Several of his ancestors had taken a prominent part in the warfare of the Border, a fact which largely accounts for his great interest in Scottish legend. He earned more by his writings than any other literary man of the period. At his country seat, Abbotsford, he entertained with lavish hospitality. It became a resort of scholars; and Washington Irving and many other Americans visited him there. He lived and died practically without an enemy, even Byron, who assailed him so bitterly at one time, being won over by his magnanimity. He refused the post of poet laureate in favor of his friend Southey. His publishing house failing in 1828 with a shortage of over half a million, Scott chivalrously devoted the last six years of his life to the payment of the debt, a feat which he had almost accomplished when death overtook him. Although among the first and best of the prose writers of the Romantic period and a decided follower of the Romantic principles in his work, yet Scott was so conservative in politics and so patriotic a supporter of monarchy that the revolutionary spirit of the French Revolution and the passion for liberty that inspired many authors of the day had slight influence on him. THE MAN 1. What fact in Scott's family history explains his great interest in Scottish history and tradition? 2. What were his earnings from his writings as compared with those of other writers of his time? 3. Would you consider his tastes democratic or the reverse? See illustration opposite X, 388. See also Thackeray's account of him under the title of the Baron of Bradwardine, XII, 66. 4. How did Scott bear himself toward contemporary poets? 5. Your opinion as to his hospitality? His charity? His industry? VIII, 206. 6. What striking event in Scott's life conclusively shows him to have been a man of honor? 7. By what appellation is he often known? XI, 289. 8. His fondness for dumb animals was proverbial. VIII, 208. STYLE AND WORKS 1. In what branch of literature did Scott first achieve distinction? Why did he abandon it for fiction? 2. Why did the revolutionary wave which so powerfully affected his contemporaries, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Southey, leave Scott unaffected? 3. In whose favor did Scott decline the honor of being appointed poet laureate? 4. From what sources did he derive the materials for his poems? I, 181. 5. Of his three best poems, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" is considered the most natural, "Marmion," the most powerful, and "The Lady of the Lake," the most romantic and picturesque. 6. Which is esteemed his greatest novel? Mention two novels which seem to indicate a decline in his powers. 7. Was he greater in verse or in fiction? 8. Do Scott's works give a true picture of the times to which they relate? 9. Manzoni, Dumas, and Hugo all owe much to Scott. Compare their work.