Creative work,
when once seated at his desk, was as natural as breathing. Scott came
to his desk with the zest of a boy starting on a holiday, and this
pleasure is reflected in the ease and spontaneity of his stories.
But much as he liked his literary work, Scott would not have produced
so great a number of fine novels had he not been impelled by the
desire to retrieve large money losses. His old school friend,
Ballantyne, forced into bankruptcy the printing firm in which Scott
was a secret partner. The novelist was not morally responsible for
these debts, but his keen sense of honor made him accept all the
responsibility, and it drove him to that unceasing work which
shortened his life. He paid off nearly all the great debt, and he gave
in this task an example of high courage and power of work that has
never been surpassed and seldom equaled. You may read the record of
those last years in Lockhart's fine _Life of Scott_. Get the one
volume edition, for the full work is too long for these busy days, and
follow the old author in his heroic struggle. It will bring tears to
your eyes, but it will make you a lover of Scott, the man, who was as
great as Scott, the poet and novelist.
Ruskin, when he was making up a list of great authors, put opposite
Scott's name, "Every line." That bit of advice cannot be followed in
these strenuous times, but one must make a selection of the best, and
then, if he have time and inclination, add to this number.
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