CHIEFLY remembered as the son in law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott, John Gibson Lockhart was in his own generation a literary man of great distinction. He edited the Quarterly Review from 1826 to 1853; and in his official capacity as the leading critic of England, did not hesitate to pronounce Tennyson a melancholy failure in his first attempts at poetry. Lockhart’s own best work was done in verse as the translator of “Ancient Spanish Ballads,” which are never likely to lose their popularity with lovers of spirited, narrative poetry. He was born at Cambusnethan, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, July 14th, 1794, and was educated for the bar. After joining the staff of Blackwoods in 1818, he never attempted to practice his profession. In 1820 he married Sir Walter Scott’s eldest daughter, Sophia. His association with Sir Walter was intimate, qualifying him in every way for his principal prose work, “Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott,” which appeared in seven volumes from 1837 to 1839. He died at Abbotsford, November 25th, 1854.