... I have lost, it is plain, the power of interesting the
country, and ought, injustice to all parties, to retire while I have
some credit. But this is an important step, and I will not be
obstinate about it if it be necessary.... Frankly, I cannot think of
flinging aside the half-finished volume, as if it were a corked bottle
of wine.... I may, perhaps, take a trip to the Continent for a year or
two, if I find Othello's occupation gone, or rather Othello's
_reputation_."[57] And again, in a very able letter written on the
12th of December, 1830, to Cadell, he takes a view of the situation
with as much calmness and imperturbability as if he were an outside
spectator. "There were many circumstances in the matter which you and
J. B. (James Ballantyne) could not be aware of, and which, if you were
aware of, might have influenced your judgment, which had, and yet
have, a most powerful effect upon mine. The deaths of both my father
and mother have been preceded by a paralytic shock. My father survived
it for nearly two years--a melancholy respite, and not to be desired.
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