Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Walter Scott to Lady Louisa Stuart, [January 1820]
“I am favoured with your letter from Ditton, and am
glad you found any thing to entertain you in Ivanhoe. Novelty is what this giddy-paced time
demands imperiously, and I certainly studied as much as I could to get out of
the old beaten track, leaving those who like to keep the road, which I have
rutted pretty well. I have had a terrible time of it this year, with the loss
of dear friends and near relations; it is almost fearful to count up my losses,
as they make me bankrupt in society. My brother-in-law; our never-to-be-enough regretted Duke; Lord Chief
Baron,* my early, kind, and constant friend, who took me up when
I was a young fellow of little mark or likelihood; the wife of my intimate friend William Erskine; the only son of my friend David Hume, a youth of great promise, and just
entering into life, who had grown up under my eye from
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| DEATH OF HIS MOTHER DECEMBER, 1819. | 337 |
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childhood; my
excellent mother; and, within a few
days, her surviving brother and
sister. My mother was the only one
of these whose death was the natural consequence of very advanced life. And our
sorrows are not at an end. A sister of my mother’s, Mrs Russell of Ashestiel, long deceased, had
left (besides several sons, of whom only
one now survives and is in India) three daughters, who lived
with her youngest sister, Miss
Rutherford, and were in the closest habits of intimacy with us.
The eldest of these girls, and a most excellent creature she is, was in summer
so much shocked by the sudden news of the death of one of the brothers I have
mentioned, that she was deprived of the use of her limbs by an affection either
nervous or paralytic. She was slowly recovering from this afflicting and
helpless situation when the sudden fate of her aunts and uncle, particularly of
her who had acted as a mother to the family, brought on a new shock; and though
perfectly possessed of her mind, she has never since been able to utter a word.
Her youngest sister, a girl of one or two and twenty, was so much shocked by
this scene of accumulated distress, that she was taken very ill, and having
suppressed and concealed her disorder, relief came too late, and she has been
taken from us also. She died in the arms of the elder sister, helpless as I
have described her; and to separate the half dead from the actual corpse was
the most melancholy thing possible. You can hardly conceive, dear Lady Louisa, the melancholy feeling of seeing
the place of last repose belonging to the devoted family open four times within
so short a space, and to meet the same group of sorrowing friends and relations
on the same sorrowful occasion. Looking back on those whom I have lost, all
well known to me excepting my brother-in-law, whom I could only judge of by the
general report in his favour, I can scarce con-![]()
| 338 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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ceive a
group possessing more real worth and amiable qualities, not to mention talents
and accomplishments. I have never felt so truly what Johnson says so well— ‘Condemn’d to Hope’s delusive
mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts, or slow decline, Our social comforts drop away.’* |
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“I am not sure whether it was your ladyship, or the
poor Duchess of Buccleuch, who met my
mother once, and flattered me by
being so much pleased with the good old lady. She had a mind peculiarly well
stored with much acquired information and natural talent, and as she was very
old, and had an excellent memory, she could draw without the least exaggeration
or affectation the most striking pictures of the past age. If I have been able
to do any thing in the way of painting the past times, it is very much from the
studies with which she presented me. She connected a long period of time with
the present generation, for she remembered, and had often spoken with, a person
who perfectly recollected the battle of Dunbar, and Oliver Cromwell’s subsequent entry into Edinburgh. She
preserved her faculties to the very day before her final illness; for our
friends Mr and Mrs
Scott of Harden visited her on the Sunday; and, coming to our
house after, were expressing their surprise at the alertness of her mind, and
the pleasure which she had in talking over both ancient and modern events. She
had told them with great accuracy, the real story of the Bride of Lammermuir, and pointed out wherein it
differed from the novel. She had all the names of the parties, and detailed
(for she was a great genealogist) their connexion with existing families. On
the subse-
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quent Monday she was struck with a
paralytic affection, suffered little, and that with the utmost patience; and
what was God’s reward, and a great one to her innocent and benevolent
life, she never knew that her brother and sister, the last thirty years younger
than herself, had trodden the dark path before her. She was a strict economist,
which she said enabled her to be liberal; out of her little income of about
L.300 a-year she bestowed at least a third in well chosen charities, and with
the rest lived like a gentlewoman, and even with hospitality more general than
seemed to suit her age; yet I could never prevail on her to accept of any
assistance. You cannot conceive how affecting it was to me to see the little
preparations of presents which she had assorted for the New Year—for she was a
great observer of the old fashions of her period—and to think that the kind
heart was cold which delighted in all these acts of kindly affection. I should
apologize, I believe, for troubling your ladyship with these melancholy
details, but you would not thank me for a letter written with constraint, and
my mind is at present very full of this sad subject, though I scarce know any
one to whom I would venture to say so much. I hear no good news of
Lady Anne, though Lord
Montagu writes cautiously. The weather is now turning milder,
and may, I hope, be favourable to her complaint. After my own family, my
thought most frequently turns to these orphans, whose parents I loved and
respected so much.—I am always, dear Lady
Lousia, your very respectful and obliged
Charles Carpenter (1772-1818)
The brother of Lady Scott; after service in the East India Company (1789) he was
Commercial Resident at Salem in India.
