He had attained the height of
fame and happiness; his success had partaken of the miraculous; but
misfortune came to mar it all, for a time.
PECUNIARY TROUBLES.--In the financial crash of 1825-6, he was largely
involved. As a silent partner in the publishing house of the Ballantynes,
and as connected with them in the affairs of Constable & Co., he found
himself, by the failure of these houses, legally liable to the amount of
L117,000. To relieve himself, he might have taken the benefit of the
_bankrupt law_; or, such was his popularity, that his friends desired to
raise a subscription to cover the amount of his indebtedness; but he was
now to show by his conduct that, if the author was great, the man was
greater. He refused all assistance, and even rejected general sympathy. He
determined to relieve himself, to pay his debts, or die in the effort. He
left Abbotsford, and took frugal lodgings in Edinburgh; curtailed all his
expenses, and went to work--which was over-work--not for fame, but for
guineas; and he gained both.
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