John Gibson Lockhart was born in Scotland in 1794. He received
part of his education at Glasgow, part at Oxford, and in 1816
he became an advocate at the Scotch bar. As one of the chief
supporters of Blackwood's Magazine, he began to exhibit that
sharp, bitter wit which was his most salient characteristic.
In 1820 he married the eldest daughter of Sir Walter Scott,
and for this reason, perhaps no one has been better qualified
to write the biography of the great novelist. Lockhart's "Life
of Sir Walter Scott" is a biography in the best sense of the
word--one which has been ranked even with Boswell's "Johnson."
It reveals to the reader the inmost personality of the man
himself, and no life from first to last could better afford
such complete revelation. Moreover, the "Life" was a labour of
love, Lockhart himself receiving not a fraction of its very
considerable proceeds, but resigning them absolutely to
Scott's creditors. Published in seven volumes in 1838, in
every respect it is the greatest of all Lockhart's books.
Lockhart died in 1854.
_Early Years_
Sir Walter Scott was distantly connected with ancient families both on
his father's and his mother's side. His father, Walter Scott, a Writer
to the Signet in Edinburgh, was a handsome, hospitable, shrewd and
religious man, who married, in 1758, Anne, eldest daughter of Dr. John
Rutherford, professor of medicine in Edinburgh University. The Scotts
had twelve children, of whom only five survived early youth.
The subject of this biography was born on August 15, 1771, in a house at
the head of the College Wynd. He was a healthy child, but when eighteen
months old was affected with a fever which left a permanent lameness in
the right leg. With a view to curing this weakness he was sent to live
with his paternal grandfather, at the farm house of Sandy-Knowe near
Dryburgh Abbey, in the extreme south of Berwickshire.
Here, in the country air, he became a sturdy boy, and his mind was
stored with the old Broder tales and songs. In his fourth year he was
taken to London by sea, and thence to Bath, where he remained about a
year for the sake of the waters, became acquainted with the venerable
John Home, author of "Douglas," and was introduced by his uncle, Capt.
Robert Scott, to the delights of the theatre and "As You Like It."
From his eighth year Scott lived at his father's house in George Square,
Edinburgh. His lameness and solitary habits had made him a good reader,
and he used to read aloud to his mother, Pope's translation of Homer and
Allan Ramsay's "Evergreen;" his mother had the happiest of tempers and a
good love of poetry. In the same year he was sent to the High School,
Edinburgh, under the celebrated Dr. Adam, who made him sensible of the
beauties of the Latin poets.
After his school years, the lad, who had become delicate from rapid
growth, spent half a year with an aunt, Miss Janet Scott, at Kelso. He
had now awaked to the poetry of Shakespeare and of Spenser, and had
acquired an ample and indiscriminate appetite for reading of all kinds.
To this time at Kelso he also traced his earliest feeling for the
beauties of natural objects. The love of Nature, especially when
combined with ancient ruins, or remains of our forefathers' piety or
splendour, became his insatiable passion.
He was then sent to classes in the Faculty of Arts in Edinburgh
University; and in 1785 was articled to his father and entered upon the
wilderness of law. Though he disliked the drudgery of the office, he
loved his father and was ambitious, and the allowance which he received
afforded the pleasures of the circulating library and the theatre. His
reading had now extended to the great writers in French, Spanish and
Italian literature. Distant excursions on foot or on horseback formed
his favorite amusement, undertaken for the pleasure of seeing romantic
scenery and places distinguished by historic events.
In 1790, Scott determined, in accordance with his father's wishes, to
become an advocate, and assumed the gown on July 11, 1792. His personal
appearance at this time was engaging. He had a fresh, brilliant
complexion, his eyes were clear and radiant, and the noble expanse of
his brow gave dignity to his whole aspect. His smile was always
delightful, and there was a playful intermixture of tenderness and
gravity well calculated to fix a lady's eye. His figure, except for the
blemish in one limb, was eminently handsome, and much above the usual
stature; and the whole outline was that of extraordinary vigour, without
a touch of clumsiness.
_The Poet's Education_
I do not know when his first attachment began; its object was Margaret,
daughter of Sir John and Lady Jane Stuart Belcher, of Invermay. But
after Scott had for several years nourished the dream of union with this
lady, his hopes terminated in her being married to the late Sir William
Forbes, of Pitsligo, a gentleman of the highest character, who lived to
act the part of a generous friend to his rival throughout the distresses
of 1826 and 1827.
