Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-09-10
A TRIP TO The HOME OF SIR
WALTER sort.
Written for The EAs4E.

4
LIEPsIC, Germany, Aug. 3d.
In Edinburgh, the capital of
Scotland, there rises a magnifs
cent monument to Sir Walter
Scott. At a distance it seems
like a church tower resting on
four pillars. 1t is of stone work,
proportional in its shape and
light and airy in its appearance;
this is made possible by the DELI
cate lace-work cutting of the
stone.
AS we get nearer we see that
this monument is a protection for
the statute of Scott in sitting pos
ture; the statute is of fine white
marble and shows his features
clearly.
Those who have seen the monu-
ment in Washington have no
doubt noticed that it embodies
certain strong characteristics of
the Father of Our Country; per-
feet simplicity, plain honesty and
tall grandeur.
Thus SCOTS monuments char
acteristic of him; the four pillars
represent his steady, reliable ma
ture; he was not like most au-
thors, who with all their genius
have some weakness that holds
them down; he was a nan at all
times; the delicacy of stone
Workmanship stands for his pow
er with the pen in beautiful de-
scription and all literature; and
the whole structure is placed
above his head, just as Scott was
covered with the praise of men
while he lived.
To get to the main part of
Scotland around which memories
of its greatest author cluster, let
us take a train in Edinburgh and
go south 81 miles to Melrose.
Here we find the famous church,
Melrose Abbey, which Scott has
|commemorated in his clay of
the Las: Minstrel"
Turn to Canto Second and at
the beginning you find these
words:
"If thou woulds't view fair Melrose
Alright,
Go visit it by the pale moonlight;
For the gay beams of the lightsome
day
Gid, but to flour, the ruins gray"
The Abbey is now an old stone
ruin with most of the roof gone
and moss gathered on the tops of
the walls, but even yet the excel
lence of the stone workmanship
is very easy to see; the most
beautiful window of all is on the
east side; read a little further in
Canto Second and you find SCOTS
description of this; it begins:
"The moon on the east oriel shone,
Through the slender shafts of shapely
stone,
By foliaged tracery combined;
Thou woulds't have thought some
fairy hand
'Twixt poplars straight the ozier wand
In many a freakish knot, had twined;
Then framed a spell, when the work
was done,
And changed the willow wreaths to
stone."
The ordinary person who looks
at the ruins first and then reads
that passage has a peculiar SEN
sation; he has looked and seen
broken stone walls and stone,
window frames with the glass all
gone; then as he looks at it with
SCOTS eyes the scene changes,
the commonplace fees and the
halo of fancy is cast over it all.
Here we grasp the true greatness
of the author in his power to lead
US to view ordinary things from a
more beautiful standpoint.
Now let us go three miles south
west of Melrose to Abbottsford,
Scott residence, where he COM
posed most of his great works
and where his relics are kept.
The elegant three story house
faces the river, Tweed, and is
protected in the rear by a heavy
clump of trees; to the right and
left lie grain fields and sheep
meadows.
Within the house, which is now ,
owned by Mrs. Maxwell Scott,
his great grand daughter, we find
his heavy leather arm chair and
desk in his study, where he did
his writing; the next room is his
library with 10000 volumes.
Scott possessed many relics,
the most interesting of which are
the crucifix held by Mary Queen
OF SCOTS at her death, the gun Of
Rob Roy and a brooch Of Rob
Roy's wife. The rooms are kept
as Scott furnished them, and they
show, that, although he was a
great literary genius, he was a
man OF common sense and good
judgment in every day affairs.
AS we turn our steps away
from Abbottsford, it is with min
gied feeling of admiration and
admiration for the man
who was a man in his profession
and in his home; pride in the ge-
MUS, which gave to the world
such a treasure in his literary
works. /
B. T. KIMBRouGH, JR.
Insurance News.
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