...writer Maria Edgeworth, and particularly her f1rst novel Castle Rackrent published in 1800. He noted: the extended and well-merited fame of Miss Edgeworth,...gone so far to make the English familiar with the characters of their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of Ireland, that she may be truly said to have...

...of the Union. As Scott said in his "General Preface" to the 1 829 edition of Waverley, Edgeworth's Irish characters "have gone so far to make the English...and kindhearted neighbours of Ireland, that she may truly said to have done more towards completing the Union, than perhaps all the legislative enactments...

...Edgeworth's favorable impression on Scott: "Two circumstances in particular recalled my recollection of my mislaid manuscript. The first was the extended and well-merited fame of Miss Edgeworth. "IH We also have his confession in a private letter to Edgeworth, written under the pretense that he...

...affirmed that his series had a strikingly similar goal. He championed the works of Edgeworth for helping to make the English "familiar with the character of...their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of Ireland," to the point that "she may be truly said to have done more towards com47 Cf. Jane Millgate, Walter...

...indolent to attempt to write it anew from memory, I as often laid aside all thoughts of that nature. Two circumstances in particular recalled my recollection...familiar with the character of their gay and kind-hearted neighbors of Ireland, that she may be truly said to have done more toward completing the Union than...