After being admitted an advocate, Scott undertook many excursions to
various parts of Scotland, gaining that intimate knowledge of the
country, and its people and traditions, which appears in his poems and
novels. Thus, he visited Northumberland, and made a close inspection of
the battle-field of Flodden, and on another journey studied the Saxon
cathedral of Hexam. During seven successive years he made raids, as he
called them, into the wild and inaccessible district of Liddesdale,
picking up the ancient "riding ballads" preserved among the descendants
of the moss-troopers. To these rambles he owed much of the materials of
his "Minstrelsy of the Border," and here he came to know Willie Elliot,
the original of Dandie Dinmont. Another expedition, into Galloway,
carried him into the scenery of Guy Mannering. Stirlingshire, Perthshire
and Forfarshire became familiar ground to him, and the scenery of Loch
Katrine especially was associated with many a merry expedition. His
first appearance as counsel in a criminal court was at the Jedburgh
assizes, where he helped a veteran poacher and sheep-stealer to escape
through the meshes of the law.
In June, 1795, Scott was appointed one of the curators of the Advocate's
Library and became an adept in the deciphering of old manuscript. His
highlands and border raids were constantly suggesting inquiries as to
ancient local history and legend, which could nowhere else have been
pursued with equal advantage.
In the same year, a rhymed translation of Burger's "Lenore," from his
pen, was shown by him to Miss Cranstoun, afterwards Countess of
Purgstall, who was delighted and astonished at it. "Upon my word," she
wrote in a letter to a friend, "Walter Scott is going to turn out a
poet--something of a cross I think between Burns and Gray." This lady
had the ballad elegantly printed in April, 1796, and Scott thus made his
first appearance as an author. In October, this translation, together
with that of the "Wild Huntsman," also from Burger, was published
anonymously in a thin quarto by Manners and Miller, of Edinburgh. The
little volume found warm favour: its free, masculine and lively style
revealing the hand of a poet.
_Marriage_
In July, 1797, Scott set out on a tour to the English lakes, accompanied
by his brother John and Adam Fergusson, visiting Tweeddale, Carlisle,
Penrith, Ullswater and Windermere, and at length fixing their
headquarters at Gilsland, a peaceful and sequestered little watering
place.
He was riding one day with Fergusson when they met, some miles away from
home, a young lady on horseback, whose appearance instantly struck both
of them so much, that they kept her in view until they had satisfied
themselves that she was staying in Gilsland. The same evening there was
a ball, at which Scott was introduced to Charlotte Margaret Carpenter.
Without the features of a regular beauty, she was rich in personal
attractions; a fairy-like form; a clear olive complexion; large, deep
eyes of Italian brown; a profusion of silken tresses, raven-black; her
address mingling the reserve of a pretty young Englishwoman with a
certain natural archness and gaiety that suited well her French accent.
A lovelier vision, as all who remember her youth have assured me, could
hardly be imagined, and from that hour the fate of the poet was fixed.
She was the daughter of Jean Charpentier, of Lyons, a devoted royalist,
who died in the beginning of the Revolution; Madame Charpentier had died
soon after bringing her children to London; and the Marquis of Downshire
had become their guardian. Miss Charpentier was now making a summer
excursion under the care of the lady who had superintended her
education.
In an affectionate and dutiful letter Scott acquainted his mother with
his purpose of marriage, and Miss Carpenter remained at Carlisle until
her destiny was settled. The lady had a considerable private income,
amounting to about £500 a year; the difficulties presented by the
prudence and prejudices of family connections were soon overcome; and
the marriage took place in St. Mary's, Carlisle, on December 24, 1797.
Scott took his bride to a lodging in George Street, Edinburgh, the house
which he had taken not being quite ready, and the first fortnight
convinced her husband's family that she had the sterling qualities of a
wife.
Their house in South Castle Street, soon after exchanged for one in
North Castle Street, which he inhabited down to 1826, became the centre
of a highly agreeable circle; the evenings passed in a round of innocent
gaiety; and they and their friends were passionately fond of the
theatre. Perhaps nowhere else could have been formed a society on so
small a scale as that of Edinburgh at this time, including more of
vigorous intellect, varied information, elegant tastes, and real virtue,
affection and mutual confidence.
In the summer of 1798, Scott hired a cottage at Lasswade, on the Esk,
about six miles from Edinburgh, having a garden with a most beautiful
view. In this retreat they spent several happy summers, receiving the
visits of their chosen friends from the neighbouring city, and wandering
amidst some of the most romantic scenery of Scotland.
