JOURNAL OF JOHN LAUDER

xili

there. 1 am very glad to hear you are bUlying younelf with a
task which will throw most important ligbt upon the history of
Seotland, and am, with regard, dear sir, your most obedt. servant,
WALTBR ScOTl'.

°Edinr., 19 February I8I5.'

After a further interchange of letters in 1816 thé matter
slumbered till 1822 when there appeared a volume entitled
Chronological Noies of S'aottiah .el,air~,from 1680 till 1701,
being chiPfl~ taken from the Diary of Lord Fountainhall
(Constable, 1822), with a preface by Sir IValter Scott, who
had evidently forgotten his correspondence with Sir Thomas.l
The volume in reality contained a selection, comparatively
small, from Fou~tainhalrs notebooks in the Adv ocates'
Library, with copious interpolatioms by the author, Robert
Mylne (who died in 1747), not distinguished from the
authe~tic text of the notes, and greatly misrepresenting
Fountainhall's opinions. The next stage in the correspond-
ence may be giv en in Sir Thomas's own words
'HAVING been much astonished to learn, from a perusal of the
foregoing review,2 that Sir Walter Scott had stolen a march on
me, and published a Manuscript of Lord Fountainhall's, at the
very time when he had reason to believe me engaged in the work,
and that b3~ his own suggestion, and being above all things sur-
prised that he had not thought it proper to acquaint me with his
intention before carrying it into effect, 1 sat dow n and wrote to
him the following letter, in which, being aware how much he who
1 was addressing was to be considered as a sort of hrivileged
person in literary matters, I took special care to give no offence,
to write calmly, and to confine myself to such a simple state-
ment of the facts as might bring a blush into his face without
exciting the smallest angry feeling. 1 hoped, too, that 1 might
prevail on him, as some atonement for his sins, to lend a helping
hand to bring forth the real work of Lord Foutitaiiiliall in a
proper style.'

1 The preface and Mylne's interpolations are appended to bir. Laings preface
to the Hislorical Nali~es.

2 In Constable's Magazine. See infra.