The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott ... Notes & life of the author.

particularly acceptable. But about the second year of his
apprenticeship he had the misfortune to burst a blood-vfssel, which confined him to his bed for many weeks, during
which time, as conversation was prohibited, reading and
playing at chess was his only refuge; so, to the romances
and poetry, which he chiefly delighted in, he added the
study of history, especially as connected with military events,
which furnished him with those materials that he ultimately
made available for his future compositions. After this illness he enjoyed a state of most robust health; and as his
frame gradually became hardened, he was rather disfigured
than disabled by his lameness. Excursions on foot or
horseback now formed Scott's favourite amusement; and
wood, water, and wilderness,.had inexpressible charms for
him. Show him but an old castle, or a field of battle, and
he immediately filled it with its combatants in their proper
costume, and overwhelmed his hearers by the enthusiasm
of his description. Like Dr. Johnson, Scott had no ear for
mere music; the notes failed to charm him if unaccompanied
by good words, or immediately associated with some
history or strong sentiment upon which his imagination could
fasten; therefore, however happy others may have been in
forming an union between his poetry and their music, Scott
was not usually successful in composing words to a set tune.
In 1791, Scott was admitted a member of the Speculative
Society of Edinburgh;* and very shortly afterwards was,
appointed its librarian, and subsequently, its treasurer and
secretary.
The time of Scott's apprenticeship had now elapsed; and,
after some consideration, he determined to prepare himself
for the bar, for which purpose he diligently applied his
mind to the study of the Roman civil law, as well as to the
municipal law of Scotland. On the 10th of July, 1792,
when just on the point of completing his twenty-fir'st year,
he was called to the bar as an advocate, and enabled, by
the affluence of his father, to begin life in an elegant house
in a fashionable part of the town; but it was not his lot to
acquire wealth or distinction at the bar. The truth is, his
mind was not yet emancipated from that enthusiastic pursuit of knowledge which had distinguished his youth. His
necessities were not so great as to make an exclusive appli* One of those literary societies which are formed not
merely for ornamental display, bult for the more beneficial
purpose of composition.