“Your very kind letter reached me just while I was
deliberating how to address you on the painful, most painful subject, to which it refers, and considering
how I could best intrude my own sympathy amidst your domestic affliction. The
token you have given of your friendship, by thinking of me at such a moment, I
will always regard as a most precious, though melancholy proof of its
sincerity. We have, indeed, to mourn such a man, as, since medicine was first
esteemed an useful and honoured science, has rarely occurred to grace its
annals, and who will be lamented so long as any one lives, who has experienced
the advantage of his professional skill, and the affectionate kindness by which
it was accompanied. My neighbour and kinsman, John
Scott of Gala, who was attended by our excellent friend during a
very dangerous illness, is mingling his sorrow with mine, as one who laments
almost a second father; and when in this remote corner there are two who join
in such a sincere tribute to his memory, what must be the sorrows within his
more immediate sphere of exertion! I do, indeed, sincerely pity the family and
friends who have lost such a head, and that at the very time when they might,
in the course of nature, have looked to enjoy his society for many years, and
even more closely and intimately than during the preceding period
| 310 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
“We were made in some degree aware of the extremely precarious state of our late dear friend’s health, by letters which young Surtees had from his friends in Gloucestershire, during a residence of a few weeks with us, and which mentioned the melancholy subject in a very hopeless manner, and with all the interest which it was calculated to excite. Poor dear Mrs Baillie is infinitely to be pitied, but you are a family of love; and though one breach has been made among you, will only extend your arms towards each other the more, to hide, though you cannot fill up the gap which has taken place. The same consolation remains for Mrs Agnes and yourself, my dear friend; and I have no doubt, that in the affection of Dr Baillie’s family, and their success in life, you will find those pleasing ties which connect the passing generation with that which is rising to succeed it upon the stage.
“Sophia is in
the way of enlarging her family—an event to which I look forward with a mixture
of anxiety and hope. One baby, not very strong, though lively and clever, is a
frail chance upon which to stake happiness; at the same time, God knows there
have been too many instances of late of the original curse having
| LETTER TO TERRY. | 311 |
“I answer your letter before I have seen Sophia; but I know well how deeply she is interested in your grief. My wife and Anne send their kindest and most sympathetic regards. Walter is at the Royal Military College to study the higher branches of his profession, and Charles has returned to Wales.
“My affectionate respects attend Mrs Baillie and Mrs Agnes, and I ever am, my dear friend, respectfully and affectionately, yours,
