A pleasing French writer of fairy tales, Monsieur Pajon,
author of the History of Prince Soly, has set a diverting example of
the same machinery, where he introduces the presiding Genius of the
land of Romance conversing with one of the personages of the tale.
In this Introductory Epistle, the author communicates, in confidence,
to Captain Clutterbuck, his sense that the White Lady had not met the
taste of the times, and his reason for withdrawing her from the scene.
The author did not deem it equally necessary to be candid respecting
another alteration. The Monastery was designed, at first, to have
contained some supernatural agency, arising out of the fact, that
Melrose had been the place of deposit of the great Robert Bruce's
heart. The writer shrunk, however, from filling up, in this
particular, the sketch as it was originally traced; nor did he venture
to resume, in continuation, the subject which he had left unattempted
in the original work. Thus, the incident of the discovery of the
heart, which occupies the greater part of the Introduction to the
Monastery, is a mystery unnecessarily introduced, and which remains at
last very imperfectly explained. In this particular, I was happy to
shroud myself by the example of the author of "Caleb Williams," who
never condescends to inform us of the actual contents of that Iron
Chest which makes such a figure in his interesting work, and gives the
name to Mr. Colman's drama.
The public had some claim to inquire into this matter, but it seemed
indifferent policy in the author to give the explanation.
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