ON his next adventure, Sir Walter took a wider field. In the romance of "Quentin Durward," which appeared in June 1823, he portrayed characters and events connected with the history and times of Louis XI. and Charles the Bold. "The sensation," writes Mr Lockhart, "which this novel, on its first appearance, created in Paris, was extremely similar to that which attended the original 'Waverley' in Edinburgh, and 'Ivanhoe' afterwards in London. For the first time, Scott had ventured on foreign ground; and the French public, long wearied of the pompous tragedians and feeble romancers, who had alone striven to bring out the ancient history and manners of their country, were seized with a fever of delight.... Germany had been fully awake to his merits years before, but the public there also felt their sympathies appealed to with hitherto unmatched strength and effect. The infection of admiration ran far and wide on the Continent, and soon reacted most potently on Britain." The accompanying illustration represents one of the most stirring scenes in the novel. Louis of Bourbon, Bishop of Liege, having accused De la Marck of sacrilege, and advised him to array himself in sackcloth and ashes, and proceed on a pilgrimage to Rome, the rage of the tyrant rose gradually with the admonitions of the priest, until he at length determined upon vengeance. Raising himself in his chair as Louis ceased, he looked to Nickel Blok, and lifted his finger, without speaking a word. The ruffian struck, as if he had been doing his office in the shambles, and the murdered Bishop sunk at the foot of the Episcopal throne. Mr Cruikshank is in his element in describing Cardinal Balue's predicament at the boar hunt. While the Cardinal was in conversation with the king, his horse, seizing the bit with his teeth, set off at an uncontrollable gallop, leaving the king and Dunois far behind. The limbs of the quadruped, no way under the rider's control, fly at such a rate as if the hindermost meant to overtake the foremost, while the cardinal's body, instead of sitting upright, hangs crouched on the back of the animal, representing a picture sufficiently ludicrous. His short violet-coloured gown, which he used as a riding-dress, his scarlet stockings, and scarlet hat, with the long strings hanging down, together with his utter helplessness, impart infinite zest to his exhibition of horsemanship. [Illustration: 097] [Illustration: 099] ST RONAN'S WELL