While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest. Long o'er the foaming brine Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun; Heaven keep her ever free, Wide as o'er land and sea 55 CHAPTER XVI SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1771-1832 "Who is there that, looking back over a great portion of his life, does not find the genius of Scott administering to his pleasures, beguiling his cares, and soothing his lonely sorrows? - WASHINGTON IRVING. " "Here is a right list for Sir Walter Scott: 'Waverley,' 'Guy Mannering,' 'The Antiquary,' 'Rob Roy,' 'Old Mortality,' 'The Monastery,' 'The Abbot,' 'Heart of Midlothian.' Get any of them you can, when you have a chance, and study every sentence in them. They are models of every virtue in their order of literature and exhaustive codes of Christian wisdom and ethics."— JOHN RUSKIN. SIR WALTER SCOTT, the great Scotch poet and novelist, was born in Edinburgh in 1771, and was educated at the high school and university of his native city. He studied for the law, became an advocate, was appointed sheriff of Selkirkshire, and settled with his wife at the farmhouse in Ashestiel. But his heart was not in his profession. From his very childhood he had been passionately fond of stories, especially those which referred to "the brave days of old." One day, when about thirteen, he got possession of "Percy's Reliques," and became so absorbed in the stirring old ballads that he forgot to eat his dinner. His frequent visits to the banks of the Tweed, with their old castles and crumbling abbeys so full of interesting memories, increased still more his ardent affection for the times gone by. The results showed themselves in the romantic poems which he began to publish in 1805. 66 Scott's three great poems are "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," "Marmion," and "The Lady of the Lake." The first of these illustrates "the customs and manners which anciently prevailed on the borders of England and Scotland." It is full of incidents, tournaments, raids, midnight expeditions, etc. Marmion" is a romantic tale of Flodden field. "The Lady of the Lake" tells us of a king who, in disguise, traversing the Highlands in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine, missed his way, and met with several adventures which the poet describes with telling effect. The story, however, was intended by Scott to be a mere thread of interest in a poem which was written to illustrate life and scenery in the Scottish Highlands. These poems are written after the fashion of the old metrical romances, and are remarkable for freshness of thought, vividness of description, and animation of style. They were very popular, and the author would have been considered a famous man if he never had written anything but poetry. SIR WALTER SCOTT In 1814 Scott issued "Waverley," the first novel of the series which bears its name. It was published anonymously. Scott, having gained a great name as a poet, was not sure that he would be equally successful as a novelist, 'and so withheld his name till he saw how "Waverley" was received by the public. The book was an extraordinary success; and, as novel after novel made its appearance, the people were delighted, and the critics were enthusiastic in their praise. It is unnecessary to enter into any description of works. so widely known. Of the illustrious novelist it has been well remarked that he "revived the glories of past ages; illustrated the landscape and the history of his native country; painted the triumphs of patriotism and virtue, and the meanness and misery of vice; awakened our best and kindliest feelings in favor of suffering and erring humanity, — of the low-born and the persecuted, the peasant, the beggar, and the Jew. He has furnished an intellectual banquet as rich as it is various and picturesque, from his curious learning, extensive observation, forgotten manners, and decaying superstitions, - the whole embellished with the lights of a vivid imagination, and a correct and gracefully regulated taste." In the number and variety of his conceptions and characters, he ranks as one of the greatest masters of fiction. With the money which his works produced, and other funds which he expected to earn, Scott erected the grand Gothic mansion of Abbotsford, furnished it after the fashion of feudal days, and lived in it like a knight of the olden time. From the government of the day he received a baronetcy. His life at Abbotsford was of the most pleasant kind. Here he delighted to meet and entertain his friends, "singing ballads and sounding pibrochs amidst the clinking of glasses; holding gay hunting parties, where yeomen and gentlemen rode side by side; and encouraging lively dances, where the lord was not ashamed to give his hand to the miller's daughter." In order to keep up this grand style, he had secretly gone into part nership with his publishers. Unexpectedly the firm failed, and Scott found himself burdened at the age of fifty-five with a debt of a hundred and seventeen thousand pounds. But he was honest and courageous; and so, setting to work on the very day of the failure, he managed in four years to clear away seventy thousand pounds; and he would have wrought on, but his health broke down under such excessive labor, and he was sent to Italy. After some time spent in that country, he became worse, and returned home to Abbotsford, where he died in 1832. Scott was tall and striking in figure, stout and well made. He was crippled in one foot, which made him walk very lame. His forehead was high, his nose short, and his upper lip long. His complexion was fresh and clear; his eyes very blue, shrewd, and penetrating. His smile was uncommonly sweet and winning. JEANIE DEANS PLEADING FOR HER SISTER'S LIFE [From "The Heart of Midlothian," chap. xxxvi.] THE Queen seemed to acquiesce, and the duke made a signal for Jeanie to advance from the spot where she had hitherto remained watching countenances which were too long accustomed to suppress all apparent signs of emotion, to convey to her any interesting intelligence. Her Majesty could not help smiling at the awe-struck manner in which the quiet, demure figure of the little Scotchwoman advanced toward her, and yet more at the first sound of her broad Northern accent. But Jeanie had a voice low and sweetly toned, an admirable thing in woman, and |