Murat was descended from
the old Moors of Spain, from the Abencerages (sons of the saddle) of
Granada. The name Murat is Arabic, and is the same as Murad (Le Desire,
or the wished-for one). Scott, in his genteel life of Bonaparte, says
that 'when Murat was in Egypt the similarity between the name of the
celebrated Mameluke Mourad and that of Bonaparte's Meilleur Sabreur was
remarked, and became the subject of jest amongst the comrades of the
gallant Frenchman.' But the writer of the novel of Bonaparte did not
know that the names were one and the same. Now, which was the best
pedigree, that of the son of the pastry-cook, or that of the son of the
pettifogger? Which was the best blood? Let us observe the workings of
the two bloods. He who had the blood of the 'sons of the saddle' in him
became the wonderful cavalier of the most wonderful host that ever went
forth to conquest, won for himself a crown, and died the death of a
soldier, leaving behind him a son, only inferior to himself in strength,
in prowess, and in horsemanship. The descendant of the cow-stealer
became a poet, a novel writer, the panegyrist of great folks and genteel
people; became insolvent because, though an author, he deemed it
ungenteel to be mixed up with the business part of authorship; died
paralytic and broken-hearted because he could no longer give
entertainments to great folks; leaving behind him, amongst other
children, who were never heard of, a son, who, through his father's
interest, had become lieutenant-colonel in a genteel cavalry regiment. A
son who was ashamed of his father because his father was an author--a son
who--paugh!--why ask which was the best blood?

So, owing to his rage for gentility, Scott must needs become the
apologist of the Stuarts and their party; but God made this man pay
dearly for taking the part of the wicked against the good; for lauding up
to the skies miscreants and robbers, and calumniating the noble spirits
of Britain, the salt of England, and his own country. As God had driven
the Stuarts from their throne, and their followers from their estates,
making them vagabonds and beggars on the face of the earth, taking from
them all they cared for, so did that same God, who knows perfectly well
how and where to strike, deprive the apologist of that wretched cr