So was Lord Byron.
Sir Humphry Davy, the philosopher, visited Sir Walter and was well liked by him.
Goethe, the German poet, was a warm admirer and friend of Sir Walter.
So was Henry Hallam, the historian; Crabbe, the poet; Maria Edgeworth, the novelist; George Ticknor, the author; Dugald Stewart, Archibald Alison, Sydney Smith, Lord Brougham, Lord Jeffrey, Thomas Erskine, William Clerk, Sir William Hamilton, etc., etc.
Last but not least among those who regarded Sir Walter as a friend and who were so regarded by him was our own countryman, Washington Irving. Our own "Washy" was an author, too, and one not to be sneezed at. Sir Walter regarded him highly and Washy dropped in on him, casual like, at Abbottsford. Washy had written some good things himself, but had found it difficult to win recognition. Sir Walter stood sponsor for him and told the world it ought to be ashamed of itself not to recognize merit of so high an order. Thereupon the world promptly did recognize our Washy. Did our Washy need a sponsor? Well, hardly. No American ever lived who was an abler or more polished writer than he. Will you please show me a man who can beat our Washy. You can't do it. Smile at me if you will, but I doubt if even Sir Walter himself was so much superior to him. Have you read Irving's Astoria, a true and lifelike history of the Northwest? or his Rip Van Winkle, or his sketches, the Alhambra, etc.? Irving's is another case where a great man failed of appreciation at first.
Well, my countrymen, our Washy is dead, but we appreciate him now just the same. The United States never produced a writer more polished and able than he, and it is rather humiliating to think that a great foreigner had to apprise us of his merits.
To wind up this chapter on Sir Walter Scott I will give you a list of his writings, arranged in chronological order:
BALLADS.
Glenfinlas, 1799.
Eve of St. John, 1799.
The Grey Brothers, 1799.
Border Minstrelsy, 1802-1803.
Cadyow Castle, 1810.
English Minstrelsy, 1810.
The Battle of Sempach, 1818.
The Noble Moringer, 1819.
The Lay of the Last Minstrel, 1805.
Marmion, 1808.
The Lady of the Lake, 1810.
Vision of Don Roderick, 1811.
Rokeby, 1812.
The Bridal of Triermain, 1813.
The Lord of the Isles, 1815.