Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/160

138 person who did not understand the breadth of his sympathies and the catholicity of his taste would be surprised to see the number of novels in his library. The "best sellers" of his later years are missing but most of the fiction that has stood the test of time is on his shelves. His favorite was Thackeray. Very likely there was no novelist that he cared for so much as he did for Burke or Shakespeare, but he had read the best of them, as he had the best of everything. He knew the Biblical stories better than any others. Mr. Scott's knowledge of the Bible was exhibited at every turn. He could hardly write a column without half a dozen allusions to the sacred text. The Bible and Shakespeare always lay on his desk and he used both of them constantly. Much of the vigor of his English style was due to his memory of Scriptural expressions. Perhaps he owed more to that source than he did to the classics. He was always pleased to have Biblical subjects touched upon in The Oregonian and frequently discussed them himself. When he did so his knowledge made what he said final.

His memory of poetry was astonishing. He could quote page after page of Paradise Lost. Burns's songs were at his tongue's end. He knew the finest passages in Faust and loved Tennyson. The English and classical poets were equally familiar to him, but it was Shakespeare that he read most and quoted constantly. He was never at a loss for a line from the great dramatist to illustrate a point or clinch a witticism. His library contains all the celebrated editions of Shakespeare down to the Furness set with its voluminous notes and readings. Mr. Scott found a mild pleasure in the vagaries of the Baconians, as they style themselves, but their arguments never made any impression upon his mind. He always maintained that Shakespeare "wrote his own plays" and never conceded that any other hypothesis was tenable. He was as conscious as anybody could be that there was a great mystery surrounding the production of poetry so marvellous by a man with opportunities in life so slender but that consideration never weakened his faith in the Bard of Avon.