Many were the anxious letters he wrote to
Lord Montague as to his "young chief's" affairs, as he called them,
and great his pride in watching the promise of his youth. Nothing can
be clearer than that to Scott the feudal principle was something far
beyond a name; that he had at least as much pride in his devotion to
his chief, as he had in founding a house which he believed would
increase the influence--both territorial and personal--of the clan of
Scotts. The unaffected reverence which he felt for the Duke, though
mingled with warm personal affection, showed that Scott's feudal
feeling had something real and substantial in it, which did not vanish
even when it came into close contact with strong personal feelings.
This reverence is curiously marked in his letters. He speaks of "the
distinction of rank" being ignored by both sides, as of something
quite exceptional, but it was never really ignored by him, for though
he continued to write to the Duke as an intimate friend, it was with a
mingling of awe, very different indeed from that which he ever adopted
to Ellis or Erskine.
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