appier after
breaking with Lady Byron--he hated this still, quiet life"); he was
publishing a new edition of the "Knickerbocker," illustrated by Leslie
and Allston; and we find him at home in the friendly and brilliant
society of Edinburgh; both the magazine publishers, Constable and
Blackwood, were very civil to him, and Mr. Jeffrey (Mrs. Renwick was his
sister) was very attentive; and he passed some days with Walter Scott,
whose home life he so agreeably describes in his sketch of "Abbotsford."
He looked back longingly to the happy hours there (he writes to his
brother): "Scott reading, occasionally, from 'Prince Arthur'; telling
border stories or characteristic anecdotes; Sophy Scott singing with
charming _naivete_ a little border song; the rest of the family disposed
in listening groups, while greyhounds, spaniels, and cats bask in
unbounded indulgence before the fire. Everything about Scott is perfect
character and picture."

In the beginning of 1818 the business affairs of the brothers became so
irretrievably involved that Peter and Washington went through the
humiliating experience of taking the bankrupt act. Washington's
connection with the concern was little more than nominal, and he felt
small anxiety for himself, and was eager to escape from an occupation
which had taken all the elasticity out of his mind. But on account of
his brothers, in this dismal wreck of a family connection, his soul was
steeped in bitterness. Pending the proceedings of the commissioners, he
shut himself up day and night to the study of German, and while waiting
for the examination used to walk up and down the room, conning over the
German verbs.

In August he went up to London and cast himself irrevocably upon the
fortune of his pen. He had accumulated some materials, and upon these
he set to work. Efforts were made at home to procure for him the
position of Secretary of Legation in London, which drew from him the
remark, when they came to his knowledge, that he did not like to have
his name hackneyed about among the office-seekers in Washington.
Subsequently his brother William wrote him that Commodore Decatur was
keeping open for him the office of Chief Clerk in the Navy Department.
To the mortification and chagrin of his brothers, Washington declined
the position. He was resolved to enter upon no duties that would
interfere with his literary pursuits.

This resolution, which exhibited a modest confidence in his own powers,
and