e
Toby to himself. Adieu, my dear Lady Louisa; my sincere good
wishes always attend you.

W. S.

Not to disturb the narrative of his literary proceedings, I have
deferred until now the mention of an attempt which Scott made during
the winter of 1816-1817, to exchange his seat at the Clerk's table for
one on the Bench of the Scotch Court of Exchequer. It had often
occurred to me, in the most prosperous years of his life, that such a
situation would have suited him better in every respect than that
which he held, and that his never attaining a promotion, which the
Scottish public would have considered so naturally due to his
character and services, reflected little honor on his political
allies. But at the period when I was entitled to hint this to him, he
appeared to have made up his mind that the rank of Clerk of Session
was more compatible than that of a Supreme Judge with the habits of a
literary man, who was perpetually publishing, and whose writings were
generally of the imaginative order. I had also witnessed the zeal with
which he seconded the views of more than one of his own friends, when
their ambition was directed to the Exchequer Bench. I remained, in
short, ignorant that he ever had seriously thought of it for himself,
until the ruin of his worldly fortunes in 1826; nor had I any
information that his wish to obtain it had ever been distinctly
stated, until certain letters, one of which I shall introduce, were
placed in my hands after his death, by the present Duke of Buccleuch.
The late Duke's answers to these letters are also before me; but of
them it is sufficient to say, that while they show the warmest anxiety
to serve Scott, they refer to private matters, which rendered it
inconsistent with his Grace's feelings to interfere at the time in
question with the distribution of Crown patronage. I incline to think,
on the whole, {p.142} that the death of this nobleman, which soon
after left the influence of his house in abeyance, must have, far more
than any other circumstance, determined Scott to renounce all notions
of altering his professional position.

TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH, ETC., ETC.

EDINBURGH, 11th December, 1816.

MY DEAR LORD DUKE,--Your Grace has been so much my constant
and kind friend and patron through the course of my life,
that I trust I need no apology for thrusting upon your