1832.]

HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS, ETC. 211

passage for the sake of the readers of 'Mary and Florence,' -a child's story-book, written by his sister, with matchless skill and humour. He then expatiates on the literary undertakings which were at that time engaging his attention. "We have this day been two weeks here, and it really seems but a few days, the time has glided away so happily. I rise pretty early, and having none of the interruptions of town, get through a good deal of work; so that I think I shall finish the Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, by the end of April. It will make one volume of Oliver and Boyd's Library; and as the subject is full of variety and interest, will, I hope, be an amusing piece of biography. I have also, I think, succeeded in throwing some new light upon one portion of his history, which has hitherto been very confused and obscure; and have traced his ruin to its real author, more satisfactorily than has yet been done. My other volume for Oliver and Boyd, (the Historical Dissertation on the progress of Discovery in America,*) is almost all printed, and Murray is pretty well on with the second volume of the Scottish Worthies; so that in May, if I am spared, and blessed with that same uninterrupted good health which GOD has so long and so graciously given me, I shall have time to complete the 5th and 6th volumes of my History. The idea of getting to this favourite work, and having an intermission from those other labours which are necessary for the support of the family, is very delightful; and yet, I must say, the Life of Raleigh has been a very interesting employment.”

Mrs. Tytler's health, which had long been a source of increasing anxiety to her husband, showed no signs of reestablishment; and when the Autumn drew on, the doctors

* 'Historical View of the progress of Discovery on the more northern coast of America from the earliest period to the present time.' This was published (like the Life of Raleigh,) in Oliver and Boyd's 'Edinburgh Cabinet Library,' in August, 1832. There was a second issue of this work, but only one edition. It has been reprinted in America.

were unanimous in recommending that she should make trial of a southern climate. My friend's Mother and sisters were at this time staying at Leamington, on account of the delicate health of Miss Isabella Tytler, and thither it was determined that he should convey his family in the first instance. Accordingly, he made arrangements for a prolonged absence from Edinburgh; and on the 7th August, took his departure. "I have now," (he writes on the 1st), "got very near my winding up. The printers' imps are quiet; the books packed up; our arrangements nearly completed; and I trust that, on Monday, we shall be able to set out. Rachel, dear lamb, looks forward with pleasure to the journey. Mary has orders to pack up all her little books, and playthings. I have bought a fishing-rod and tackle, for the sole purpose of fishing in old Izaak Walton's river, the Dove near Matlock. We have prepared sketchbooks, pencils, &c., and in short all of us, even down to little Alexander, are determined to strain every nerve to be very happily idle.

My plan is to leave Rachel and the bairns with you, and to proceed to London; as my last sheet of Raleigh is kept for final corrections to be made in the State Paper Office. When I return to Leamington, our plans must be regulated by what Dr. Jephson thinks best for Rachel. For this winter, it is evident the continent is entirely out of the question; and from present appearances, no one can tell how soon both France and Italy may be shut against us by a general continental war. But if all things were quiet, and I could carry my books with me so as to proceed with my works, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to pass a winter at Rome." *

*To his sister Ann, 1st August, 1832.

CHAPTER IX.

(1832-1835.)

Tytler removes his family to Torquay-The journey-His literary diligenceLife of Raleigh-Scottish Worthies-and History of Scotland-Prosecutes his studies at Bute-and in London-Letters to his wife-Death of Mrs. Tytler.

TYTLER'S practice, on undertaking such a journey as this, was to furnish himself with a little memorandum-book, which served the combined purposes of journal, sketchbook, (he was not much of a draughtsman,) and accountbook, throughout the expedition. Not unfrequently, extracts from rare historical volumes or MSS. are, in this way, interspersed with the most irrelevant and ephemeral notices imaginable. The beginning of his Journal to Leamington is characteristic. “We left Melville Street at 4 o'clock on a lovely day; and the drive to Fushie Bridge and by Gala water was enchanting. I rose early and cast a line in Gala water, but the trouts would not look at the fly. I caught a minnow, and had a nibble, and was very happy."

