between those who inhabit separate worlds.' A man of great wealth,[32] Mr. Hope Scott never spared his means when the interests of religion were in question. As an example of his Christian zeal and affection for Romanism, it may be stated that he built the Church of Our Lady and St. Andrew at Galashiels at a cost of £10,000, also the Chapel at Selkirk, the Church on Loch Shiel, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Kelso. He helped churches and schools and convents all over the country. Following his death in 1873 (Newman preaching his funeral sermon), Abbotsford went to Mary Monica[33] (named from a favourite saint). So we are thankful that there is still a Scott--one of Sir Walter's blood--his great-granddaughter, 'Lady of Abbotsford.' THE TREASURES OF ABBOTSFORD CHAPTER IX THE TREASURES OF ABBOTSFORD Towards the close of his life, at the suggestion of Cadell (to keep him from more serious tasks), Scott commenced the writing of a descriptive catalogue of the most curious articles in his library and museum--his 'gabions' he called them. This, which he entitled 'Reliquiæ Trottcosianæ--or the Gabions of the late Jonathan Oldbuck, Esq.,'--thus assuming to himself some claim to be the original of the inimitable Laird of Monkbarns--was, unfortunately, never finished. The MS. is at Abbotsford, and has been partly printed in _Harper's Magazine_ for April, 1889. As the writing shows, it is first in Scott's own hand, sadly cramped and shaky; then Laidlaw takes up the pen, but the work was soon abandoned for 'Count Robert,' the romance that was simmering in his brain. It is a thousand pities that Scott preferred 'Count Robert' to the gabions history. His mind, impaired by repeated shocks of paralysis, was quite unfitted for serious imaginative composition. Even the 'Reliquiæ' fragment is not without proof of waning power. Still, 'Count Robert' could well have been spared for the completion of the latter project, and none but the Wizard himself, with his rare wealth of anecdote and story, could have done it justice. Of the many haunts of genius in this and other countries, Abbotsford is unique in that it was the first (and likely to be the last) great estate won by the pen of an author. Created practically within a dozen years--a marvellously brief period--it remains (the Hope Scott extension excepted) very much as in Sir Walter's lifetime. His own house has undergone no change beyond slight and necessary rearrangement of the furnishings. The visitor of to-day may rest assured that he sees the place almost identically as Scott saw it. The apartments open to the public were planned by him to the minutest particular. His eyes fell on these same pictures, with very few exceptions. And of its antiquarian treasures--the most remarkable private collection in existence--almost all have personal association with Scott.