t the walls of Paris, could have surprised none who knew the
lively concern he had always taken in the military efforts of his
countrymen, and the career of the illustrious captain, who had taught
them to reestablish the renown of Agincourt and Blenheim,--

"Victor of Assaye's Eastern plain,
Victor of all the fields of Spain."

I had often heard him say, however, that his determination was, if not
fixed, much quickened by a letter of an old acquaintance of his, who
had, on the arrival of the news of the 18th of June, instantly
repaired to Brussels, to tender his professional skill in aid of the
overburdened medical staff of the conqueror's army. When, therefore, I
found the letter in question preserved among Scott's papers, I perused
it with a peculiar interest; and I now venture, with the writer's
permission, to present it to the reader. It was addressed by Sir
Charles Bell to his brother, an eminent barrister in Edinburgh, who
transmitted it to Scott. "When I read it," said he, "it set me on
fire." The marriage of Miss Maclean Clephane of Torloisk with the Earl
Compton (now Marquis of Northampton), which took place on the 24th of
July, was in fact the only cause why he did not leave Scotland
instantly; for that dear young friend had chosen Scott for her
guardian, and on him accordingly devolved the chief care of the
arrangements on this occasion. The extract sent to him by Mr. George
Joseph Bell is as follows:--

"BRUSSELS, 2d July, 1815.

"This country, the finest in the world, has been of late
quite out of our minds. I did not, in any degree, anticipate
the pleasure I should enjoy, the admiration forced from me,
on coming into one of these antique towns, or in journeying
through the rich garden. Can you recollect the time when
there were gentlemen meeting at the Cross of Edinburgh, or
those whom we thought such? They are all collected here.
{p.041} You see the very men, with their scraggy necks
sticking out of the collars of their old-fashioned
square-skirted coats--their canes--their cocked-hats; and,
when they meet, the formal bow, the hat off to the ground,
and the powder flying in the wind. I could divert you with
the odd resemblances of the Scottish faces among the
peasants, too--but I noted _them_ at the time with my
pencil, and I write to you only of things that you won't
find in