debt for which he was
responsible,--an achievement probably unparalleled in the history of
letters.

The sacrifices and efforts which he made during the last few years of
his life, even while paralyzed and scarcely able to hold his pen,
exhibit Scott in a truly heroic light. He bore up with unconquerable
spirit to the last. When his doctor expostulated with him against his
excessive brain-work, he replied, "If I were to be idle, I should go
mad: in comparison to this, death is no risk to shrink from." Shortly
before his last fatal attack, when sitting dozing in his chair on the
grass in front of the house at Abbotsford, he suddenly roused himself,
threw off the plaids which covered him, and exclaimed, "This is sad
idleness. Take me to my own room, and fetch the keys of my desk." They
wheeled him into his study, and put pens and paper before him. But he
could not grasp the pen; he could not write; and the tears rolled down
his cheeks. His spirit was not conquered, but his bodily powers were
exhausted and shattered; and when at length he died, he fell
asleep--like a child.

Scott felt, what every sensitive nature must feel, that poverty is a
much lighter burden to bear than debt. There is nothing ignominious
about poverty. It may even serve as a healthy stimulus to great spirits.
"Under gold mountains and thrones," said Jean Paul, "lie buried many
spiritual giants." Richter even held that poverty was to be welcomed, so
that it came not too late in life. And doubtless Scott's burden was all
the heavier to bear, because it came upon him in his declining years.

Shakespeare was originally a poor man: "It is a question," says Carlyle,
"whether, had not want, discomfort, and distress warrants been busy at
Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare had not lived killing calves or combing
wool! "To Milton's and Dryden's narrow means we probably owe the best
part of their works.

Johnson was a very poor man, and a very brave one. He never knew what
wealth was. His mind was always greater than his fortune; and it is the
mind that makes the man rich or poor, happy or miserable. Johnson's
gruff and bluff exterior covered a manly and noble nature. He had early
known poverty and debt, and wished himself clear of both. When at
college, his feet appeared through his shoes, but he was too poor to buy
new ones. His head was full of learning, but his pockets were empty. How
he struggled through distress and difficulty during his first years in
L