The  character  of  Monkbarns,  though  certainly  drawn  from  a  real  per-
son, is  ^n  example  of  the  most  consummate  art  in  idealizing  matter-
of-fact.    It  bears  the  same  relation,  for  instance,  to  on4  of  Gait's  care-


888  WALTER  SCOTT.  [Chap.  XX.
fully  elaborated  transcripts  of  Scottish  character,  thafa  portrait  by
Reynolds  does  to  a  photograph.  The  scene  of  the  danger  and  escape
of  Sir  Arthur  Wardour  and  his  daughter,  when  nearly  overwhelmed
by  the  tide,  i-;  one  of  the  most  highly-wrought  yet  natural  in  fiction,
and  the  r  -der  who  will  carefully  examine  this  passage  will  be  sur-
prised at  ihe  impressive  effect  produced  by  the  simplest  means.  The
dinner  at  !he  ccenobitium  of  Monkbarns,  and  the  scene  of  the  seizure
of"  the  ciiitle  by  Sir  Arthur's  creditors,  are  intensely  humorous  and
intenselv  real  at  the  same  time:  and  the  funeral  of  the  young  fisher-
man and  the  death  of  the  conscience-haunted  old  crorie  are  among  the
simplest  and  most  powerful  effects  of  fiction.
Jiol)  Roy,  among  the  novels,  occupies  a  somewhat  similar  place  tj
that  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  among  the  poems.  In  this  tale  Scott
brings  into  contact  the  wild  and  picturesque  life  of  the  Highlands,  and
the  manners  of  the  North  of  England  and  the  burgess-life  of  Glasgow.
