He had at first proposed the title of _Waverley, or 'Tis Fifty Years
Since_, which was afterwards altered to '_Tis Sixty Years Since_. This,
the first of his splendid series of fictions, which has given a name to
the whole series, is by no means the best; but it was good and novel
enough to strike a chord in the popular heart at once. Its delineations of
personal characters already known to history were masterly; its historical
pictures were in a new and striking style of art. There were men yet
living to whom he could appeal--men who had _been out_ in the '45, who had
seen Charles Edward and many of the originals of the author's heroes and
heroines. In his researches and wanderings, he had imbibed the very spirit
of Scottish life and history; and the Waverley novels are among the most
striking literary types and expounders of history.
PARTICULAR MENTION.--In 1815, before half the reading world had delighted
themselves with _Waverley_, his rapid pen had produced _Guy Mannering_, a
story of English and Scottish life, superior to Waverley in its original
descriptions and more general interest.
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