The mild proposals
in question were discussed at a meeting of the Faculty of Advocates,
when Scott made a speech longer than he had ever before delivered, and
animated by a "flow and energy of eloquence" for which those who were
accustomed to hear his debating speeches were quite unprepared. He
walked home between two of the reformers, Mr. Jeffrey and another,
when his companions began to compliment him on his eloquence, and to
speak playfully of its subject. But Scott was in no mood for
playfulness. "No, no," he exclaimed, "'tis no laughing matter; little
by little, whatever your wishes may be, you will destroy and
undermine, until nothing of what makes Scotland Scotland shall
remain!" "And so saying," adds Mr. Lockhart, "he turned round to
conceal his agitation, but not until Mr. Jeffrey saw tears gushing
down his cheek,--resting his head, until he recovered himself, on the
wall of the Mound."[47] It was the same strong feeling for old Scotch
institutions which broke out so quaintly in the midst of his own worst
troubles in 1826, on behalf of the Scotch banking-system, when he so
eloquently defended, in the letters of _Malachi Malagrowther_, what
would now be called Home-Rule for Scotland, and indeed really defeated
the attempt of his friends the Tories, who were the innovators this
time, to encroach on those sacred institutions--the Scotch one-pound
note, and the private-note circulation of the Scotch banks.
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