In the evening, he wrote:-"Nothing could be more delightful than our journey today. The weather was highly favourable,a grey morning, which, as the sun got up higher, expanded into a golden harvest day. The country thro' which we travelled by Gala Water, Tweed side, Yair, Hawick, Branksome, Gilnochie, has ever been to me perhaps the most interesting part of all Scotland. It is pastoral, and patriarchal in its simplicity; full of the sweetest natural beauties; prodigally stored with historical and poetical associations. The very words, Yarrow braes,' ' Gala Water,'

6

'Branksome,' 'Tweed,' Philiphaugh,' 'Melrose,'—how many interesting and romantic recollections do they not call up! It is a country which, to a Scotsman, breathes the very soul of legendary poetry. The charming old ballad of the Flowers of the Forest,' came fresh upon me. The bloody field of Flodden, the bra' foresters that never came back to their desolate homes; the gallant bowmen of Selkirk, lying stiff and stark around their king; the voice of lamentation in ilka green loanin,'-all rose like a magic picture, as we threaded the road round the Yair, and climbed the hill towards Selkirk. Awakening from these dreams to the romantic realities of the scenery, certainly nothing could be imagined more beautiful than the country, as it lay in its green expanse before us, with the silver Tweed winding thro' it, and glittering in the sun. It was hay-making time, and the fragrance was full of health and delight. We saw innumerable groups of lads and lasses, all busily employed, cutting or spreading the meadow hay; whilst the children were sporting amidst the hay-cocks. The fields are ripening to harvest, some cut down already; and on many of the burn sides, linens were laid out to bleach; an incident full of much beauty in Nature, tho' a painter with his hands tied up in the fetters of harmonious colouring, would shudder to attempt its introduction.

"The stage from Mosspaul to Langholm, and from Langholm to Longton, contains, as is well known, some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland. We travelled it in the evening, when the landscape was gilded by the setting sun,a stream of hazy and glowing light on hill and river, tower and tree. The spirit of the season was breathing from everything; and we inhaled it in love and gratitude to Him who hath made all very good.""-Tytler was in fact traversing that very scenery with which Sir Walter Scott has made the whole civilized world familiar; which the great novelist had

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*

himself surveyed for the last time about a month before; and in the midst of which he lay even now a-dying. Tytler must have been aware of the state of his friend, and felt the contrast between the living beauty of the landscape and the gloom which already hung over Abbotsford; for he has written opposite to the extract from his journal last quoted,

"'T was sad to think that he who

sung

The border-wars in deathless lays

With spirit dark and harp unstrung"

The verses, which seem to have come unwillingly, are scored through and through; but the fragment needs no interpreter, and shows of what he was thinking as he wound his way across the Scottish Border, and at last rested at Kendal. On the 16th August, the little party reached Leamington,— visiting Warwick Castle with immense satisfaction, the next day. He described to me, many years after, the delight with which he had there surveyed the portrait of Gondomar.

In pursuance of the plan announced in his letter to his sister, Tytler repaired to the metropolis early in the ensuing week; but it was some days before he effected, through Lord Melbourne's kindness, an entrance into the State Paper Office, and sat down to transcribe Sir Walter Raleigh's

"At a very early hour on the morning of Wednesday the 11th, we again placed him in his carriage, and he lay in the same torpid state during the first two stages on the road to Tweedside. But as we descended the vale of the Gala, he began to gaze about him, and by degrees it was obvious that he was recognising the features of that familiar landscape. Presently, he murmured a name or two-" Gala Water, surely-Buckholm-Torwoodlee." As we rounded the hill at Ladhope, and the outline of the Eildons burst on him, he became greatly excited; and when, turning himself on the couch, his eye caught at length his own towers at the distance of a mile, he sprang up with a cry of delight."-Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. vii. p. 385.

Sir Walter Scott expired on the 21st September, 1832.