Ronan's Well_ (chap. xv.), that he took from Platoff
this portrait of Mr. Touchwood: "His face, which at the
distance of a yard or two seemed hale and smooth,
appeared, when closely examined, to be seamed with a
million of wrinkles, crossing each other in every
direction possible, but as fine as if drawn by the point
of a very small needle." Thus did every little
peculiarity remain treasured in his memory, to be used
in due time for giving the air of minute reality to some
imaginary personage.]

It will seem less surprising that Scott should have been honored with
much attention by the leading soldiers and statesmen of Germany then
in Paris. The fame of his poetry had already been established for some
years in that country. Yet it may be doubted whether Bluecher had heard
of Marmion any more than Platoff; and old Bluecher struck Scott's
fellow-travellers as taking more interest in him than any foreign
general, except only the Hetman.

A striking passage in Paul's 10th letter indicates the high notion
which Scott had formed of the personal qualities of the Prince of
Orange. After depicting, with almost prophetic accuracy, the dangers
to which the then recent union of Holland and Belgium must be exposed,
he concludes with expressing his hope that the firmness and sagacity
of the King of the Netherlands, and the admiration which his heir's
character and bearing had already excited among all, even Belgian
observers, might {p.062} ultimately prove effective in redeeming this
difficult experiment from the usual failure of "_arrondissements_,
indemnities, and all the other terms of modern date, under sanction of
which cities and districts, and even kingdoms, have been passed from
one government to another, as the property of lands or stock is
transferred by a bargain between private parties."

It is not less curious to compare, with the subsequent course of
affairs in France, the following brief hint in Paul's 16th letter:
"The general rallying point of the _Liberalistes_ is an avowed dislike
to the present monarch and his immediate connections. They will
sacrifice, they pretend, so much to the general inclinations of
Europe, as to select a king from the Bourbon race; but he must be one
of their own choosing, and the Duke of Orleans is most familiar in
their mouths." Thus, in its very bud, ha