IN PREFATORY NOTE. N the lapse of more than half a century since Lockhart produced this work, some important accessions have been made to the general stock of knowledge concerning his illustrious theme. Nevertheless, abating sundry errors of chronology, and a few misstatements of fact (here corrected, or pointed out), his handy little volume has maintained its place in public estimation, in the face of many a pretentious new-comer. On all hands, the performance is admitted to be a masterly one of its class; kind, yet impartial ; animated with a refined spirit of criticism; and, on the whole, a graceful treatment of his subject. The publishers having resolved to reproduce this Biography as one of their "Standard Library" series, engaged the present editor to revise and correct it where necessary, and to supplement the original work with fresh annotations and appendices, to render it more complete, according to the requirements of the day. In laying the results before the public, he trusts that his long familiar acquaintance with the details treated of, and his desire to do justice to the departed biographer's able performance, will be made manifest to the reader, and justify the publishers' selection of THE EDITOR. EDINBURGH, MEMOIR OF LOCKHART. JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART was born in his father's manse at Cambusnethan, in the county of Lanark, in 1794. He was the son of the Rev. John Lockhart by his second wife Elizabeth Gibson, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Gibson, minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. In 1796 his father was transferred to the College Church, Glasgow, and in that city young Lockhart received his first education. As a boy he had an insatiable appetite for reading, and, although far from being diligent in pursuing his proper school studies, yet the facility with which he acquired knowledge was such that he outstripped more industrious competitors, and won, by the unanimous award of the professors, the Snell Exhibition to Baliol College, Oxford, a prize worth £150 per annum, when he was only in his sixteenth year. He took honours as a first-class man in classics when nineteen, and graduated B.C.L. in the following year, exchanging that degree for the higher one of D.C.L. in 1834. After spending some time in Germany, during which he acquired a knowledge of the language and a taste for its literature, he was called, in 1816, to the Scottish bar. His peculiar temperament, however, unfitted him to become successful in this career. He lacked two essentials-readiness of language and self-possession, and we need not wonder at his want of success, nor that he abandoned the law to follow the bent of his genius, the pursuit of literature. As a member of the little band of young Scotch Tories, who, under their chief, Wilson, began to dispute the literary supremacy of the Scotch Whigs, as represented by Jeffrey and the "Edinburgh Review," he early distinguished himself; and from the commencement of "Blackwood's Magazine," in 1817, Wilson and Lockhart were its chief supporters, and for seven or eight years following, very few numbers appeared without an article from the pen of the latter. He wrote on various subjects, amongst them being translations from the German and Spanish, and strong political articles against the Whigs. At this period party feeling ran high in Edinburgh, opponents did not always confine themselves to a war with paper, and at least one fatal catastrophe occurred, which left a lasting impression on Lockhart's mind. It was through the political bias of young Lockhart, and his literary connection with Blackwood, that he became ac quainted with Sir Walter Scott. Their first introduction to each other took place in 1818, from which time they became intimate friends, and when Scott, from pressure of other work, ceased to write the historical parts of the " Edinburgh Annual Register," he recommended the proprietors to employ Lockhart in his place. In 1819, "Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk," which so graphically describes Scottish men and manners at that time, was published anonymously. In 1820, the author was married to Sophia, the eldest daughter of Scott, and for six years his home was Chiefswood, in the immediate neighbourhood of Abbotsford, where, doubtless, some of his happiest days were spent. There are few more pleasant passages in Scott's life than those describing his early walk to breakfast with the young couple, or his assisting at their modest dinner party by drawing up the wine from the well, in which it had been put to cool. It was during these six years that Lockhart's pen was unusually prolific. In 1821, "Valerius," a Roman story of the highest merit, was published. It was a great success, and pronounced to |