that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it never can forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that people, by the people, and government of the for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln. SIR WALTER SCOTT. Sir Walter Scott was land, August 15, 1771. born at Edinburg, ScotHis health, as a child, was poor, and his education was irregular. His youth was spent in the pleasures of hunting, in reading romances, travels, His father intended him for the law. He did four years of very earnest work, reading the musty tomes, but he had little ambition for the practice of his profession. His desires and ambitions all lay in the direction of literature. "The His first literary work was a poem, Minstrelsy of the Scotch Borders." This was followed by "The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' Marmion," "The Lady of the Lake," and "Rokeby Hall." The first of his novels to appear was "Waverly," then in rapid succession came "Guy Mannering," "The Antiquary," "The Black Dwarf," and others. Scott's early novels were issued anonymously, and so absorbing was the interest in them that the question on every one's lips was, "Who is the 'Great Unknown'?" Scott was always a tireless worker, and so great was the rapidity with which novel after novel was produced that the wonder is how one human brain could evolve so much. "Guy Mannering" was written in six weeks, while "Harold the Dauntless" and the historical part of the "Annual Annual Register" appeared in the same year with "The Antiquary," "The Black Dwarf," and "Old Mortality." The immense strain of his literary work told on his rugged constitution. Early in 1817 he was seized with cramps in his stomach. This lasted for over two years, yet during this time there came from his restless pen some of the books that have done most to make his name immortal,-"Rob Roy," "The Heart of Midlothian," "The Bride of Lammermoor," "The Legend of Montrose," and "Ivanhoe." The last three were dictated to amanuenses while the author lay on his couch, racked with intense suffering. In 1825, after eleven years of literary effort which for brilliancy is scarcely paralleled in history, Scott found himself in seemingly hopeless financial embarrassment. The commercial dis tress so general at that time wrecked the publishing firms with whom he was connected as a silent partner, and he was involved in the failure to the enormous amount of $650,000. The sterling integrity of the man shone forth in this dark hour. With a courage and fortitude unsurpassed in either the financial or literary world, at the age of fifty-five, he set himself to coin his mighty brain to pay the last penny of the debt. Declining all offers of assistance, he took up his fertile pen, nor did he lay it down until death came and relieved his weary hand and brain. "Woodstock," "Chronicles of Canongate," "The Fair Maid of Perth," "Anne of Gierstein," "Life of Napoleon," "Tales of a Grandfather," a part of the "History of Scotland," were published in two years, and netted his creditors nearly $200,000. The terrific rate at which he was working proved more than brain and brawn could bear. Alarming symptoms began to show themselves, and in 1830 he was seized with a stroke of paralysis. Still he was undaunted. Two more novels, "Count Robert of Paris" and "Castle Dangerous were added to his already large contributions to literature. Tired nature could endure no more. Deluded by the idea that his debts were all paid, he consented to go to Italy for a period of rest. It was too late. Before a year had passed, he felt that the end was near, and begged that he might go home and die at beloved Abbotsford. He died September 21, 1832. His body rests, after the long and weary fight, in Dryburgh Abbey, and his immortal name is emblazoned on the temple of Fame forever. At the time of his death, Scott had reduced his indebtedness to $270,000. His life insurance amounted to $110,000, this with $10,000 in the hands of his trustees and $150,000 paid for the copyright on his works, wiped out the remnant of his debt. His collected works, including his life and letters, have been issued in ninety-eight quarto volumes, almost a library in itself. SUNSET ON THE BORDER. Day set on Norham's castled steep, |