would allow, and the strain of his labor told on him
severely.

At length he consented to a trip to southern Europe, but the change did
not bring back his health. Not long after his return to Abbotsford, in
1832, he called his son-in-law to his bedside early one morning, and
speaking in calm tones, said: "Lockhart, I may have but a minute to
speak to you. My dear, be a good man--be virtuous--be religious--be a
good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort when you come to lie
here." After a few words more he asked God's blessing on all in the
household and then fell into a quiet sleep from which he did not awake
on earth.

Had Scott lived but a few years longer he would undoubtedly have paid
off all his voluntarily assumed obligations. As it was, all his debts
were liquidated in 1847 by the sale of copyrights.

Many years have passed since the death of Sir Walter Scott, and to the
young readers of to-day the time in which he lived may seem far away and
indistinct. But every boy and girl can share with him the pleasure that
he felt, all his life, in stories of battle on sea and land, in love
tales of knights and ladies, in mysterious superstitions and in
everything else that spurs one on at the liveliest speed through the
pages of a book. These interests and delights of his boyhood he never
outgrew. They kept him always young at heart and gave to his works a
freshness and brightness that few writers have been able to retain
throughout their lives.

When he became _laird_ of Abbotsford, the same sunny nature and kindly
feeling for others that had drawn about him many comrades in his
schoolboy days, attracted to him crowds of visitors who, though they
intruded on his time, were received with generous courtesy. His tall,
strongly built figure was often the center of admiring groups of guests
who explored with him the wonders and beauties of Abbotsford, listening
meanwhile to his humorous stories. At such times, with his clear,
wide-open blue eyes, and his pleasant smile lighting his somewhat heavy
features, he would have been called a handsome man. Of all who came to
the home at Abbotsford, none were more gladly received than the children
of the tenants who lived in the little homes on the estate. Each year,
on the last morning in December, it was customary for them to pay a
visit of respect to the _laird_, and though they may not have known it,
he found more pleasure in this simple ceremony than in all the others of