The Waverley novels, by Sir Walter Scott, complete in 12 vol., printed from the latest English ed., embracing the author's last corrections, prefaces & notes.

ROB ROY. 269
or twice mentioned Diana, always with great affection; and once he said,
while I sate by his bedside-" Nevoy, since Thorncliff and all of them are
dead, I am sorry you cannot have her."
The expression affected me much at the time; for it was a usbal custom
of the poor old Baronet's, when joyously setting forth upon the morning's
chase, to distinguish Thorncliff, who was a favourite, while he summoned'
the rest more generally; and the loud jolly tone in which he used to hello,
" Call Thornie —call all of them," contrasted sadly with the wo-begone and
self-abandoning note in which he uttered the disconsolate words which I
have above quoted. He mentioned the contents of his will, and supplied
me with an authenticated copy;-the original he had deposited with my old
acquaintance Mr. Justice Inglewood, who, dreaded by no one, and confided
in by all as a kind of neutral person, had become, for aught I know, the
depositary of half the wills of the fighting men of both factions in the
county of Northumberland.
The greater part of my uncle's last hours were spent in the discharge of
the religious duties of his church, in which he was directed by the chaplain
of the Sardinian ambassador, for whom, with some difficulty, we obtained
permission to visit him. I could not ascertain by my own observation, or
through the medical attendants, that Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone died of
any formed- complaint bearing a name in the. science of medicine. He
seemed to me completely worn; out and broken down by fatigue of body and
distress of mind, and rather ceased to exist, than died of any positive
struggle, —just as a vessel, buffeted and tossed by a succession of tempestuous gales, her timbers overstrained, and her joints loosened, will sometimes
spring a leak and founder, when there are no apparent causes for her
destruction.
It was a remarkable circumstance that' my father, after the last duties were
performed to his brother, appeared suddenly to imbibe a strong anxiety that
I should act upon the will, and represent his father's house, which had
hitherto seemed to be the thing in the world which had least charms for
him. But formerly, he had been only like, the fox in the fable, contemning
what was beyond his reach; and, moreover, I doubt not that the excessive
dislike which he entertained against Rashleigh (now Sir Rashleigh) Osbaldistone, who loudly threatened to attack his father Sir Hildebrand's will
and settlement, corroborated my father's desire to maintain it.
". He had been most unjustly disinherited," he said, " by his own fatherhis brother's will had repaired the disgrace, if not the injury, by leaving
the wreck of his property to Frank, the natural heir, and he was determined
the bequest should take effect."
In the meantime, Rashleigh was not altogether a contemptible personage
as an opponent. The information he had given to Government was critically well-timed, and his extreme plausibility, with the extent of his intelligence, and the artful manner in which he contrived to assume both merit
and influence, had, to' a certain extent, procured him patrons among Ministers. We were already in the full tide of litigation with him on the subject
of his pillaging the firm of Osbaldistone and Tresham; and, judging from
the progress we made in that comparatively simple lawsuit, there was a
chance that this second course of litigation might be drawn out beyond the
period of all our natural lives.
To avert these delays as much as possible, my father, by the advice of his
counsel learned in the law, paid off and vested in my person the rights to
certain large mortgages affecting Osbaldistone-Hall. Perhaps, however, the
opportunity to convert a great share of the large profits which accrued from
the rapid rise of the funds upon the suppression of the rebellion, and the
experience he had so lately had of the perils of commerce, encouraged him
to realize, in this manner, a considerable part of his property. At any
rate, it so chanced, that, instead of commanding me to the desk, as I fully
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