_Early Poems_
In February, 1799, a London Bookseller named Bell, brought out Scott's
version of Goethe's tragedy, "Goetz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand,"
having purchased the copyright for twenty-five guineas. This was the
first publication that bore Scott's name. In March of that year he took
his wife to London, and met with some literary and fashionable society;
but his chief object was to examine the antiquities of the Tower and
Westminster, and to make researches among the manuscripts of the British
Museum. He found his "Goetz" favourably spoken of by the critics, but it
had not attracted general attention.
About this time Scott wrote a play entitled "House of Aspen" which,
having been read and commended by the celebrated actress, Mrs. Esten,
was put in rehearsal by Kemble for the stage. But the notion was
abandoned; and discovering the play thirty years after among his papers,
Scott sent it to the "Keepsake" of 1829.
His return to Scotland was hastened by the news of his father's death,
and his mother and sister spent the following summer and autumn in his
cottage at Lasswade. This summer produced his first serious attempt in
verse, "Glenfinlas," which was followed by the noble ballads, "Eve of
St. John," "The Grey Brother" and "Fire-King"; and it was in the course
of this autumn that he first visited Bothwell Castle, the seat of
Archibald, Lord Douglas, whose wife, and her companion, Lady Louisa
Stuart, were among his dearest friends through life.
During a visit to Kelso, before returning to Edinburgh for the winter,
Scott renewed an acquaintance with a classfellow of his boyhood, Mr.
James Ballantyne, who was now printer and editor of a weekly paper in
his native town. Scott showed him some of his poems, expressed his
wonder that his old friend did not try to get some bookseller's printing
and suggested a collection of old Border ballads. Ballantyne printed for
him a few specimens to show to the booksellers; and thus began an
experiment which changed the fortunes of both Scott and Ballantyne.
Soon after the commencement of the Winter Session, the office of
Sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire became vacant, and the Duke of Buccleuch
used his influence with Mr. Henry Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville,
to procure it for Scott. The appointment to the Sheriff ship was made on
December 16, 1799. It brought him an annual salary of £300; the duties
of the office were far from heavy; the small pastoral territory was
largely the property of the Duke of Buccleuch; and Scott turned with
redoubled zeal to his project of editing the ballads, many of which
belong to this district. In this design he found able assistants in
Richard Heber and John Leyden. During the years 1800 and 1801, the
"Minstrelsy" formed his chief occupation.
The duties of the Sheriffship took him frequently to Ettrick Forest, and
on such occasions he took up his lodging at the little inn at
Clovenford, a favourite fishing station on the road from Edinburgh to
Selkirk. Here he was within a few miles of the values of Yarrow and
Ettrick. On one of his excursions here, penetrating beyond St Mary's
Lake, he found hospitality at the farmhouse of William Laidlaw, through
whom he came to know James Hogg, a brother poet hardly conscious of his
powers.
The first and second volumes of the "Minstrelsy" appeared in January,
1802, from the house of Cadell and Davies in the Strand, and formed
Scott's first introduction as an original writer to the English public.
Their reception greatly elated Ballantyne, the printer, who looked on
his connection with them as the most fortunate event in his life. The
great bookseller, Longman, repaired to Scotland soon after this, and
purchased the copyright of the "Minstrelsy," including the third volume;
and not long afterwards James Ballantyne set up as a printer in
Edinburgh, assisted by a liberal loan from Scott.
_Scott's Chief Poems_
The "Edinburgh Review" was begun in 1802, and Scott soon became a
contributor of critical articles for his friend Mr. Jeffrey, the elder.
His chief work was now on "Sir Tristram," a romance ascribed to Thomas
of Ercildoune; but "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" was making progress in
1803, when Scott made the acquaintance of Wordsworth and his sister,
under circumstances described by Dorothy Wordsworth in her Journal. In
the following May, he took a lease of the house of Ashestiel, with an
adjoining farm, on the southern bank of the Tweed, a few miles from
Selkirk; and in the same month "Sir Tristram" was published by Constable
of Edinburgh. Captain Robert Scott, his uncle, died in June, leaving him
the house of Rosebank near Kelso, which Scott sold for £5000.
