But I have a mode of
convincing you that I am perfectly serious in my denial--pretty similar
to that by which Solomon distinguished the fictitious from the real
mother--and that is by reviewing the work, which I take to be an
operation equal to that of quartering the child.... Kind compliments to
Heber, whom I expected at Abbotsford this summer; also to Mr. Croker and
all your four o'clock visitors. I am just going to Abbotsford, to make a
small addition to my premises there. I have now about seven hundred
acres, thanks to the booksellers and the discerning public.
Yours truly,
WALTER SCOTT.
The happy chance of securing a review of the Tales by the author of
"Waverley" himself exceeded Murray's most sanguine expectations, and
filled him with joy. He suggested that the reviewer, instead of sending
an article on the Gypsies, as he proposed, should introduce whatever he
had to say about that picturesque race in his review of the Tales, by
way of comment on the character of Meg Merrilies. The review was
written, and appeared in No. 32 of the _Quarterly_, in January 1817, by
which time the novel had already gone to a third edition.
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