in
view--that, namely, of inducing the laborer to bring his
heart and spirit to his work. But this he will do where he
has a fair bargain, which is to prove a good or bad one
according to his own exertions. In this case you make the
poor man his own friend, for the profits of his good conduct
are all his own. It is astonishing how partial the people
are to this species of contract, and how diligently they
labor, acquiring or maintaining all the while those habits
which render them honorable and useful members of society. I
mention this to you, because the rich, much to their honor,
do not, in general, require to be so much stimulated to
benevolence, as to be directed in the most useful way to
exert it.

I have still a word to say about the poor of our own parish
of Parnassus. I have been applied to by a very worthy
friend, Mr. Scott of Sinton, in behalf of an unfortunate Mr.
Gilmour, who, it seems, has expended a little fortune in
printing, upon his own account, poems which, from the sample
I saw, seem exactly to answer the description of Dean
Swift's country house:--

"Too bad for a blessing, too good for a curse,
I wish from my soul they were better or worse."

{p.168} But you are the dean of our corporation, and, I am
informed, take some interest in this poor gentleman. If you
can point out any way in which I can serve him, I am sure my
inclination is not wanting, but it looks like a very
hopeless case. I beg my kindest respects to Mrs. Southey,
and am always sincerely and affectionately yours,

Walter SCOTT.

About this time Hogg took possession of Altrive Lake, and some of his
friends in Edinburgh set on foot a subscription edition of his Queen's
Wake (at a guinea each copy), in the hope of thus raising a sum
adequate to the stocking of the little farm. The following letter
alludes to this affair; and also to the death of Frances, Lady
Douglas, sister to Duke Henry of Buccleuch, whose early kindness to
Scott has been more than once mentioned.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD MONTAGU.

ABBOTSFORD, June 8, 1817.

MY DEAR LORD,--I am honored with your letter, and will not
fail to take care that the Shepherd profits by your kind
intentions, and those of Lady Montagu. T