With a wrought Spanish baldric bound,
Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea,
And knew—but how it mattered not—
It was the wizard, Michael Scott."
After this final consummation, it is amusing to notice a slight "incuria" on the part of the poet, which I wonder has never been corrected in the later editions. Having described the nuptial ceremony of Cranstoun and Margaret in the early part of the last Canto, he says in Section xxviii.,
"Nought of the bridal will I tell,
Which after in short space befell,"
&c. &c.
I think I have now succeeded in proving that the Goblin Page, so far from being a mere "intruder" into this glorious poem—so far from being a mere after-thought, or interpolation, to "suit the taste of the cottagers of the Border," as Mr. Jeffrey "suspects,"—is the essential instrument for constructing the machinery of the plot. We have, indeed, the author's word that it formed the foundation of the poem. My readers will therefore form their own estimate of the value of Mr. Jeffrey's criticisms, couched as they are in no very considerate, much less complimentary phraseology. I cannot but admire the "douce vengeance" of the gentle-spirited subject of his rebukes, who has contented himself with printing these worthless sentences of an undiscerning critic along with the text of his poems in the last edition,—there to remain a standing memorial of the wisdom of that resolution adhered to throughout the life of the accomplished author, who tells us,
"That he from the first determined, that without shutting his ears to the voice of true criticism, he would pay no regard to that which assumed the form of satire."