escaped to end his life by plunging, in sight of his mistress, into the Campsie Linn, was meant by Scott for his own brother Daniel. This ne'er-do-weel of the family, having ruined his nerves by dissipation, had, while in the West Indies, shown the white feather on a memorable occasion; and when he came home to live with his mother his brother Walter refused to see him, and even refrained on his death from attending his funeral or wearing mourning. In after years he confessed to his son-in-law that he had learned more tolerance and compassion; but it came hard to him to conceive even a daughter of his lacking personal courage. It was to cultivate this primary virtue in his children that Scott laid such stress upon horsemanship. The source from which was borrowed the striking episode of the devotion of the recreant chief's fosterfather and his sons is to be gathered from the Journal. It was an incident of the battle of Sheriffmuir, where the chief of the Macleans was similarly protected, the foster-father exclaiming—as he put forward seven sons in succession to give their lives-"Another for Hector!" A feature of this romance, as of Woodstock, is the intimate relation between a father and his motherless daughter. Another touch, which seems like something more than chance coincidence, is the suggestion which the description of the cavalcade of Perth citizens on their way to their Provost at Kinfauns Castle (between Perth and Dundee), conveys of Stothard's "Canterbury Pilgrims," one of the few pictures which hung in Sir Walter's study. The Glee Maiden, who sings the beautiful lyric, "Ah, poor Louise!" which was set to music by Mrs. Arkwright, is perhaps a more successful creation than the Glover's daughter who gives her name to the story; but Catherine, though she is something over-squeamish for a maiden of the fourteenth century, has her moments. Soon after the Fair Maid was finished, Sir Walter spent some weeks in London, where both his sons were now living, as well as the Lockharts. He was again accompanied by his daughter Anne, whom he delighted in showing the sights on the way. Carlisle naturally called up sad reflections; but Scott turns from personal matters to regret the replacement of the old castle walls by "two lumpy things like mad-houses," and to quote, with sportive comments, Hume's lines on the place :— "Here chicks in eggs for breakfast sprawl, The Lady Anne is introduced to "the ancient Petreia, called old Penrith," and the grave of Sir Ewain Cæsarias, and to Tamworth Castle, looking, to Sir Walter's eye, all the more like hoar antiquity from its neglected state. On the other hand, he notices that the ruins of Kenilworth were now preserved and protected, and remarks: "So much for the novels." Warwick Castle, "still the noblest sight in England," is next visited, with the graves of the Beauchamps and Nevilles, "names which make the heart thrill"; and then "the tomb of the mighty wizard" at Stratford-on-Avon. Father and daughter then go in quest of Charlecote Hall, and are hospitably welcomed by its owner, the descendant of the knight with whose deer Shakespeare made free. The visit to the old hall gave Scott great pleasure, and "really brought Justice Shallow freshly before my eyes.' Edgehill Field, where the first blood of the great Rebellion was spilt, was another place of historical interest which detained the travellers. When told the value of the land round Aylesbury ("being the richest in England"), Scott notes gleefully that some of his own meadows yielded "at last set" an equally high return. During his stay in London Sir Walter began the second series of his Tales of a Grandfather, and learnt that by the bankruptcy of his friend Terry he had lost several hundred pounds which he had lent him. He reflects sorrowfully, "It is written that nothing shall flourish under my shadow"; and calls to mind how besides the Ballantynes and Terry, two of his amanuenses had come to grief. His eldest son's quarters being at Hampton Court he revisited the palace, and was specially attracted by the older part built by Wolsey. He had more dining out than ever, meeting politicians like Peel and Russell, wits like Jekyll, Alvanley, and Theodore Hook, besides gatherings of legal and ecclesiastical dignitaries. For conversation he thought the lawyers beat the bishops, and the bishops beat the wits. He saw Sydney Smith at a breakfast, "full of fun and spirit." At a dinner he met Coleridge, who treated the guests to a learned harangue on the Samothracian Mysteries, and then provoked a warm discussion by maintaining the then novel view that the Iliad was a collection of poems by different authors. The orthodox classic Morritt's impatience at this "system must, remarks his amused friend, have cost him an extra sixpence-worth of snuff. A Royal Society breakfast at Somerset House Sir Walter found "poor work," since there was nothing but tea, coffee, and bread and butter on the table! It was after another matutinal repast that he gave evidence of failing memory by asking if the words of one of his own songs, sung by Mrs. Arkwright, were not by Byron. As on previous visits to the metropolis, Scott gave sittings to artists. On this occasion (when he attended in his capacity of Professor of Antiquities the Academy Banquet and had his share of "sugarplums"), he had a head done by the unfortunate Haydon, as well as a full-length (for Sir William Knighton) by that animated mummy," Northcote, who introduced |