text:  Of what historical importance are the stories on which Shakspeare has founded his _Romeo and Juliet_--his _Othello_--his _Hamlet_ or his _Lear_? Does the chief interest or excellence of _Waverley_ or _Ivanhoe_ or _Peveril of the Peak_ or _Redgauntlet_ or _Montrose_ depend on the delineation of historical characters or the description of historical events? What space do Balfour of Burleigh or Rob Roy or Helen Macgregor fill in history? The fact appears to be that even in the purest historical prose fictions neither the interest nor the excellence generally depend upon the characters or the incidents most prominent in history