accompanied the old gentleman to town, and been over the whole of his palace, which is of his own planning and building, and an odd piece of architecture it is. In his archives I found a sword of the grand captain-and in the garret, covered with dist, several unwieldy arquebusses, with matchlocks, which, doubtless, made a great noise in the time of the conquest of Granada.

A day or two after his despatch to Mr. McLane, he received a letter from his brother Peter, conveying the opinion of some friends, that the office conferred was below his talents and standing in the world, to which he replied as follows:

ALHAMBRA, July 25, 1829.

I have just received your letters of July 9 and 12. It is too late to be influenced by the afterthoughts of honest suggested by the conversation of as I have already writ ten to Mr. McLane that I would join him in London. There is much force in what they say; but after all, their objections are merely on motives of self-pride; that I ought to hold myself above such minor appointments, &c. Such objections have little weight with me; the only reputation of which I am ambitious is not to be increased or decreased by official station. Had the office of minister to London or consul to the same place been offered, mere considerations of convenience would have determined my choice between the two. Whatever ambition I possess is entirely literary. I cannot express to you how much the habit of turning my thoughts to this point continually has made me careless about all others. I accepted this appointment, therefore, because it would gratify my friends, and would link me with my country. * I am perfectly

*

content, therefore, for a time to be Secretary of Legation. If the world thinks I ought to be minister, so much the better; the world honors me, but I do not degrade myself. I have the same feeling in this respect that I have always had on points of precedence; I care not who takes the lead of me in entering an apartment, or sits above me at table. It is better that half a dozen should say why is he seated so low down, than any one should casually say what right has he to be at the top. So much for these objections. * *

[To Ebenezer Irving, Esq.]

MY DEAR Brother:

ALHAMBRA, July 25, 1829.

.* * * While I was balancing in my mind what route to take for England, a young English gentleman, by the name of Sneyd, arrived here, bringing letters of introduction to me. He appears to be well bred, well informed, and of highly prepossessing appearance. Fortunately, his plans require him likewise to be in London about the end of August, and he had marked out a route for himself precisely the one I most wished to take, but which I had felt unwilling to travel alone in this sultry season, where one must travel much at night, and be more exposed to robbers, &c. We have agreed to travel together, therefore, and shall set off in the course of three days. Our route lies through the Mediterranean provinces of Spain; viz., Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia, &c., some of the finest and most interesting parts of the peninsula. We enter France at Perpignan, and go from thence to Montpelier, up the Rhône to Lyons, make a little detour to Geneva and from thence direct to Paris. It is a wonderfully interesting route; I only regret that we have to travel rather rapidly and in so sultry a season.

To Peter he writes, July 28th:

I have just received your letter, covering that of Edward Livingston, Mr. Van Buren, &c. I leave Granada this afternoon at five o'clock in a kind of rumble tumble called a Tartana, on two wheels. We put in mattresses on which we lounge, and knock our heads together; but it is better than travelling on horseback in this hot weather. I am now about to run the gauntlet along the Mediterranean provinces, and if I get out of Spain without being robbed, I shall really consider myself remarkably fortunate. The great part of our baggage, however, goes on by Corsarios, who are numerous and well-armed.

Your affectionate brother,

WASHINGTON Irving.

CHAPTER XXIV.

DEPARTURE FROM GRANADA-LAST LOOK OF THE ALHAMBRA-JOURNEY IN A TARTANA-UNEXPECTED CIVILITY OF THE DUKE DE GOR-ROBBER MEMENTOES-SPANISH TRAVELLING-MOURNFUL FATE OF HIS TRAVELLING COMPANION-FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF DIPLOMATIC LIFE AT LONDON-BARGAIN IN AMERICA FOR MOORE'S LIFE OF BYRON-TWO LETTERS FROM MOORE ON THE SUBJECT-NEWTON-WILLIAM E. WEST-DETERMINES TO ESCHEW LITERARY DRUDGERY, AND GIVE DIPLOMATIC LIFE A TRIAL-RESOLVES UPON A LIFE

OF WASHINGTON.

TWE

WELVE days after his departure from Granada, Mr. Irving writes as follows from Valencia to Henry Brevoort:

I had intended writing to you from the Alhambra, but the time for my departure arrived before I had half finished with my correspondents. I cannot express to you how sensibly I feel the interest you have taken in my late appointment. I am gratified that my brothers consulted you concerning it, as I know you to consider my affairs both with brotherly feeling and with knowledge of the world. As it appeared to be the general wish of my friends that I should accept this appoint ment I have done so; but I assure you when I took my last look at the Alhambra from the mountain road of Granada, I felt like a sailor who has just left a tranquil port to launch upon a stormy and treacherous sea.

* * *

I left the Alhambra on the 29th July, after having passed between two and three months there in a kind of oriental dream. Never shall I meet on earth with an abode so much to my taste, or so suited to my habits and pursuits. The sole fault was, that the softness of the climate, the silence and serenity of the place, the odor of flowers and the murmur of fountains had a soothing and voluptuous effect that at times almost incapacitated me for work, and made me feel like the Knight of Industry, when so pleasingly enthralled in the Castle of Indolence.

* *

I set out for Granada on my long journey for England ir company with a young Englishman, Mr. Ralph Sneyd. He is an Oxonian, and well bred, intelligent, and amiable. We have made our journey to this place in a kind of covered cart called a Tartana, drawn by a mule. In this we put two mattresses, on which we lolled as we were trundled along the moun tain roads at the average of about twenty-eight miles a day. The heat of the weather at this season of the year made it unadvisable to travel on horseback, and as it was, we were obliged to lie by several hours during the heat of the day, and travel very early in the mornings and in the evenings.

To his brother Peter, he writes six days before from Murcia, when only about two hundred miles on his journey:

Our Tartana resembles a covered English market cart. It is the most lounging mode of travelling I ever knew. We walk a great part of the way where the road is pleasant and good. Our journey has been through a mountainous, sunburnt