Friend of the wretch oppress'd with grief. Whose lenient hand, though
slow, supplies The balm that lends to care relief, That wipes her
tears--that checks her sighs!
'Tis thine the wounded soul to heal That hopeless bleeds for sorrow's
smart, From stern misfortune's shaft to steal The barb that rankles in
the heart.
What though with thee the roses fly, And jocund youth's gay reign is
o'er; Though dimm'd the lustre of the eye, And hope's vain dreams
enchant no more.
Yet in thy train come dove-eyed peace, Indifference with her heart of
snow; At her cold couch, lo! sorrows cease, No thorns beneath her roses
grow.
O haste to grant thy suppliant's prayer, To me thy torpid calm impart:
Rend from my brow youth's garland fair, But take the thorn that's in my
heart.
Ah! why do fabling poets tell That thy fleet wings outstrip the wind?
Why feign thy course of joy the knell, And call thy slowest pace unkind?
To me thy tedious feeble pace Comes laden with the weight of years; With
sighs I view morn's blushing face, And hail mild evening with my tears.
_--Life,_ vol. i. pp. 334-336.
[71] Sir William Forbes crowned his generous efforts for Scott's relief
by privately paying the whole of Abud's demand (nearly £2000) out of his
own pocket--ranking as an ordinary creditor for the amount; and taking
care at the same time that his old friend should be allowed to believe
that the affair had merged quietly in the general measures of the
trustees. In fact it was not until some time after Sir William's death
(in the following year) that Sir Walter learned what he had
done.--_Life_, vol. ix. p. 179.
[72] _St. Valentine's Day_ or _Fair Maid of Perth_.
[73] A Royal Commission, of which Sir Walter was a member, had been
appointed in 1826 to visit the Universities of Scotland. At the
suggestion of Lord Aberdeen, a hundred guinea prize had been offered for
the best essay on the national character of the Athenians. This prize,
which excited great interest among the Edinburgh students, was won by
John Brown Patterson, and ordered to be read before the Commissioners,
and the other public bodies, with the result described by Sir Walter. It
was read on the 17th November before a distinguished audience.
[74] Sir William Rae's house, in Liberton parish, near Edinburgh.
[75] From the old song _Andrew and his Cutty Gun_.
[76] Sir James Gibson-Craig, one of the Whig leaders, and a prominent
advocate of reform at the end of last century.
[77] Gillespie was tried at Aberdeen before Lord Alloway on September
26, and sentenced to be executed on Friday, 16th November 1827.
[78] Slightly altered from _Macbeth_, Act II. Sc. 2.
[79] Lady Elizabeth Montagu, daughter of George Duke of Montagu.
[80] Saladin's shroud, which was said to have been displayed as a
standard "to admonish the East of the instability of human
greatness."--GIBBON.
[81] The belief in the existence of the 'Water Cow' is not even yet
extinct in the Highlands. In Mr. J.H. Dixon's book on _Gairloch_, 8vo,
1886, it is said the monster lives or did live in Loch na Beiste! Some
years ago the proprietor, moved by the entreaties of the people, and on
the positive testimony of two elders of the Free Church, that the
creature was hiding in his loch, attempted its destruction by pumping
and running off the water; this plan having failed owing to the
smallness of the pumps, though it was persevered in for two years, he
next tried poisoning the water by emptying into the loch a quantity of
quick lime!!--Whatever harm was thus done to the trout none was
experienced by _the Beast_, which it is rumoured has been seen in the
neighbourhood as late as 1884 (p. 162). This transaction formed an
element in a case before the Crofters' Commission at Aultbea in May
1888.
[82] Daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon.
[83] Lord Dudley, then Secretary of State for the Foreign Department,
was an early friend of Scott's. He had been partly educated in
Edinburgh, under Dugald Stewart's care.