The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart
Chapter 13: 1826
Sir Walter Scott to John Gibson Lockhart, 23 May 1826
“Abbotsford, 23rd
May 1826.
“My dear Lockhart,—Anne has suffered, and still suffers, much from weakness. She
is, contrary to her manner under trifling vexations, extremely quiet and
patient, but every now and then Nature gives way, and she has swoons which last
perhaps ten minutes.
“For me I must bear my loss as I can; at any rate, I
have no want of comforters, for both old Botherby and Sir John
Sinclair have volunteered to play Eliphaz
and Bildad on the occasion—such is some folks’
delicacy. A better comfort is the regret expressed by great and small for the
good qualities of the deceased. My poor labouring people affected me much by
insisting on supplying a night guard in Dryburgh Abbey till such precaution
should be totally unnecessary. There was something very delicate in this
peculiar expression of attachment.
“I beg my best love and affection to Sophia. Tell her not to be in the least
anxious about me. I am ![]()
| 408 | LIFE OF J. G. LOCKHART. | |
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of that age and temper which endure
misfortunes the more patiently that they have ceased to look on the world with
the same evident sensations of pleasure and pain which it presents to those who
enter it. Kiss little Johnnie for me,
and also little Walter. My best love
attends Violet.—I am always, dear
Lockhart, most faithfully yours,
John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854)
Editor of the
Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter
Scott and author of the
Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).
John Hugh Lockhart (1821-1831)
The first child of John Gibson Lockhart and his wife Sophia, for whom Sir Walter Scott
wrote
Tales of a Grandfather (1828-1831).
Violet Lockhart (1801-1849)
The second daughter of the Rev. John Lockhart and younger sister of John Gibson Lockhart;
she died unmarried.
Walter Scott Lockhart (1826-1853)
The younger son of John Gibson Lockhart and his wife Sophia; a military officer, he
inherited Abbotsford in 1847.
Anne Scott (1803-1833)
Walter Scott's younger daughter who cared for him in his old age and died
unmarried.
Sir John Sinclair, first baronet (1754-1835)
Scottish MP, projected the
Statistical Account of Scotland
(1791-1799) and superintended an edition of Ossian (1807).
William Sotheby (1757-1833)
English man of letters; after Harrow he joined the dragoons, married well, and published
Poems (1790) and became a prolific poet and translator,
prominent in literary society.
