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facts and events , and depicted them with those gradations of coloring that distinguish the historian from the chronicler . Walter Scott found these materials collected by his diligent predecessor ; they were stores of inestimable value ; he shaped and set them with new and indescribable skill , and formed out of them those edifices , which , like the enchanted Palaces of Armida , shine with the pure light of rubies and diamonds . *
To conclude , the enthusiasm which Rossini and Scott have awakened in the breasts of men , has extended beyond the bounds of civilization—a rare case , but one in which their mutual resemblance is striking . It is well known that the Turks have always been indifferent to music , yet even the Turks have become
Rossini-ists , since Donnizetti has taught the Sultan Mahmoud ' s military band some of our great musician ' s best airs ; and it is said that the glee of this Mussulman chief is so complete when his band plays < Largo al factotum , ' that he forgets for whole hours the beauties of his harem , who then sigh in vain for one of their lord's glances !
But if the melodies of Rossini extend beyond the confines of Christendom , the romances of Scott likewise overleap the most arduous barriers ever raised by nature to separate man from man . I have read somewhere that a traveller entering a liut in inhospitable Lapland , found there a volume of one of Walter Scott ' s novels , and its owner pointed to the book , exclaiming haticall Sir Walter Scott—the greatest that
emp y , " man ever lived ! " I shall not go quite so far , well knowing what claims the utile has in comparison with the dulce ; but , addressing myself to those in whom intellectual pleasure is a want , who regard the recreations of the mind as more dignified than many are disposed to grant , I may abandon myself to enthusiasm , and exclaim with the Laplander , " Walter Scott was one of the most splendid geniuses of his age . " f
• And yet there are not two Shakspeares , but one Shakspeare . We do not discover ' * handsful " of him in Scott . But the author does not appear at all aware of the abundant , accurate , and interesting characters of Scottish life , contained in the writings of Scott , and no where else . —K » . -f- We have inserted this paper as a literary curiosity . It may not display the depth of Godwin and Mozart ( we do not purpose , through the parallel infection , to insinuate a resemblance of genius between these two great men ) but the novelty of the conception , and the ingenuities of the argument , are not a little amusing Ed .
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» 70 Rotsini and Walter ScdU .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1836, page 570, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2661/page/46/
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