I'REIACE. XXI
amongst ourselves ; though this may also be attributed, in some degree, to the characteristic already alluded to, which, if it recom- mends them to some minds, may cause them to find less favour in the eyes of others. He writes at times, in fact, under a kind of Heavenly inspiration, which, without a congenial disposition on the part of the reader, it is vain to hope will be appreciated.
It ought to be remarked here, however, that in one case the author of " Waverley" did make a bold attempt to grapple with the supernatural. We allude, of course, to the " Monastery ;" and it is singular that in this instance he should have taken the idea from the first tale in this collection. In his Introduction, where he speaks of the origin of the story, he says : —
" . . . . Machinery remained, — the introduction of the super- natural and marvellous — the resort of distressed authors since the days of Horace, but whose privileges as a sanctuary have been disputed in the present age, and well-nigh exploded. The popu- lar belief no longer allows the possibility of existence to the race of mysterious beings which hovered betwixt this world and that which is invisible. The fairies have abandoned their moonlight turf ; the wutch no longer holds her black orgies in the hemlock dell; and
' Even the last Hns;ering phantom of the brain. The churchyard-ghost, is now at rest again.'
" From the discredit attached to the vulgar and more common modes in which the Scottish superstition displays itself, the author was induced to have recourse to the beautiful, though almost for- gotten, theory of astral spirits, or creatures of the elements, sur- passing human beings in knowledge and power, but inferior to them, as being subject, after a certain space of years, to a death which is to them annihilation, as they have no share in the promise made to the sons of Adam. These spirits are supposed to be of four distinct kinds, as the elements from which they have their origin, and are known to those who have studied the cabalistical philosophy by the names of sylphs, gnomes, salamanders, and naiads, as they belong to the elements of air, earth, fire, or water. The general reader will find an entertaining account of these ele- mentary spirits in the French book entitled ' Entretiens de Compte du Gabalis.' The ingenious Comte de la Motte Fouque composed, in German, one of the most successful productions of his fertile brain, where a beautiful and even afflicting effect is produced by the introduction of a water-nymph, who consents to become ac- cessible to human feelings, and unites her lot with that of a mortal, who treats her with ingratitude.
" In imitation of an example so successful, the White Lady of Avenel was introduced into the following sheets
