which I cannot bear, and you must bring off the old man, by some means or other, no matter how extravagant or ridiculous in such a ballad as yours; but by all means bring off the fine old fellow, for the present termination of the ballad is one I cannot brook." I went home and certainly brought off the old man with flying colors, which is by far the best part of the ballad. I never adopted a suggestion of his, either in prose or verse, which did not improve the subject.

Speaking of The Spy, Hogg says:

That work being long ago extinct, and only occasionally mentioned by myself, as a parent will sometimes mention the name of a dear, unfortunate, lost child, who has been forgotten by all the world beside.

[Scott read the proofs of The Three Perils of Man.] "Well, Mr. Hogg, I have read over your proofs with a great deal of pleasure, and, I confess, with some little portion of dread. In the first place, the meeting of the two princesses at Castle Weiry is excellent. I have not seen any modern thing more truly dramatic. The characters are strongly marked, old Peter Chisholme's in particular. Ah! man, what you might have made of that with a little more refinement, care, and patience! But it is always the same with you, just hurrying on from one vagary to another, without consistency or proper arrangements." "Dear Mr. Scott, a man canna do the thing he canna do."

"Yes, but you can do it. Witness your poems where the arrangements are all perfect and complete; but in your prose works, with the exception of a few short tales, you seem to write merely by random, without once considering what you are going to write about."

"You are not often wrong, Mr. Scott, and you were never righter in your life than you are now, for when I write the first line of a tale or a novel, I know not what the second is to be, and it is the same way in every sentence throughout. When my tale is traditionary, the work is easy, as I then see my way before me, though the tradition be ever so short, but in all my prose works of imagination, knowing little of the world, I sail on without star or compass."

This brief memoir, which is so short that it can be read in an hour, has been quoted so fully, partly because of the publicity given to it by Lockhart, and partly because it is out of print and has never been reprinted. For the latter reason the following extracts from the Lay Sermons are here set down. This volume contains Hogg's only extensive attempt at the essay form of writing, and the style of it is interesting from comparison with his stories. The book is divided into eleven chapters as follows: Good Principles, Young Women, Good Breeding, Soldiers, To Young Men, Reason and Instinct, To Parents, Virtue the Only Source of Happiness, Marriage, Reviewers, and Deistical Reformers.

My design in all this is to reconcile my younger brethren of the human race to a state of old age to which they are all fast approach

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ing, and which appears terrible to them only because they have no experience of it.

Vice cannot be exhibited in detestable colours when the intention of the author is to make resistance meritorious. Think, then, what mischief may be wrought in a youthful female mind by such pernicious representations of character.

My first great injunction, then, is to Keep the Sabbath. Do not be seen flying about with gentlemen in gigs and carriages, nor walking and giggling in the fields; for each behaviour is lightsome, and highly disreputable. Attend Divine service once every Sunday at least, even though your minister should be a bore as too many of them are, repeating the same monotonous sentences from day to day, and from year to year. Still it is your duty to attend Divine worship, to join in praise and prayer with the community of Christians to whom you belong, and listen, reverently and attentively, to the word preached, as you know not whence a blessing may come, or when it may light.

But as attending on Divine service takes up but a small portion of the day, in directing your studies for the remainder of it I am somewhat at a loss. I cannot insist on your reading sermons, not even my own, for I never could do it myself, except Sterne's and Boston's, the two greatest opposites in nature. The Bible is by far the most inexhaustible book in the world, even laying aside its divine origin altogether. For its great antiquity, simplicity of narrative, splendour of poetry, and wise and holy injunctions, there is no work once to be compared with it; therefore, by all means, read your Bible, and attend to all ordinances of Christianity.

After advising in a general way not to introduce religion into general conversation, he says,

.

but, among friends, whose hearts and sentiments are known to each other, what can be so sweet or so advantageous as occasional conversation on the principles of our mutual belief, and the doctrines of grace and salvation?

I remember when I first entered into genteel society, which was not till after the year 1813, I thought it the easiest matter possible to gain the affection of every person of whatever age, and to live in habits of intimacy and friendship with them. Alas! how soon I found myself mistaken; for, to my astonishment, the very men with whom I had been so happy over night, who had crammed me with flattery more than I could hold-and it is a dish with which I am not very apt to be satiated-who had invited me to their houses, not on one day, but on every day that suited my convenience, would the next day, when I addressed them in the kindest and most affectionate way I was able, stare me in the face and shrink from the gloveless hand of the poor poet, without uttering a word.

In regard to dealing with children, he says:

Generosity would be the great virtue I should reward. Injustice, falsehood, cruelty, and ingratitude, would be almost the only crimes I

should punish. I should promote in them the habits of industry, the bowels of kindness, and the virtues of patience and humility; and in every step of their progress I should teach them to love God for His goodness to the fallen race of Adam, to walk in his ways, and to understand his word.

