" Either, however, the author executed his purpose indiffer- entl)', or the public did not approve of it ; for the ' White Lady of Avenel' was far from being popular. He does not now make the present statement in the view of arguing readers into a more favourable ojjinion on the subject, but merely with the purpose of exculpating himself from the charge of having wantonly in- truded into the narrative a being of inconsistent powers and pro- pensities."
The inferior success which this romance met with, (chiefly, it would seem, on account of the introduction of the White Lady,) is probably due to both the causes alluded to by the author in the above extract. The public were not prepared for this kind of machinery in his writings. And it is not unlikely, that, if he had treated it differently, and had made some person to act the part of a supernatural being, who should come out at the wind-up as one of flesh and blood, and explain her proceedings, the same objection might not have been taken by some. It is possible too, however, that had the present idea been better executed, the public might have been reconciled to it. There is certainly an awkwardness and want of dignity about this part of the romance ; and, much as there is of beauty in some of the details, one does not, after the perusal, dwell with full satisfaction upon the vision of the Wtite Nymph.
As has been said, this was not the line which Scott was fitted to excel in. With respect to his idea, that popular belief no longer allows the possibility of the existence of such mysterious beings, it may be doubted whether this is of itself a good reason why writers of romance should eschew them. Indeed, he himself did not, — as we see in this case : he avoided certainly the more hack- neyed ground of fairies and witches; — but he chose one equally, or more, removed from popular belief, though recommended to him in this case by the advantage of novelty. Perhaps the most likely way to ensure consistency and success, would be to dismiss the question as to whether people now-a-days believe such things or not, and to choose such a period and such characters as will admit of this machinery being naturally made use of; so that whether readers in the present day are found to give credence or not, they may at least look on a picture which was true at the time sup- posed, and which will be true and consistent to them, too, if they will throw their symj)athies into the scenes which are openrd be- fore them. The satisfactory effect produced by Fouque's tales may