"The Lay of the Last Minstrel" was published in the first week of 1805,
and its success at once decided that literature should form the main
business of Scott's life. Its design arose originally from the
suggestion of the lovely Countess of Dalkeith, who had heard a wild,
rude legend of Border _diablerie_, and sportively asked him to make it
the subject of a ballad. He cast about for a new variety of diction and
rhyme, and having happened to hear a recitation of Coleridge's
unpublished "Christabel" determined to adopt a similar cadence. The
division into cantos was suggested by one of his friends, after the
example of Spenser's "Faery Queen." The creation of the framework, the
conception of the ancient harper, came last of all. Thus did "The Lay of
the Last Minstrel" grow out of the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border."
The publishers were Longman of London, and Constable of Edinburgh, and
the author's share of profits came to £769.
It was at this time that Scott took over a third share in Ballantyne's
business, a commercial tie which bound him for twenty years. Its
influence on his literary work and his fortunes was productive of much
good and not a little evil. Meanwhile, he entered with the zest of an
active partner into many publishing schemes, and exerted himself in the
interests of many authors less fortunate than himself.
With the desire of placing his financial position on a more substantial
basis, Scott had solicited the office of Clerk of Session; and after
some difficulties, during which he visited London and was received by
the Princess of Wales, he was installed in that position on March 8,
1806, and continued to discharge its duties with exemplary regularity
for twenty-five years.
The progress of "Marmion" was further interrupted by Scott's appointment
as secretary to a Commission for the improvement of Scottish
Jurisprudence, but the poems appeared at last in February, 1808. It
received only very qualified praise from Jeffrey, but I think it may be
considered on the whole Scott's greatest poem, and its popularity was
from the very first extraordinary.
In April of the same year William Miller of Albemarle Street published
Scott's great edition of Dryden, with a biography, in eighteen volumes;
and the editor's industry and critical judgement were the subject of a
laudatory article by Hallam in the "Edinburgh Review."
Scott was now engaged in a vast multiplicity of business. He was
preparing an edition of Swift for Constable, establishing his own
partner as a publisher in Edinburgh under the title of "John Ballantyne
and Co., Booksellers," and was projecting a new periodical of sound
constitutional principles, to be known as the "Quarterly Review,"
published by Murray in London and by Ballantyne in Edinburgh. In
connection with the latter enterprise Scott and Mrs. Scott went up to
London for two months in the Spring of 1809, and enjoyed the society of
Coleridge, Canning, Croker, and Ellis. The first "Quarterly" appeared
while he was in London, and contained three articles from his pen. At
this time also he prevailed on Henry Siddons, the nephew of Kemble, to
undertake the lease and management of the Edinburgh Theatre; and
purchasing a share himself, became an acting trustee, and for many years
took a lively concern in the Edinburgh company.
Early in May, 1810, "The Lady of the Lake" came out, like her two elder
sisters, in all the majesty of quarto, at the price of two guineas, the
author receiving two thousand guineas for the copyright. The whole
country rang with the praises of the poet, and crowds set off to view
the scenery of Loch Katrine. The critics were in full harmony with one
another and with the popular voice.
_The Waverley Novels_
On returning, in 1810, from an excursion to the Islands of the western
Scottish coast, where he had been collecting impressions for "The Lord
of the Isles," Scott was searching one morning for fishing-flies in an
old desk at Ashestiel, when he came across a forgotten manuscript,
written and abandoned five years before. It contained the first two
chapters of "Waverley." He submitted it to Ballantyne, whose opinion was
on the whole against completion of the novel, and it was again laid
aside.
Although his publishing venture had begun to wear a bad aspect, Scott
was now in receipt of £1300 a year as Clerk of Session, and when the
lease of Ashestiel ran out in May, 1811, he felt justified in
purchasing, for £4000, a farm on the banks of the Tweed above Galafoot.
This farm, then known as "Garty Holes," became "Abbotsford," so called
because these lands had belonged of old to the great Abbey of Melrose;
and in his own mind Scott became henceforth the "Laird of Abbotsford."
The last days at Ashestiel were marked by a friendly interchange of
letters with Lord Byron, whose "Childe Harold" had just come out, and
with correspondence with Johanna Baillie and with Crabbe. At Whitsuntide
the family, which included two boys and two girls, moved to their new
possession, and structural alterations on the farmhouse began.
The poem "Rokeby" appeared in January, 1813. A month or two later the
crisis in the war affected credit aniversally, and many publishing
firms, including that of the Ballantynes, were brought to extremity. The
difficulty was relieved for a time by the sale of copyrights and much of
the stock to Constable, on the understanding that the publishing concern
should be wound up as soon as possible. But Scott was preparing fresh
embarrassments for himself by the purchase of another parcel of land; a
yet more acute crisis in the Ballantyne firm forced him to borrow from
the Duke of Buccleuch; and when planning out his work for the purpose of
retrieving his position he determined to complete the fragment of
"Waverley."
