h and
their rumored attack on New York, and all his similes, even those having
love for their subject, are martial and bellicose. Item: "The gallant
Sam has fairly changed front, and, instead of laying siege to Douglas
castle, has charged sword in hand, and carried little Cooper's
entrenchments."

As a Federalist and an admirer of England, Irving had deplored the war,
but his sympathies were not doubtful after it began, and the burning of
the national Capitol by General Ross aroused him to an active
participation in the struggle. He was descending the Hudson in a
steamboat when the tidings first reached him. It was night, and the
passengers had gone into the cabin, when a man came on board with the
news, and in the darkness related the particulars: the burning of the
President's house and government offices, and the destruction of the
Capitol, with the library and public archives. In the momentary silence
that followed, somebody raised his voice, and in a tone of complacent
derision "wondered what _Jimmy_ Madison would say now." "Sir," cried
Mr. Irving, in a burst of indignation that overcame his habitual
shyness, "do you seize upon such a disaster only for a sneer? Let me
tell you, sir, it is not now a question about _Jimmy_ Madison or _Jimmy_
Armstrong. The pride and honor of the nation are wounded; the country is
insulted and disgraced by this barbarous success, and every loyal
citizen would feel the ignominy and be earnest to avenge it." There was
an outburst of applause, and the sneerer was silenced. "I could not see
the fellow," said Mr. Irving, in relating the anecdote, "but I let fly
at him in the dark."

The next day he offered his services to Governor Tompkins, and was made
the governor's aid and military secretary, with the right to be
addressed as Col. Washington Irving. He served only four months in this
capacity, when Governor Tompkins was called to the session of the
legislature at Albany. Irving intended to go to Washington and apply for
a commission in the regular army, but he was detained at Philadelphia by
the affairs of his magazine, until news came in February, 1815, of the
close of the war. In May of that year he embarked for England to visit
his brother, intending only a short sojourn. He remained abroad
seventeen years.

CHAPTER VI.

LIFE IN EUROPE: LITERARY ACTIVITY.

When Irving sailed from New York, it was with lively anticipation