The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-05-01


wrapped around him repeatedly skin
of a sheep while still warm from the
carcass, to encourage him to crawl, but
! it did not cure him; however, the stay
at Sandyknowe did him very much
good.
Unfortunately he was lame all his
life, but nevertheless with this intirmi-
| ty he was the bravest of football play
ers, the fastest runner, the greatest
fighter while at school, and always
commanded the mimic battles fought
between the children of the poorer and
those of the better citizens in the cross
causeway.
At college he became fairly proficient
in the languages, with the exception of
Greek, which was very detestable to
him, so much so that his fellow stu
dents called him the Greek blockhead.
Although Scott did have a college ed
ucation, it can truly be said that he
was a self-educated man. He read all
the romances and poetry of the south
| that he could find in ransacking Hne
dusty shelves of the book stores and
circulating libraries, and often in these
hunts meeting kindred spirits in the
shape of literary characters, and learn
ing from them in the discussion of the
favorite authors.
His classmates would often journey
with him into the country, of which he
was very fond, not only for the love of
| nature Gas he was one of natures
sons, who when child would laugh
and clap his hands in lightning storm
and cry beautiful, but in the meeting
of men, women and children in all
walks of life in his travels, he would
adapt himself to their conditions, so
that he could enjoy their company in
order to find out all he possibly could
about human nature.
In 1885, when he was fifteen years
old he was apprenticed to his father to
learn the mysteries of the law and 1t
was in this year that two of the bright
est geniuses of Caledonia met
1t was at a literary dinner party at
Professor Fergusson's that Scott met
Robert Burns, the boast and pride of
Scotland, one of the noblest, truest and
gandest men that our native country
ever produced.
Being a great man, he was not with
out his faults, and Scott at that meet
ing pitied his unhappy career but his
own was to be not much better in the
long rum He too had to meet disaster
as well as Burns, but in different
way, and it is indeed sad that two glo-
rious minds should have had such sad
endings.
At this time, when he was fifteen
years old, he wrote poem of sixteen
hundred lines entitled THE Conquest
of Granada" but as soon as he An
ished it he consigned it to the flames.
He began to make yearly visits to the
Highlands, which afterwards proved
were destined to exert great power on
the development of his genius, and also
demonstrating to him that there were
other places in Scotland besides the bor-
der, for it was in the Perthshire high
lands that the scenes and characters
of some of his very best novels are 10
Gated, namely, Waverly, Rob Roy Lse-
gends of Montrose, The Fair Maid of
Perth and the Lady of the Lake.
We shall see little later that his
Journeys extended to Kincardineshire,
the birthplace of his first love, and
wherever Scott went to glyorified the
! surroundings. Therefore we find that
Kincardlneshire men adore him. Perth
shire men are in raptures over his put
ting into language the beauty of the
Perthshire highlands. Edinburgh men
point with pride to their son, who will
be remembered as long as there is an
Arthur Seat, but the Border men just
seize and claim him, as by settling In
their midst, and raising and developing
the beautiful estate of Abbottsford he
proclaimed his heart was warmest
there
In the second year of his apprentice
ship he had hemorrhage, which con-
fined him to his bed with the hardships
of lying with a single blanket, although
it was very cold spring, and being
bled and blistered, his food consisting
only of vegetables.Not being allowed To
talk above his breath, his only re-
sources were chess and reading He
devoured everything that could be
brought to him in the shape of novels
romances, poems, travels and then to
histories, which in a great measure
prepared him for his literary career.
He illustrated the battles he read
about by the placing of seeds, shells
and pebbles representing great armies
in battle array, and which we find Is
referred to in the third canto Of Mar
mion in these words;
Again | fought each battle DER
Pebbles and shells In order laid,
The mimic ranks of war displayed,
And onward still the Scottish lion bore
And still the scattered Southron fec
before"
While In bed he had mirrors arranged
so that he could see the troops drilling
in the meadow
After recovering he went to study
civil law, and then meeting Irving
Ferguson and Jeffrey and others who
had literary tastes as well as legal as.
pirations.
On holidays they would go out into
the country, forgetting how far, as
they were engrossed with the genia
comradship, spending all their money
and having to resort to hips and haws
and a drink of water to keep the hun
ger away till they reached home. His
father told him that he was better fit.
ted for a pedlar than a lawyer, but the
desire to see the beauties of nature ant
the historical relation of battle seige OF
legend, OF which he had read, he would
gladly walk thirty miles to see it