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'Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk,' satirical sketches of Edinburgh men of the time. In the following year he married the eldest daughter of Sir Walter Scott, who fitted up for the reception of the youthful pair the little cottage of Chiefswood, near Abbotsford. Here he produced in rapid succession his Metrical Translations of Spanish Ballads,' and his four novels, 'Valerius,' 'Adam Blair,' 'Reginald Dalton,' and 'Matthew Wald.' From 1826, when he accepted the editorship of the 'Quarterly Review,' he resided in London; and besides his editorial duties and his own contributions to the periodical, which were upwards of a hundred in number, he found time to write his 'Life of Burns' for 'Constable's Miscellany' (1827), his 'Life of Napoleon' for 'Murray's Family Library' (1829), and his greatest work, the 'Life of Scott,' the last volume of which appeared in 1838.-Lockhart was a thin, dark, erect figure, proud and reserved in general society, and regarded with some fear on account of his sarcastic ways; but among his chosen companions, at least in his earlier and happier years, loved for his exuberance of animal spirits and his irrepressible flow of wit and humour. The kindliness that was not distributed promiscuously, made itself felt all the more strongly within the chosen circle. He made numerous enemies, especially during his career in Edinburgh, by the tormenting force of his ridicule, by his ingenuity in driving rusty nails into the most vulnerable parts of his victims; yet more acts of generous kindness and high integrity are recorded of him than can be placed to the credit of many men of more philanthropic professions and greater general suavity of manner. As a critical potentate "he was kind and considerate towards unpretending merit, ready to recognise and welcome real talent in friend or foe, and severe only where presumption went hand in hand with ignorance." Much of his power as a writer depended upon his penetrating knowledge of character. The most notable feature in his novels and tales is the development of thought, feeling, and purpose, under the influence of circumstances: he loves particularly to play upon natural mistakes, and the consequences of natural mistakes, in the interpretation of appearances. His mostadmired articles in the 'Quarterly' are biographical. Throughout his life the study of character seems to have been his prevailing study we trace the natural bent towards it in his boyish carica tures, and we have the first memorable fruits of it in Peter's Letters.' The Life of Burns' is a good specimen of his power: when we compare this work with Dr Currie's, we are most forcibly struck with Lockhart's skill in weaving out of crude material a coherent narrative of characteristic incidents. No student of

written in the style of the Old Testament. Its clever personalities made such a sensation that it was withdrawn from the second edition of the number. (See Wilson's Works, vol. iv.)

biography can afford to overlook Lockhart. Apart from his skill in choosing significant circumstances, he is peculiarly distinguished by his faithful adherence to reality his biographies are remarkably free from the distortions of romance and hero-worship. He objected on several grounds to the writing of the lives of persons recently deceased; but he held that if " contemporaneous biography," as he called it, is to be permitted, the biographers should be peculiarly careful not to make in favour of the hero suppressions that might do injustice to other persons concerned. It was probably in pursuance of this principle that he made revelations concerning Scott which extreme admirers of the poet would rather he had left unsaid. Lockhart's is not a studied, finished style, but he had a great mastery of language, and is exceedingly fresh and varied in his diction. His characteristic qualities are keen incisive force, and sarcastic exuberant wit.

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