The offer of the post of poet-laureate was made to Scott at this time,
but holding already two lucrative offices in the gift of the Crown, he
declined the honour and suggested that it should be given to Southey,
which was accordingly done. The "Swift" in nineteen volumes, appeared in
July, 1814, and had a moderate success.
"Waverley," of which Scott was to receive half the profits, was
published by Constable in July, 1814, without the author's name, and its
great success with the public was assured from the first. None of
Scott's intimate friends ever had, or could have, the slightest doubt as
to its parentage, and when Mr. Jeffrey reviewed the book, doing justice
to its substantial merits, he was at no pains to conceal his conviction
of the authorship. With the single exception of the "Quarterly," the
critics hailed it as a work of original creative genius, one of the
masterpieces of prose fiction.
From a voyage to the Hebrides with the Commissioners of the Northern
Lighthouses, Scott returned in vigour to his desk at Abbotsford, where
he worked at "The Lord of the Isles" and "Guy Mannering." The poem
appeared in January and the novel in February, 1815. "The Lord of the
Isles" never reached the same popularity as the earlier poems had
enjoyed, but "Guy Mannering" was pronounced by acclamation to be fully
worthy of the honours of "Waverley." In March, Scott went to London with
his wife and daughter, met Byron almost daily in Murray's house, and was
presented to the Prince Regent, who was enchanted with Scott, as Scott
with him. A visit to Paris in July of the same year is commemorated in
"Paul's Letters to His Kinsfolk." Scott's reputation had as yet made
little way among the French, but the Duke of Wellington, then in Paris,
treated him with kindness and confidence, and a few eminent Frenchmen
vied with the enthusiastic Germans in their attentions to him.
"The Antiquary" came out early in 1816, and was its author's favourite
among all his novels. The "Tales of my Landlord," published by Murray
and Blackwood, appeared in December, and though anonymous was at once
recognized as Scott's. The four volumes included the "Black Dwarf" and
"Old Mortality." A month later followed a poem, "Harold the Dauntless."
The title of "Rob Roy" was suggested by Constable; and the novel was
published on the last day of 1817.
During this year the existing house of Abbotsford had been building, and
Scott had added to his estate the lands of Toftfield, at a price of
£10,000. He was then thought to be consolidating a large fortune, for
the annual profits of his novels alone had, for several years, been not
less than the cost of Toftfield.
Having been asked by the Ballantynes to contribute to the historical
department of the "Annual Register," I often had occasion now to visit
Scott in his house in Castle Street, where I usually found him working
in his "den," a small room behind the dining parlour, in company with
his dog, Maida. Besides his own huge elbow-chair, there were but two
others in the room, and one of these was reserved for his amanuensis, a
portrait of Claverhouse, over the chimneypiece, with a Highland target
on either side and broadswords and dirks disposed star-fashion round
them. A venerable cat, fat and sleek, watched the proceedings of his
toaster AND Maids with dignified equanimity.
_Abbotsford_
The house of Abbotsford was not completed, and finally rid of carpenters
and upholsterers, until Christmas, 1824; but the first time I saw it was
in 1818, and from that time onwards Scott's hospitality was extended
freely not only to the proprietors and tenants of the surrounding
district, but to a never-ending succession of visitors who came to
Abbotsford as pilgrims. In the seven or eight brilliant seasons when his
prosperity was at its height, he entertained under his roof as many
persons of distinction in rank, in politics, in art, in literature, and
in science, as the most princely nobleman of his age ever did in the
like space of time. It is not beyond the mark to add that of the eminent
foreigners who visited our Island within this period, a moiety crossed
the Channel mainly in consequence of the interest in which his writings
had invested Scotland, and that the hope of beholding the man under his
own roof was the crowning motive with half that moiety. His rural
neighbours were assembled principally at two annual festivals of sport;
one was a solemn bout of salmon fishing for the neighbouring gentry,
presided over by the Sheriff; and the other was the "Abbotsford Hunt," a
coursing field on a large scale, including, with many of the young
gentry, all Scott's personal favourites among the yeomen and farmers of
the surrounding country.
