第88章

[ThereappearedinTheScotsMagazineforFebruary1st，1814，anannouncement，that`Waverley；or，’tisSixtyYearsSince，anovel，in3

vols。12mo，’wouldbepublishedinMarch。AndbeforeScottcameintoEdinburgh，atthecloseoftheChristmasvacation，onthe12thofJanuary，Mr。Erskinehadperusedthegreaterpartofthefirstvolume，andexpressedhisdecidedopinionthatWaverleywouldprovethemostpopularofallhisfriend’swritings。TheMS。wasforthwithcopiedbyJohnBallantyne，andsenttopress。’’

InalettertohisfriendJ。B。S。MorrittofRokeby，datedJuly9，1814，SirWaltersays：-

Now，togofromoneimportantsubjecttoanother，Imustaccountformyownlaziness，whichIdobyreferringyoutoasmallanonymoussortofanovel，inthreevolumes，Waverley，whichyouwillreceivebythemailofthisday。ItwasaveryoldattemptofminetoembodysometraitsofthosecharactersandmannerspeculiartoScotland，thelastremnantsofwhichvanishedduringmyownyouth，sothatfewornotracesnowremain。

Ihadwrittengreatpartofthefirstvolume，andsketchedotherpassages，whenImislaidtheMS。，andonlyfounditbythemerestaccidentasIwasrummagingthedrawersofanoldcabinet；andItookthefancyoffinishingit，whichIdidsofast，thatthelasttwovolumeswerewritteninthreeweeks。’’

Again，inasubsequentnote，headds-

AstoWaverley，IwillplaySirFretfulforonce，andassureyouthatIleftthestorytoflaginthefirstvolumeonpurpose；thesecondandthirdhaverathermorebustleandinterest。Iwished(withwhatsuccessHeavenknows)toavoidtheordinaryerrorofnovelw