[263] See _Lear_, Act IV. Sc. 1.
[264] _Richard III_., Act IV. Sc. 2.
[265] See letter to George Forbes from Sir Walter, dated Dec. 18th,
1830.--_Life_, vol. X. pp. 19-20.
[266] Widow of Francis, Lord Seaforth, last Baron of Kintail, and mother
of the Hon. Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie.
[267] A sportive association of young athletes. Hogg, I think, was their
Poet Laureate.--J.G.L.
[268]
Mair spier na, no fear na, Auld age ne'er mind a feg; The last o't, the
warst o't. Is only for to beg.--BURNS'S _Ep. to Davie_.
[269] _Tempest_, Act IV. Sc. 1. (Stephano).
[270] This gentleman was a favourite with Sir Walter--a special point of
communion being the antiquities of the British drama. He was Provost of
Edinburgh in 1816-17, and again in 1822, and the king gracefully
surprised him by proposing his health at the civic banquet in the
Parliament House, as "Sir William Arbuthnot, Baronet."--J.G.L.
[271] John Hope, afterwards Lord Justice-Clerk.
[272] _Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India_, 2
vols. 4to, 1828.
[273] Old Ballad (known as "Marie Hamilton") quoted by Burns in a letter
to Mrs. Dunlop regarding Falconer, author of _The Shipwreck_.--Currie's
_Burns_, vol. ii. p. 290.
[274] See _Quart. Rev._, Nov. 1829, or _Misc. Prose Works_, xxi.
152-198.
[275] George Dempster of Skibo, one of the few men connecting Scott with
this generation, died in Edinburgh on the 6th of February 1889. This
accomplished Scottish gentleman had for many years made his home at
Ormiston, where, in the old mansion-house, rich in associations of Knox,
Wishart, and Buchanan, he was the gracious host to a large circle of
friends.
[276] Pope's _Moral Essays_, iii.
[277] _Ante_, vol. i. p. 312, _n._
[278] Mr. Lockhart says, writing in 1839:--"This head may still be seen
over a laboratory at No. 100 South Bridge, Edinburgh. [It has since been
removed.] N.B. There is a tradition that the venerable bust in question
was once dislodged by 'Colonel Grogg' and some of his companions, and
waggishly placed in a very inappropriate position."
[279] Fenimore Cooper told Scott that the Princess had had Sir Walter's
portrait engraved in 1827 from the picture taken in Paris. [Mme.
Mirbel's miniature?]
[280] See Sheridan's _Critic_.
[281] Lord Corehouse's brother.
[282] Room may be made for part of one of the letters received by this
morning's mail, in which, after much interesting family detail, his
son-in-law describes the duel which took place between the Duke of
Wellington and Lord Winchelsea:--"There is no reason to expect a duel
every day, and all has been very quiet since Saturday.--The letter was
utterly forgotten till this recalled it to remembrance. _Ergo_, there
was no sort of call on the Duke after beating Buonaparte to go to war
with a booby. But he could not stand the fling at the fair. His
correspondence seems admirable every way, and the whole affair was gone
through in excellent taste,--the Duke and Hardinge trotting out, the two
peaceful lords rumbling down in a coach and four. The Duke had no
half-pence and was followed and bothered for some time by the tollman on
Battersea Bridge, when Hardinge fished out some silver or a groom came
up. There were various market gardeners on the road, who, when Lord
Winchelsea's equipage stopped, stopped also and looked on. One of them
advised a turn up with nature's weapons. The moment all was done the
Duke clapped spars to his horse and was back in Downing Street within
the two hours, breakfasted, and off to Windsor, where he transacted
business for an hour or so, and then said, 'By-the-by, I was forgetting
I have had a field-day with Lord W. this morning.' They say the King
rowed Arthur much for exposing himself at such a crisis."
[283] _Art of Preserving Health_, book ii.
[284] George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, had just been appointed
Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies; which office he held till 1832.
He died in 1838.
[285] _Merchant of Venice_, Act I. Sc. 1.