that which accompanied him in his progress as a poet. Having dwelt so long on the history of the works contained in the present volume, the remainder of his life must be less minutely followed. It was even now agitated with the cares which belong peculiarly to men of business. In addition to the burden which his own creative efforts imposed, he had to supply prudential thought to the two commercial houses in which he was interested, those of his printer and of his publisher. As for the landed estate he was rapidly gathering around the original nucleus of the hundred acres, to which he gave the name of Abbotsford, its cares were his delight; and all the operations of improving land, planting woods, and gardening landscapes, came as relief to his buoyant spirit. The pecuniary elements of all these rested on his hopes, which were as unbounded as his labour was indefatigable. From the court to the cottage Walter Scott was now known and appreciated. The highest heads in Britain and in Europe stooped courteously, in common with the poorest of the reading population, in homage to his genius. His fame could scarcely rise higher, or extend wider than it did.

In 1817 "Harold the Dauntless" was published. Of this he says, "I begin to get too old and stupid, I think, for poetry; and will certainly never again adventure on a grand scale." He never did.

The rank of baronet was conferred on Scott by the Prince Regent in 1820. His acceptance of the compliment was facilitated by a provision made for his children by their mother's brother, who had died a short time previously in India. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters. The eldest, Charlotte Sophia, was married in the same year to Mr. Lockhart, afterwards his biographer. Walter, Anna, and Charles, were the others.

The Waverley novels now teemed year after year from the press. Abbotsford was rising by degrees into a magnificence that threatened to be palatial. Land was still accumulating around the original farm, and an outlay for its improvement con amore was going on. The visitors-not always distinguished— who flocked to Abbotsford comprised a large portion of the peerage, every commoner who could claim any eminence, and multitudes whose only object was to approach Sir Walter's person. All this activity was partaken of by those with whom as printer and publisher Scott was connected. The run of good fortune which had attended these his henchmen had been now long continued and unbroken. The commercial crisis of 1825 arrived. The publishing house of Ballantyne had some years before discovered its inability to resist the speculative atmosphere in which our author lived, and had withdrawn from the field. Archibald Constable, surnamed the "Crafty," was at the head of the Biblio