During his London visit,
he prepared and printed a small book of prayers and hymns for the use of
his family, which he dedicated to them as a New Year's gift. These
prayers are eminently devotional, and all his hymns breathe the language
of fervency and faith. From the strict rules of morality he may have
sometimes deviated, but it would be the worst exercise of
uncharitableness to doubt of his repentance.
It is the lot of men of genius to suffer from the envenomed shafts of
calumny and detraction. The reputation of James Hogg has thus bled. Much
has been said to his prejudice by those who understood not the simple
nature of his character, and were incapable of forming an estimate of
the principles of his life. He has been broadly accused[45] of doing an
injury to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, who was one of his best
benefactors; to which it might be a sufficient reply, that he was
incapable of perpetrating an ungenerous act. But how stands the fact?
Hogg strained his utmost effort to do honour to the dust of his
illustrious friend! He published reminiscences of him in a small volume,
and in such terms as the following did he pronounce his eulogy:--"He had
a clear head as well as a benevolent heart; was a good man, an anxiously
kind husband, an indulgent parent, and a sincere, forgiving friend; a
just judge, and a punctual correspondent.
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