His first novel after this, and the one which was to test the practicability of his plan, was Woodstock, a tale of the troublous times of the Civil War, in the last chapter of which he draws the picture of the restored Charles coming in peaceful procession to his throne.  This he wrote in three months; and for it he received upwards of L8000.  With this and the proceeds of his succeeding works, he was enabled to pay over to his creditors the large sum of L70,000; a feat unparalleled in the history of literature.  But the anxiety and the labor were too much even for his powerful constitution:  he died in his heroic attempt.

HIS MANLY PURPOSE.—­More for money than for reputation, he compiled hastily, and from partial and incomplete material, a Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, which appeared in 1827.  The style is charming and the work eminently readable; but it contains many faults, is by no means unprejudiced, and, as far as pure truth is concerned, is, in parts, almost as much of a romance as any of the Waverley novels; but, for the first two editions, he received the enormous sum of L18,000.  The work was accomplished in the space of one year.  Among the other task-work books were the two series of The Chronicles of the Canongate (1827 and 1828), the latter of which contains the beautiful story of St. Valentine’s Day, or The Fair Maid of Perth.  It is written in his finest vein, especially in those chapters which describe the famous Battle of the Clans.  In 1829 appeared Anne of Geierstein, another story presenting the figure of Charles of Burgundy, and his defeat and death in the battle with the Swiss at Nancy.

POWERS OVERTASKED.—­And now new misfortunes were to come upon him.  In 1826 he had lost his wife:  his sorrows weighed upon him, and his superhuman exertions were too much for his strength.  In 1829 he was seized with a nervous attack, accompanied by hemorrhages of a peculiar kind.  In February, 1830, a slight paralysis occurred, from which he speedily recovered; this was soon succeeded by another; and it was manifest that his mind was giving way.  His last novel, Count Robert of Paris, was begun in 1830, as one of a fourth series of The Tales of My Landlord:  it bears manifest marks of his failing powers, but is of value for the historic stores which it draws from the Byzantine historians, and especially from the unique work of Anna Comnena:  “I almost wish,” he said, “I had named it Anna Comnena.”  A slight attack of apoplexy in November, 1830, was followed by a severer one in the spring of 1831.  Even then he tried to write, and was able to produce Castle Dangerous.  With that the powerful pen ended its marvellous work.  The manly spirit still chafed that his debts were not paid, and could not be, by the labor of his hands.