from what is said in the introduction to the monastery, it must necessarily be inferred, that the author considered that romance as something very like a failure. it is true, the booksellers did not complain of the sale, because, unless on very felicitous occasions, or on those which are equally the reverse, literary popularity is not gained or lost by a single publication. leisure must be allowed for the tide both to flow and ebb. but i was conscious that, in my situation, not to advance was in some degree to recede, and being naturally unwilling to think that the principle of decay lay in myself, i was at least desirous to know of a certainty, whether the degree of discountenance which i had incurred, was now owing to an ill-managed story, or an ill-chosen subject.
i was never, i confess, one of those who are willing to suppose the brains of an author to be a kind of milk, which will not stand above a single creaming, and who are eternally harping to young authors to husband their efforts, and to be chary of their reputation, lest it grow hackneyed in the eyes of men. perhaps i was, and have always been, the more indifferent to the degree of estimation in which i might be held as an author, because i did not put so high a value as many others upon what is termed literary reputation in the abstract, or at least upon the species of popularity which had fallen to my share; for though it were worse than affectation to deny that my vanity was satisfied at my success in the department in which chance had in some measure enlisted me, i was, nevertheless, far from thinking that the novelist or romance-writer stands high in the ranks of literature. but i spare the reader farther egotism on this subject, as i have expressed my opinion very fully in the introductory epistle to the fortunes of nigel, first edition; and, although it be composed in an imaginary character, it is as sincere and candid as if it had been written “without my gown and band.”
in a word, when i considered myself as having been unsuccessful in the monastery, i was tempted to try whether i could not restore, even at the risk of totally losing, my so-called reputation, by a new hazard — i looked round my library, and could not but observe, that, from the time of chaucer to that of byron, the most popular authors had been the most prolific. even the aristarch johnson allowed that the quality of readiness and profusion had a merit in itself, independent of the intrinsic value of the composition. talking of churchill, i believe, who had little merit in his prejudiced eyes, he allowed him that of fertility, with some such qualification as this, “a crab-apple can bear but crabs after all; but there is a great difference in favour of that which bears a large quantity of fruit, however indifferent, and that which produces only a few.”
looking more attentively at the patriarchs of literature, whose earner was as long as it was brilliant, i thought i perceived that in the busy and prolonged course of exertion, there were no doubt occasional failures, but that still those who were favourites of their age triumphed over these miscarriages. by the new efforts which they made, their errors were obliterated, they became identified with the literature of their country, and after having long received law from the critics, came in some degree to impose it. and when such a writer was at length called from the scene, his death first made the public sensible what a large share he had occupied in their attention. i recollected a passage in grimm’s correspondence, that while the unexhausted voltaire sent forth tract after tract to the very close of a long life, the first impression made by each as it appeared, was, that it was inferior to its predecessors; an opinion adopted from the general idea that the patriarch of ferney must at last find the point from which he was to decline. but the opinion of the public finally ranked in succession the last of voltaire’s essays on the same footing with those which had formerly charmed the french nation. the inference from this and similar facts seemed to me to be, that new works were often judged of by the public, not so much from their own intrinsic merit, as from extrinsic ideas which readers had previously formed with regard to them, and over which a writer might hope to triumph by patience and by exertion. there is risk in the attempt;
“if he fall in, good night, or sink or swim.”
but this is a chance incident to every literary attempt, and by which men of a sanguine temper are little moved.
i may illustrate what i mean, by the feelings of most men in travelling. if we have found any stage particularly tedious, or in an especial degree interesting, particularly short, or much longer than we expected, our imaginations are so apt to exaggerate the original impression, that, on repeating the journey, we usually find that we have considerably over-rated the predominating quality, and the road appears to be duller or more pleasant, shorter or more tedious, than what we expected, and, consequently, than what is actually the case. it requires a third or fourth journey to enable us to form an accurate judgment of its beauty, its length, or its other attributes.
in the same manner, the public, judging of a new work, which it receives perhaps with little expectation, if surprised into applause, becomes very often ecstatic, gives a great deal more approbation than is due, and elevates the child of its immediate favour to a rank which, as it affects the author, it is equally difficult to keep, and painful to lose. if, on this occasion, the author trembles at the height to which he is raised, and becomes afraid of the shadow of his own renown, he may indeed retire from the lottery with the prize which he has drawn, but, in future ages, his honour will be only in proportion to his labours. if, on the contrary, he rushes again into the lists, he is sure to be judged with severity proportioned to the former favour of the public. if he be daunted by a bad reception on this second occasion, he may again become a stranger to the arena. if, on the contrary, he can keep his ground, and stand the shuttlecock’s fate, of being struck up and down, he will probably, at length, hold with some certainty the level in public opinion which he may be found to deserve; and he may perhaps boast of arresting the general attention, in the same manner as the bachelor samson carrasco, of fixing the weathercock la giralda of seville for weeks, months, or years, that is, for as long as the wind shall uniformly blow from one quarter. to this degree of popularity the author had the hardihood to aspire, while, in order to attain it, he assumed the daring resolution to keep himself in the view of the public by frequent appearances before them.
it must be added, that the author’s incognito gave him greater courage to renew his attempts to please the public, and an advantage similar to that which jack the giant-killer received from his coat of darkness. in sending the abbot forth so soon after the monastery, he had used the well-known practice recommended by bassanio:—
“in my school days, when i had lost one shaft,
i shot another of the self-same flight,
the self-same way, with more advised watch,
to find the other forth.”