Hogg was a great stickler for education; yet he says:

I know it will be regarded by many as total want of experience and discernment; but, as a pupil of nature, I must speak out my sentiments. I have a great aversion to college education; indeed, I hold it in utter contempt-and sorry am I that it should be regarded as necessary towards the entering on any of the learned professions; for why a young man who, by private tuition and diligence, has rendered himself, on examination, equal to or superior to any of the collegians, is not considered capable of performing the same duties, it is above my capacity to comprehend.

His reasons are summed up by the phrase,

I never saw any young man the better for it.

And he adds,

The whole parade of college education is a mere jumble of confusion.

In the breeding up your children in the way they should go, then, the first thing I most strenuously recommend is, the setting them a good example, and training them up in the fear, nurture, and admonition of the Lord. Teach them to know the value of a good education, and be grateful to those who are spending their time in the improvement of their minds and morals; to correct all the irregularities of their temper by the sweet influence of Christian Charity; to be respectful to their superiors, kind to their inferiors and equals, and benevolent to all mankind; and both the blessing of the Almighty, and the respect of their brethren of mankind, will accompany them all the days of their lives.

For upwards of twenty years I have mixed with all classes of society, and as I never knew to which I belonged, I have been perfectly free and at my ease in them all.

It is true the occupation of the legitimate reviewer is gone, and has devolved entirely on the editors of newspapers; while the old established reviews are merely a set of essays, such as these sermons of mine are.

It is no wonder it should be so, considering the woful want of candour, and miserable political party spirit, which have pervaded the whole of their lucubrations, from the highest to the lowest; and he who was long accounted the highest, was, in this respect, the worst of them all.

You, then, who handle the rod of literary correction, attend to one who has been both a reviewer and reviewed. Read and judge for your

self; and if told that such and such works are exquisitely fine, and that everyone admires them, and that they are composed according to the very best of rules, then suspect a party spirit, and say not to yourself of your opponent in politics, "Now has mine enemy written a book." This is so decidedly the case in the present day that no criticism whatever is the least to be depended on. Why not, like a man of honour and candour, judge of the book solely by the effect it produces on yourself? and then you will rarely be wrong. Your taste and imagination are exclusively your own, and therefore you should be ashamed either to laugh or cry, to abuse or to command, at the fiat of any save your own taste and judgement.

If the author be but of their party in politics, and adhere a little to their dogmatic rules, there is nothing more required; they will point out to you, in perfect raptures, the finest and most brilliant passages. But if he be but of the adverse party, then "their enemy has written a book" and on him they fall tooth and nail. Of all the canting in the world there is none like the canting of criticism.

I speak not here of the delightful employment of giving up the mind and spirit to our Heavenly Father, of the soothing consolation of depending on superior strength, or of the rapturous heart; but I maintain that the worship of God by direct adoration, by reverence, or by devout meditation on His power, goodness and compassion is the natural result of our acquaintance with these divine perfections; and that if our reforming deists do not worship in sincerity as their Christian brethren do, what can we think but that their pretended knowledge is affectation, love of singularity, and pride of heart, and that they are in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity.

CHAPTER 9

LAST YEARS

As we have seen before, Hogg was never quite satisfied with his condition as a farmer. So now, when everything pointed directly towards a happy settlement for life at Altrive Lake, he must needs ruin himself again by embarking upon more expensive ventures.

In 1822 the Shepherd turned his cottage over to his fatherin-law, and himself removed to the adjoining farm of Mt. Benger. In order to stock it he called in all his literary debts and proceeded to attempt with a thousand pounds a task that required thrice the amount. Il luck seemed to follow him. During the next few years he sank all that he made in the new farm. Seven years later, when he left it, the market price of sheep had fallen to such an extent that he was left penniless. He says:

Altogether I find I lost upwards of two thousand pounds on Mt. Benger lease-respectable sum for an old shepherd to throw away.

Hogg as usual exercised his own stubborn will in regard to Mt. Benger. He leased it against the advice of his best friends, and in spite of the fact that it had ruined two skilful farmers in the preceding six years. Scott writes in his Diary, December 27, 1827:

I have a letter from James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, asking me to intercede with the Duke of Buccleugh about his farm. He took this burden upon himself without the advice of his best friends, and certainly contrary to mine. From the badness of the times it would have been poor speculation in any hands, especially in those of a man of letters, whose occupation as well as the society in which it involves him, are so different.

Hogg's life at Mt. Benger, however, was not without interest. He was busy at literary occupations during this period of seven years; and his house was the center of Yarrow hospitality.

Then the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hogg was of the most liberal and genial kind. And it being known that the régime at Mt. Benger was according to the old Irish rhyme, "Hospitality, no formality, all reality", there was no lack of visitors to take advantage of it. As everyone was made welcome, whatever his errand or degree, we can well believe there were some who went merely to gratify curiosity.