[288] Introduction to Marmion; Lockhart, Vol. II, p. 82.
[289] Lockhart, Vol. II, p. 508.
[290] Byron did not altogether approve of Scott's poetry, but he felt its effectiveness. In his "Reply to Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine," Byron wrote: "What have we got instead [of following Pope]? A deluge of flimsy and unintelligible romances, imitated from Scott and myself, who have both made the best of our bad materials and erroneous system."
[291] Review of Childe Harold, Canto III, Quarterly, October, 1816.
[292] Lockhart, Vol. III, p. 182.
[293] It should be remembered also that Scott's first review of Childe Harold appeared at a time when all England was condemning Byron for his treatment of Lady Byron, and that the article was thought by many to be altogether too lenient. Byron wrote to Murray expressing his pleasure in the review before he knew who was responsible for it, and some years later he wrote to Scott as follows: "To have been recorded by you in such a manner would have been a proud memorial at any time, but at such a time ... was something still higher to my self-esteem.... Had it been a common criticism, however eloquent or panegyrical, I should have felt pleased, undoubtedly, and grateful, but not to the extent which the extraordinary good-heartedness of the whole proceeding must induce in any mind capable of such sensations." (Byron's Letters and Journals, Vol. VI, p. 2.) See Lockhart, Vol. II, p. 510, for quotations from Byron showing his admiration for Scott. An interesting contrast between the characters of the two poets is drawn by H.S. Legaré. (See his Collected Writings, Vol. II, p. 258.)
[294] Journal, Vol. I, p. 221
[295] Remarks on the Death of Lord Byron.
[296] Lockhart, Vol. III, p. 525
[297] See Nichol's Byron (English Men of Letters), p. 205; and Arnold's essay on Byron.