Towards the close of 1830, Sir Walter retired from his office,
retaining a portion of his salary, but declining a pension which had
been offered to him by the present administration. He was now in his
60th year; his health broke apace; it was evident that the task of
writing to pay off debts, which were not of his own contracting, was
alike too severe for his mental and physical powers; and in the
succeeding winter they became gradually paralyzed. He somewhat rallied
in the spring, and, unfortunately for his health, embroiled himself in
the angry politics of the day, at a county meeting at Jedburgh, upon
the Reform question. He was then very feeble, but spoke with such
vehemence as to draw upon him the hisses of some of his auditors: this
ebullition of feeling is said to have much affected him; and he is
stated (we know not how truly) to have been observed on his way home
in tears.
In the autumn of last year Sir Walter, at the recommendation of his
physicians, resolved to winter in the more congenial climate of Italy;
though it required the most earnest entreaties of his friends to
induce him to consent to the change, so strong was his love of country
and apprehension of dying in a foreign land. He accordingly set sail
in H.M.S. the Barham for Malta, on the 27th of October; previous to
which he appended to the Fourth and Last Series of _Tales of my
Landlord_ the following affecting, and, as we lately observed, almost
prophetic, passage:
"The gentle reader is acquainted that these are, in all probability,
the last tales which it will be the lot of the author to submit to the
public. He is now on the eve of visiting foreign parts; a ship of war
is commissioned by its royal master, to carry the Author of Waverley
to climates in which he may readily obtain such a restoration of
health as may serve him to spin his thread to an end in his own
country. Had he continued to prosecute his usual literary labours, it
seems indeed probable that, at the term of years he has already
attained, the bowl, to use the pathetic language of Scripture, would
have been broken at the fountain; and little can one, who has enjoyed
on the whole, an uncommon share of the most inestimable of worldly
blessings, be entitled to complain, that life, advancing to its
period, should be attended with its usual proportion of shadows and
storms. They have affected him, at least, in no more painful manner,
than is inseparable from the discharge of this part of the debt of
humanity. Of those whose relations to him in the ranks of life, might
have insured their sympathy under indisposition, many are now no more;
and those who may yet follow in his wake, are entitled to expect, in
bearing inevitable evils, an example of firmness and patience, more
especially on the part of one who has enjoyed no small good fortune
during the course of his pilgrimage.
"The public have claims on his gratitude, for which the Author of
Waverley has no adequate means of expression; but he may be permitted
to hope that the powers of his mind, such as they are, may not have a
different date from his body; and that he may again meet his
patronizing friends, if not exactly in his old fashion of literature,
at least in some branch which may not call forth the remark, that--
"Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage."
Sir Walter resided at Malta for a short time; thence he proceeded to
Naples, where he was received with almost pageant honours. In the
spring he visited Rome; but "the world's chief ornament" had few
charms for one bereft of all hope of healthful recovery. His strength
was waning fast, and he set out to return with more than prudent speed
to his native country. He travelled seventeen hours for six successive
days, and, in descending the Rhine, had a second attack of paralysis
which would have carried him off but for the timely presence of mind
of his servant, who immediately bled him. The illustrious Goëthe had
looked forward with great pleasure to the meeting with Sir Walter when
he returned through Germany, but the destroyer had fell also on him.
On his arrival in London, Sir Walter was conveyed to the St. James's
Hotel, Jermyn-street, and attended by Sir Henry Halford and Dr.
Holland, with Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart. He lay some weeks in a hopeless
condition, and when the flame of life was just flickering out, he
entreated to be conveyed to his own home. The journey was a hazardous
one, but, as the dying wish of the poet, was tried and effected: on
July 9th, he was conveyed to Edinburgh, whence he was removed to his
fondly-cherished home on the 11th.