the overworked brain gave way, and during this year he had
more than one paralytic seizure. He was sent abroad for change and rest,
and a Government frigate was placed at his disposal. But all was in vain;
he never recovered, and though in temporary rallies he produced two more
novels, _Count Robert of Paris_ and _Castle Dangerous_, both in 1831,
which only showed that the spell was broken, he gradually sank, and _d._
at Abbotsford on September 21, 1832.

The work which S. accomplished, whether looked at as regards its mass or
its quality, is alike marvellous. In mere amount his output in each of
the four departments of poetry, prose fiction, history and biography, and
miscellaneous literature is sufficient to fill an ordinary literary life.
Indeed the quantity of his acknowledged work in other departments was
held to be the strongest argument against the possibility of his being
the author of the novels. The achievement of such a result demanded a
power of steady, methodical, and rapid work almost unparalleled in the
history of literature. When we turn to its quality we are struck by the
range of subject and the variableness of the treatment. In general there
is the same fulness of mind directed by strong practical sense and
judgment, but the style is often heavy, loose, and even slipshod, and in
most of his works there are "patches" in which he falls far below his
best. His poetry, though as a whole belonging to the second class, is
full of broad and bold effects, picturesqueness, and an irresistible rush
and freshness. As a lyrist, however, he stands much higher, and in such
gems as "Proud Maisie" and "A weary lot is thine, Fair Maid," he takes
his place among our greatest singers. His chief fame rests, of course,
upon the novels. Here also, however, there is the same inequality and
irregularity, but there is a singular command over his genius in virtue
of which the fusing, creating imagination responds to his call, and is at
its greatest just where it is most needed. For the variety, truth, and
aliveness of his characters he has probably no equal since Shakespeare,
and though, of course, coming far behind, he resembles him alike in his
range and in his insight. The most remarkable feature in his character is
the union of an imagination of the first order with practical sagacity
and manly sanity, in this also resembling his great predecessor.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1771, _ed._ Edin., called to Bar 1792, Sheriff of Selkirk
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