these novels are distinguished. Where the character of a gentleman is introduced, we generally find it supported without affectation or constraint, and often with so much truth, animation, and dignity, that we forget ourselves into longing to behold and converse with the accomplished creature of imagination. It is true that the volatile and elegant man of wit and pleasure, and the gracefully fantastic 'petite-maitresse, are a species of character scarcely ever attempted, and even the few sketches we meet with in this style are not worthy of so great a master. But the aristocratic country gentleman, the ancient lady of quality, the gallant cavalier, the punctilious young soldier, and the jocund veteran, whose high mind is mellowed, not subdued by years, are drawn with a matchless vigour, grace, and refinement. There is, in all, these creations, a spirit of gentility, not merely of that negative kind which avoids giving offence, but of a strong, commanding, and pervading quality, blending unimpaired with the richest humour and wildest eccentricity, and communicating an interest and an air of originality to characters which, without it, would be wearisome and insipid, or would fade into common-place. In Waverley, for example, if it were not for this powerful charm, the severe but warm-hearted Major Melville and the generous Colonel Talbot would become mere ordinary machines for carrying on the plot, and Sir Everard, the hero of an episode* that might be coveted by Mackenzie, would encounter the frowns of every impatient reader, for unprofitably retarding the story at its first outset. But without dwelling on minor instances, I will refer you at once to the character of Colonel Mannering, as one of the most striking representations I am acquainted with, * Vol. i. ch. 2. of a gentleman in feelings and in manners, in habits, taste, predilections; nay, if the expression may be ventured, a gentleman even in prejudices, passions, and caprices. Had it been less than all I have described; had any refinement, any nicety of touch been wanting, the whole portrait must have been coarse, common, and repulsive, hardly distinguishable from the moody father and domineering chieftain of every hackneyed romance-writer. But it was no vulgar hand that drew the lineaments of Colonel Mannering: no ordinary mind could have conceived that exquisite combination of sternness and sensibility, injurious haughtiness and chivalrous courtesy; the promptitude, decision, and imperious spirit of a military disciplinarian ; the romantic caprices of an untameable enthusiast; generosity impatient of limit or impediment; pride scourged but not subdued by remorse; and a cherished philosophical severity, maintaining ineffectual conflicts with native ten-" derness and constitutional irritability. Supposing that it had entered into the thoughts of an inferior writer to describe a temper of mind at once impetuous, kind, arrogant, affectionate, stern, sensitive, deliberate, fanciful; supposing even that he had had the skill to combine these different qualities harmoniously and naturally, yet how could he have attained the Shaksperian felicity of those delicate and unambitious touches, by which this author shapes and chisels out individual character from general nature, and imparts a distinct personality to the creature of his invention? Such are (for example) the slight tinge of superstition, contracted by the romantic young Astrologer in his adventure at Ellangowan, not wholly effaced in maturer life, and extending itself by contagion to the mind of his daughter*; his mysterious longing, after many eventful years, to Vol. i. ch. 17. revisit the scene of his youthful prophecy*; his elegant accomplishments, concealed with haughty shyness from the observation of his subalterns in the Indian garrison †; and the mixture of pride, caprice, and generosity, which would not permit even a mis-shapen dog to be treated with ridicule, when he had taken it under his protection‡. Add to these instances, the well painted triumph of nervous impatience over dignity and self-control, when the Colonel is expecting his unknown visitors from Portanferry. 6 He had given some directions to his confidential servant. • When he returned, his absence of mind, and an unusual expression of thought and anxiety upon his features, struck the • ladies whom he joined in the drawing-room. Mannering 'was not, however, a man to be questioned, even by those 'whom he most loved, upon the mental agitation which 'these signs expressed. The hour of tea arrived, and the 'party were partaking of that refreshment in silence, when 'a carriage drove up to the door, and the bell announced the arrival of a visitor. 'Surely,' said Mannering, 'it 'is too soon by some hours.'-' While the old gentleman, 'pleased with Miss Mannering's liveliness and attention, ' rattled away for her amusement and his own, the impa'tience of Colonel Mannering began to exceed all bounds. 'He declined sitting down at table, under pretence that he ' never eat supper; and traversed the parlour in which they were, with hasty and impatient steps, now throwing up 'the window to gaze upon the dark lawn, now listening for 'the remote sound of the carriage advancing up the avenue. At length, in a feeling of uncontroulable impatience, he 'left the room, took his hat and cloak, and pursued his 'walk up the avenue, as if his so doing would hasten the *Vol. i. ch. 19. † Ibid, ch. 21. ‡ Vol. ii. ch. 8. approach of those whom he desired to see.'-Vol. III. c. 10. It is by the repetition of such strokes as these, refined, yet simple, unforeseen, yet obviously natural, and appearing, when once observed, inseparable from the character, that fictitious portraits assume an air of biographical truth: thus it is that the heroes of Shakspeare present themselves to our minds, and are referred to in conversation, not as specimens of a class, as tyrants, soldiers, philosophers, but as individual persons, Macbeth or John, Caius Marcius or Hotspur, Jaques or Hamlet. To connect these remarks with that part of the subject from which they have a little diverged; although the character of Colonel Mannering is traced with so much energy and minuteness, and distinguished by so many well-conceived peculiarities, it is always dignified and commanding, and he presents himself under every circumstance with the undoubted demeanour of a gentleman. Indeed, I think, a reference to acknowledged models will warrant the remark, that it is not possible to present any lively representation of gentlemanly character, unless the picture of the man also be highly finished, and enriched with those natural touches which give determinate expression, and the effect of reality. Hence it is that in many novels and plays of considerable merit, the polite and dignified personages are looked upon with indifference by the reader, not from any want of elegance, but from the vagueness and insipid generality with which they are delineated, conveying no idea of any positive quality, and furnishing no point upon which the imagination can lay hold. The character I have thus long dwelt upon is displayed in such frequent and vigorous action, and under so many powerful impulses as to awaken the strongest interest, and yet never loses in elevation or refinement what it gains in energy: the matured military gentleman is still present to our minds, nay, the image is more distinct, when Mannering, with generous indignation, and eyes that 'flash 'dark light,' threatens the robust and insolent lawyer to hurl him at one step down Ellangowan terrace, if he continue to affront his dying benefactor*; when he humours the quaint frolic of Paulus Pleydell and his companions, at 'High Jinks;†' and even in that moment of exquisite embarrassment, when, confronted in his own house by the injured cadet Brown, returned, as it seems, from an untimely foreign grave, he struggles between his high sense of 'courtesy and hospitality, his joy at finding himself relieved 'from the guilt of having shed life in a private quarrel, and 'the former feelings of dislike and prejudice, which revive • in his haughty mind at the sight of the object against whom he' once entertained them. † 6 To the review I have taken of this author's merits as a writer of good society, it is only necessary to add, that when he brings upon the scene any dignified or illustrious personage, already celebrated in history or tradition, the character is almost always supported with the propriety, good taste, and knowledge of the world, displayed on similar occasions by the author of Marmion. Both are equally fond of gracing their stories with distinguished names, and both usually avoid with great discretion the two opposite faults which alike betray the uninformed or injudicious writer, when he ventures on this lofty ground, formality and coarseness. They do not, on the one hand, tickle ye for a young prince, i'faith,' in Falstaff's mode§, or assign to a monarch and his courtiers the colloquial and practical jests of a party of reapers at Vol. iii. ch. 11. *Vol. i. ch. 13. † Vol. ii. ch. 15. |