“I am able (though very weak) to answer your kind enquiries. I have thought of you often, and been on the point of writing or dictating a letter, but till very lately I could have had little to tell you of but distress and agony, with constant relapses into my unhappy malady, so that for weeks I seemed to lose rather than gain ground, all food nauseating on my stomach, and my clothes hanging about me like a potato-bogle,* with from five or six to ten hours of mortal pain every third day; latterly the fits have been much milder, and have at last given way to the hot bath without any use of opiates; an immense point gained, as they hurt my general health extremely. Conceive my having taken, in the course of six or seven hours, six grains of opium, three of hyoscyamus, near 200 drops of laudanum, and all without any sensible relief of the agony under which I laboured. My stomach is now getting confirmed, and I have great hopes the bout is over; it has been a dreadful set-to. I am sorry to hear Mrs Terry is complaining; you ought not to let her labour, neither at Abbotsford sketches nor at any thing else, but study to keep her mind amused as much as possible. As for Walter, he is a shoot of an Aik,† and I have no fear of him; I hope he remembers Abbotsford and his soldier namesake.
“I send the MS.—I wish you had written for it earlier. My touching or even thinking of it was out of the question; my corrections would have smelled as cruelly of the cramp, as the Bishop of Grenada’s homily‡ did of the apoplexy. Indeed I hold myself inadequate to estimate those criticisms which rest on stage effect, having
* Anglice—Scarecrow. † Ditto—an Oak. ‡ Sermon—p. 241. |
| 254 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“I am truly glad you are settled in London—a
‘rolling stone’ the proverb is something musty: it is always
difficult to begin a new profession; I could have wished you quartered nearer
us, but we shall always hear of you. The becoming stage-manager at the
Haymarket, I look upon as a great step; well executed, it cannot but lead to
something of the same kind elsewhere. You must be aware of stumbling over a
propensity which easily besets you from the habit of not having your time fully
employed—I mean what the women very expressively call dawdling. Your motto must be Hoc
age. Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the hours
of reflection or recreation after business, and never before it. When a
regiment is under march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the
front do not move
| LETTER TO TERRY—APRIL 18, 1819. | 255 |
“We wish much to have a plan of the great bed, that we may hang up the tester. Mr Atkinson offered to have it altered or exchanged; but with the expense of land-carriage and risk of damage, it is not to be thought of. I enclose a letter to thank him for all his kindness. I should like to have the invoice when the things are shipped. I hope they will send them to Leith and not to Berwick. The plasterer has broke a pane in the armoury. I enclose a sheet with the size, the black lines being traced within the lead, and I add a rough drawing of the arms, which are those of my mother. I should like it replaced as soon as possible, for I will set the expense against the careless rascal’s account.
“I have got a beautiful scarlet paper inlaid with
gold (rather crimson than scarlet) in a present from India, which will hang the
parlour to a T: But we shall want some articles from town to enable us to take
possession of the parlour—namely, a carpet—you mentioned
| 256 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“Write to me if I can do aught about the play—though I fear not: much will depend on Dumbiedykes, in whom Liston will be strong. Sophia has been chiefly my nurse, as an indisposition of little Charles called Charlotte to town. She returned yesterday with him. All beg kind compliments to you and Mrs Terry and little Walter. I remain your very feeble but convalescent to command,
“P.S.—We must not forget the case for the leaves of the table while out of use; without something of the kind I am afraid they will be liable to injury, which is a pity, as they are so very beautiful.”*
