in 1853,
having suffered previously from impaired health. The progress of his
malady was accelerated by a succession of family trials and
bereavements, which preyed heavily on his mind. His eldest son, John
Hugh Lockhart (the Hugh Littlejohn of Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather,")
died in 1831; his amiable wife in 1837; and of his two remaining
children, a son and a daughter, the former, Walter Scott Lockhart Scott,
Lieutenant, 16th Lancers, who had succeeded to the estate of Abbotsford
on the death of his uncle, the second Sir Walter Scott, died in 1853. In
1847, his daughter and only surviving child was married to James Robert
Hope, Esquire, Q.C., son of General the Honourable Sir Alexander Hope,
and nephew of the late Earl of Hopetoun, of peninsular fame; and shortly
before her father's death, this lady, along with her husband, abjured
the Protestant faith.

In the autumn of 1853, in accordance with the advice of his medical
advisers, Lockhart proceeded to Italy; but on his return the following
summer, he appeared rather to have lost than gained strength. Arranging
his affairs in London, he took up his abode with his elder brother, Mr
Lockhart, M.P., at Milton-Lockhart, on the banks of the Clyde, and in
the parish adjoining that of his birth. Here he suffered an attack of
cholera, which much debilitated his already wasted strength. In October
he was visited by Dr Ferguson of London, who conveyed him to Abbotsford
to be tended by his daughter; there he breathed his last on the 25th
November 1854, in his 61st year. His remains were interred in Dryburgh
Abbey, beside those of his illustrious father-in-law, with whom his name
will continue to be associated. The estate of Abbotsford is now in the
possession of his daughter and her husband, who, in terms of the
Abbotsford entail, have assumed the name of Scott. Their infant
daughter, Mary Monica, along with her mother, are the only surviving
lineal representatives of the Author of "Waverley."

Possessed of a vigorous intellect, varied talents, and accurate
scholarship, Lockhart was impatient of contradiction, and was prone to
censure keenly those who had offended him. To strangers his manners were
somewhat uninviting, and in society he was liable to periods of
taciturnity. He loved the ironical and facetious; and did not scruple to
indulge in ridicule even at the expense of his intimate associates. With
many peculiarities of manner, and a temper somewhat fretful and
impul