d was proposed, I thought it would be proper to return the
picture, for which purpose I had a most successful copy made of it, an
absolute facsimile, for when the two were placed beside each, other it
was almost impossible to determine which was the original and which the
copy."--_Reminiscences_. Thus forestalling the wish expressed in the
affecting letter now given, which belongs to this day. See _ante_, vol.
i. p. 136 _n_.

"MY DEAR SKENE,--I have had no very pleasant news to send you, as I know
it will give Mrs. Skene and you pain to know that I am suffering under a
hundred little ailments which have greatly encroached upon the custom of
the season which I used to take. On this I could say much, but it is
better to leave alone what must be said with painful feeling, and you
would be vexed with reading.

"One thing I will put to rights with all others respecting my little
personal affairs. I am putting [in order] this house with what it
contains, and as Walter will probably be anxious to have a memorial of
my better days, I intend to beg you and my dear Mrs. Skene ... to have
it [the picture] copied by such an artist as you should approve of, to
supply the blank which must then be made on your hospitable walls with
the shadow of a shade. If the opportunity should occur of copying the
picture to your mind, I will be happy to have the copy as soon as
possible. You must not think that I am nervous or foolishly apprehensive
that I take these precautions. They are necessary and right, and if one
puts off too long, we sometimes are unfit for the task when we desire to
take it up....

"When the weather becomes milder, I hope Mrs. Skene and you, and some of
the children, will come out to brighten the chain of friendship with
your truly faithful,

WALTER SCOTT.

"ABBOTSFORD, 16 _January_ 1831."

[418] Sir W. alludes to Mrs. Piozzi's Tale of _The Three
Warnings_.--J.G.L.

[419] _Macbeth_, Act I. Sc. 3.

[420] Eccles. xii. 3.

[421] Crabbe's _Borough_, Letter xiii.--J.G.L.

[422] See _Pirate_.

[423] The deer-hound Bran which was presented by Macpherson of Cluny;
Nimrod was Glengarry's gift.--See letter to Miss Edgeworth, printed in
_Life_, vol. ix. p. 345.

[424] I _Henry IV_., Act II. Sc. 3.

[425] No. 1 Castle Street.

[426] "His host perceived that he was unfit for any company but the
quietest, and had sometimes one old friend, Mr. Thomson, Mr. Clerk, or
Mr. Skene to dinner, but no more. He seemed glad