and, to continue the simile, his shafts, like those of the lesser ajax, were discharged more readily that the archer was as inaccessible to criticism, personally speaking, as the grecian archer under his brother’s sevenfold shield.
should the reader desire to know upon what principles the abbot was expected to amend the fortune of the monastery, i have first to request his attention to the introductory epistle addressed to the imaginary captain clutterbuck; a mode by which, like his predecessors in this walk of fiction, the real author makes one of his dramatis personae the means of communicating his own sentiments to the public, somewhat more artificially than by a direct address to the readers. a pleasing french writer of fairy tales, monsieur pajon, author of the history of prince soly, has set a diverting example of the same machinery, where he introduces the presiding genius of the land of romance conversing with one of the personages of the tale.
in this introductory epistle, the author communicates, in confidence, to captain clutterbuck, his sense that the white lady had not met the taste of the times, and his reason for withdrawing her from the scene. the author did not deem it equally necessary to be candid respecting another alteration. the monastery was designed, at first, to have contained some supernatural agency, arising out of the fact, that melrose had been the place of deposit of the great robert bruce’s heart. the writer shrunk, however, from filling up, in this particular, the sketch as it was originally traced; nor did he venture to resume, in continuation, the subject which he had left unattempted in the original work. thus, the incident of the discovery of the heart, which occupies the greater part of the introduction to the monastery, is a mystery unnecessarily introduced, and which remains at last very imperfectly explained. in this particular, i was happy to shroud myself by the example of the author of “caleb williams,” who never condescends to inform us of the actual contents of that iron chest which makes such a figure in his interesting work, and gives the name to mr. colman’s drama.
the public had some claim to inquire into this matter, but it seemed indifferent policy in the author to give the explanation. for, whatever praise may be due to the ingenuity which brings to a general combination all the loose threads of a narrative, like the knitter at the finishing of her stocking, i am greatly deceived if in many cases a superior advantage is not attained, by the air of reality which the deficiency of explanation attaches to a work written on a different system. in life itself, many things befall every mortal, of which the individual never knows the real cause or origin; and were we to point out the most marked distinction between a real and a fictitious narrative, we would say, that the former in reference to the remote causes of the events it relates, is obscure, doubtful, and mysterious; whereas, in the latter case, it is a part of the author’s duty to afford satisfactory details upon the causes of the separate events he has recorded, and, in a word, to account for every thing. the reader, like mungo in the padlock, will not be satisfied with hearing what he is not made fully to comprehend.
i omitted, therefore, in the introduction to the abbot, any attempt to explain the previous story, or to apologize for unintelligibility.
neither would it have been prudent to have endeavoured to proclaim, in the introduction to the abbot, the real spring, by which i hoped it might attract a greater degree of interest than its immediate predecessor. a taking title, or the announcement of a popular subject, is a recipe for success much in favour with booksellers, but which authors will not always find efficacious. the cause is worth a moment’s examination.
there occur in every country some peculiar historical characters, which are, like a spell or charm, sovereign to excite curiosity and attract attention, since every one in the slightest degree interested in the land which they belong to, has heard much of them, and longs to hear more. a tale turning on the fortunes of alfred or elizabeth in england, or of wallace or bruce in scotland, is sure by the very announcement to excite public curiosity to a considerable degree, and ensure the publisher’s being relieved of the greater part of an impression, even before the contents of the work are known. this is of the last importance to the bookseller, who is at once, to use a technical phrase, “brought home,” all his outlay being repaid. but it is a different case with the author, since it cannot be denied that we are apt to feel least satisfied with the works of which we have been induced, by titles and laudatory advertisements, to entertain exaggerated expectations. the intention of the work has been anticipated, and misconceived or misrepresented, and although the difficulty of executing the work again reminds us of hotspur’s task of “o’er-walking a current roaring loud,” yet the adventurer must look for more ridicule if he fails, than applause if he executes, his undertaking.
notwithstanding a risk, which should make authors pause ere they adopt a theme which, exciting general interest and curiosity, is often the preparative for disappointment, yet it would be an injudicious regulation which should deter the poet or painter from attempting to introduce historical portraits, merely from the difficulty of executing the task in a satisfactory manner. something must be trusted to the generous impulse, which often thrusts an artist upon feats of which he knows the difficulty, while he trusts courage and exertion may afford the means of surmounting it.
it is especially when he is sensible of losing ground with the public, that an author may be justified in using with address, such selection of subject or title as is most likely to procure a rehearing. it was with these feelings of hope and apprehension, that i venture to awaken, in a work of fiction, the memory of queen mary, so interesting by her wit, her beauty, her misfortunes, and the mystery which still does, and probably always will, overhang her history. in doing so, i was aware that failure would be a conclusive disaster, so that my task was something like that of an enchanter who raises a spirit over whom he is uncertain of possessing an effectual control; and i naturally paid attention to such principles of composition, as i conceived were best suited to the historical novel.
enough has been already said to explain the purpose of composing the abbot. the historical references are, as usual, explained in the notes. that which relates to queen mary’s escape from lochleven castle, is a more minute account of that romantic adventure, than is to be found in the histories of the period.
abbotsford ,
1st january , 1831.
