Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 51.djvu/109

 They unanimously agreed to Gibson Craig's motion that he should be presented with his library and other furniture in recognition of his ‘unparalleled exertions.’ Cadell and Ballantyne found him on the same evening soothed by this recognition of his sacrifices. Next day they discussed the novel. Scott had meanwhile written a third ‘Malagrowther’ letter, denouncing parliamentary reform. Both his friends protested against the publication of this ill-timed performance, when his success depended upon popularity. Scott was greatly moved, and, in Cadell's opinion, never recovered the blow. Alarmed by his agitation, his friends begged him to go on with ‘Count Robert.’ To have condemned it would have been a ‘death-warrant.’ He burnt the pamphlet but toiled on with the story, dictating to Laidlaw, who happily thought it his best work (7 March 1831). He wrote as many pages in 1830, says Lockhart, as in 1829, in spite of his decay. The ‘Letters on Demonology,’ in execution of an old scheme, was the chief result.

In January 1831 Scott made his will, being enabled by his creditors' liberality to make some provision for the younger children. He had an attack more serious than any which had yet occurred in April 1831. He was afterwards distressed by an unfavourable opinion of ‘Count Robert’ from his publishers. On 18 May he persisted, in spite of remonstrance, in attending an election at Jedburgh, to protest for the last time against parliamentary reform. A mob of weavers from Hawick filled the town and grossly insulted him. He was taken away at last amid a shower of stones and cries of ‘Burke Sir Walter!’ At Selkirk, a few days later, he seized a rioter with his own hands.

Scott after this took up his last novel, ‘Castle Dangerous,’ in July, confiding in no one but Lockhart, with whom he was able to make a short tour in order to verify the descriptions of scenery. Lockhart's account of this last conscious return to the old haunts is especially touching. He afterwards finished both this and ‘Count Robert,’ which appeared together in November. His friends had now decided that a tour to a milder climate would offer the only chance of prolonging his life. Captain Basil Hall [q. v.] suggested to Sir James Graham, then first lord of the admiralty, that a frigate might be placed at his disposal. The government at once adopted the proposal, to Scott's great pleasure; and his eldest son obtained leave to sail with his father. Wordsworth happened to reach Abbotsford on the day before Scott's departure, and wrote a fine sonnet on the occasion. Scott travelled to London by Rokeby, still writing notes for the opus magnum. He saw a few friends, but was distressed by the Reform Bill demonstrations. He sailed from Portsmouth on 29 Oct. in the Barham frigate, every possible attention being paid to him. He insisted on landing upon the curious island just formed by a submarine volcano, and wrote a description of it to Skene. He reached Malta on 22 Nov., sailed for Naples in the Barham on 14 Dec., and there a month later heard of his grandson's death. He made a last attempt at two novels, founded on stories told to him at Naples, but became anxious to return to his home. On 16 April 1832 he left for Rome, where he insisted upon visiting St. Peter's to see the tomb of the last of the Stuarts. Italian scenery suggested to him snatches of old Scottish ballads. He was still able to see a little society, and could at times talk like himself. On 11 May he left Rome, passed through the Tyrol, and down the Rhine. On 9 June at Nimeguen he was prostrated by an attack of apoplexy and paralysis. He was brought to London on 13 June in a half-conscious state; the longing for home, whenever he could express himself, induced his physicians to permit his removal. He left London on 7 July, and proceeded by steamboat to Newhaven, near Edinburgh. Thence he was taken by carriage to Abbotsford, and roused to great excitement by the sight of the familiar scenes. He recognised Laidlaw, and for a short time was better, and able to listen to passages from the Bible and his favourite Crabbe. Once he made a pathetic effort to resume his pen; but his mind seemed to be with Tom Purdie and his old amusements. He repeated the ‘Burke Sir Walter’ and often the ‘Stabat Mater.’ A bill was passed, on Jeffrey's proposal, to provide for his duties as sheriff, as he was incapable of resigning. On 17 Sept. he spoke his last words to Lockhart: ‘My dear, be a good man,’ and refused to let his daughter be disturbed. His eldest son had come to him, and on 21 Sept. 1832 he died quietly in presence of all his children. ‘It was so quiet a day,’ says Lockhart, ‘that the sound he best loved, the gentle ripple of the Tweed over its pebbles, was distinctly audible as we knelt round the bed and his eldest son kissed and closed his eyes.’

Scott was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Walter, who was born on 28 Oct. 1801, and died on 8 Feb. 1847, when the title became extinct. His other children were: (1) Charlotte Sophia, born 24 Oct. 1799 (afterwards Mrs. Lockhart), who died 17 May 1837; her daughter, Charlotte, married James