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
English general and statesman; fought with the parliamentary forces at the battles of
Edgehill (1642) and Marston Moor (1644); led expedition to Ireland (1649) and was named
Lord Protector (1653).
Robert Dundas of Arniston (1758-1819)
The son of Robert Dundas (1713–1787), lord president of the court of session, and nephew
of Henry Dundas, viscount Melville; he was MP for Edinburghshire (1790-1801) and chief
baron of the exchequer in Scotland (1801).
Euphemia Erskine [née Robison] (d. 1819)
The daughter of the natural philosopher John Robison (1739-1805); in 1800 she married the
barrister William Erskine, friend of Walter Scott, who wrote an epitaph for her.
William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768-1822)
The son of an episcopal clergyman of the same name, he was a Scottish advocate and a
close friend and literary advisor to Sir Walter Scott.
David Hume (1757-1838)
The nephew of the philosopher; he was educated at University of Edinburgh and Glasgow
University and was a member of the Speculative Society, professor of Scots law in the
University of Edinburgh, and baron of the exchequer. He contributed to
The Mirror and
The Lounger.
Joseph Hume (d. 1819)
Scottish advocate, the son of David Hume of Ninewells; he was a friend of Walter Scott
and John Gibson Lockhart.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
English man of letters, among many other works he edited
A Dictionary
of the English Language (1755) and Shakespeare (1765), and wrote
Lives of the Poets (1779-81).
Elizabeth Janet Russell (1791-1820)
The daughter of William Russell of Ashiestiel, and first cousin of Walter Scott; she died
unmarried.
Sir James Russell of Ashiestiel (1781-1859)
The son of William Russell; he was born in Madras and was Major General in the Army; he
was Sir Walter Scott's cousin.
Christian Rutherford (1759-1819)
The daughter of Professor John Rutherford by his second wife; she was the half-sister of
Anne, mother of Sir Walter Scott (who referred to her as “Miss Critty”).
Daniel Rutherford (1749-1819)
Scottish physician and botanist, the son of Professor John Rutherford; after study at
Edinburgh University he was physician-in-ordinary to the Royal Infirmary (1791). He was Sir
Walter Scott's uncle.
Anne Scott [née Rutherford] (1739 c.-1819)
Walter Scott's mother, the daughter of Professor John Rutherford who married Walter Scott
senior in 1755.
Harriet Scott, Lady Polwarth [née Bruhl] (1772-1853)
Daughter of Count Hans Moritz von Bruhl and Alicia Maria Carpenter; in 1795 she married
Hugh Scott of Harden, afterwards sixth baron Polwarth. She was maid-of-honour to Caroline,
Princess of Wales.
Lady Louisa Stuart (1757-1851)
The youngest child of John Stuart, third earl of Bute; she corresponded with Sir Walter
Scott. Several volumes of her writings and memoirs were published after her death.
