Autograph letter signed from Sir Walter Scott to Robert Smith Esq., St Paul’s Churchyard, from Edinburgh, dated 5 January 1800.

This is a long letter to Smith in St Paul’s Churchyard, primarily concerning the recovery of a debt, but also with family news and remarks of a general nature. Smith has evidently asked Scott to assist in the repayment of a debt, and Scott, in his role as sheriff-depute of the county of Selkirk, agrees to assist. He tells Smith, "I shall be extremely happy to pay every attention in my power to the recovery of the sum in Mr. Perry’s Bond", and assures him if the funds are not forthcoming the debtor will be exposed to the full force of the law. He goes on to inquire after the health of various friends and acquaintances, adding "Our little Baby [Sophia, Scott’s eldest, born October 1799] is quite well & begins to be exceedingly amusing". Elsewhere in the letter Scott adds some descriptive flourishes, begging his correspondent to excuse inaccuracy as he is "just now writing in the middle of the most dreadful tempest which I ever heard bow even in this stormy climate - the house is now rocking to its very foundation, ∓ I have just seen a coach & pair of horses fairly blown twenty yards [...] by the force of the wind". He closes by requesting that Smith assist with locating a letter from Charlotte, Scott’s wife, that has not been delivered, and adds that he hopes to be in London in the near future.