Notwithstanding all his prodigious hospitality, his double official
duties as Sheriff and Clerk of Session, the labours and anxieties in
which the ill-directed and tottering firm of Ballantyne involved him,
the keen interest which he took in every detail of the adornment of the
house and estate of Abbotsford, and finally, notwithstanding obstinate
and agonizing attacks of internal cramp which were undermining his
constitution, Scott continued to produce rapidly the wonderful series of
the Waverley Novels. "The Bride of Lammermoor," "Legend of Montrose" and
"Ivanhoe" appeared in 1819, "The Monastery," "The Abbot" and
"Kenilworth" in 1820, "The Pirate" in 1821, "The Fortunes of Nigel" in
1822, "Peveril of the Peak," "Quentin Durward" and "St. Ronan's Well" in
1823, and "Redgauntlet" in 1824. His great literary reputation was
acknowledged by a baronetcy conferred in 1820, and by the most
flattering condescensions on the part of King George IV on his visit to
Edinburgh in 1822.
_The End of All_
Scott's Diary from November, 1825, shows dear forebodings of the
collapse of the houses of Constable and Ballantyne. In a time of
universal confidence and prosperity, the banks had supported them to an
extent quite unwarranted by their assets or their trade, and as soon as
the banks began to doubt and to enquire, their fall was a foregone
conclusion. In December, Scott borrowed £10,000 on the lands of
Abbotsford, and advanced that sum to the struggling houses; on January
16, 1826, their ruin, and Scott's with them, were complete. Scott
immediately placed his whole affairs in the hands of three trustees, and
by the 26th all his creditors had agreed to a private trust to which he
mortgaged all his future literary labours.
On March 15, he left for the last time his house in Castle Street; on
April 3; "Woodstock" was sold for the creditors' behoof, realising
£8228; on May 15, Lady Scott died, after a short illness, at Abbotsford.
"I think," writes Scott in his Diary, "my heart will break. Lonely,
aged, deprived of all my family--all but poor Anne; an impoverished,
embarrassed man, deprived of the sharer of my thoughts and counsels, who
could always talk down my sense of the calamitous apprehensions which
break the heart that must bear them alone. Even her foibles were of
service to me, by giving me things to think of beyond my weary
self-reflections."
An expedition to Paris, in October, to gather materials for his "Life of
Napoleon." was a seasonable relief. On his return through London, the
King undertook that his son, Charles Scott, then at Oxford, should be
launched in the diplomatic service. The elder son, heir to the
baronetcy, was now with his regiment in Ireland.
The "Life of Buonaparte" was published in June, 1827, and secured high
praise from many, among whom was Goethe. It realised £18,000 for the
creditors, and had health been spared him, Scott must soon have freed
himself from all encumbrances. Before the close of 1829 he had published
also the "Chronicles of the Canongate," "Tales of a Grandfather," "The
Fair Maid of Perth" and "Anne of Geirstein," but he had been visited
also by several threatenings of apoplexy, and on February 15, 1830, was
prostrated by a serious attack. Recovering from this illness, Scott
resigned his office as Clerk of Session, and during the rest of the year
produced a great quantity of manuscript, including the "Letters on
Demonology and Witchcraft," and the series of "Tales of a Grandfather"
dealing with French history. April, 1831, brought with it a distinct
stroke of paralysis, yet both "Castle Dangerous" and "Count Robert of
Paris" were finished in the course of the year.
Sailing in October, in the "Barham," Sir Walter Scott visited Malta and
Naples, and came to Rome in April, 1832. In May he set out for home by
Venice, Munich and the Rhine, but his companions could hardly prevail on
him to look at the interesting objects by the way, and another serious
attack fell upon him at Nimeguen. He reached London on June 13, and on
July 7 was carried on board the steamer for Leith, and was at Abbotsford
by the 11th. Here the remains of his strength gradually declined, and
his mind was hopelessly obscured.
As I was dressing on the morning of September 17, a servant came to tell
me that his master had awoke in a state of composure and consciousness,
and wished to see me immediately. I found him entirely himself, though
in the last extreme of feebleness. "Lockhart," he said "I may have no
more than a minute to speak to you. My dear, be a good man--be
virtuous--be religious--be a good man. Nothing else will give you any
comfort when you come to lie here." He scarcely afterwards gave any sign
of consciousness, and breathed his last on September 21, in the presence
of all his children.
His funeral was unostentatious but the attendance was very great. He was
laid in the Abbey of Dryburgh, by the side of his wife, in the sepulchre
of his ancestors.
* * * * *