I'> Memorial of Washington Trning. MKMorii/vr. o*’ "%v.Ajc4niNf r I < >r. j»’\rrN'0. Satmim'Btutfjf* e{ IJi latt U)fr»*6iHgU!it BY LOUIS OATLOllD CLAAI The death of Mr. Washington Irving, occurring jant iw our Table, rendered it impossible for us to do more than cal and historical sketch of his life and his literary cmw fro porary daily journal, based, as we knew, upon authentic inmin,rr. A .soft, warm haze rested upon his ‘River of Delight,’ nml (lotl.e.l tiu: bold moun tains that towered over the Tappaiin-Zec, and the lolty l‘ali~ol. ►. in tin' distance, with almost a preternatural grandeur and glory. AVe rn'lo a itii a /lunyhter along the lovely road to Nyack, seldom saying a word; for she lioii iNG and hi.s writings from merest childish girlhood with an alfw-uon wlii'h wn.s hardly the first remove from love. Crossing to Tarrytown, we were received at the landing by a honpiuld' fi !■ nd, whose palatial mansion adorns the ‘Zee’ which it command* in iu aspects, and in company with Mr. Sparrowgrass, were driven at one* Ui nyside.’ And all the way we could not choose but think of the delight wa laui » lum dred times enjoyed in going over the same ground before, to the same dmiina- tion. But now all was changed. The Genics of the place liad departoo’dr an 1 leave you to yourself. witli a boau-fdcai of our beloved Irving. ‘ . Talking of AI’^asiiington Irving : Let mo take it for granted, reader, encountered him; for, except in the elevated circle where hothat you have never and shines, I believe ho is one who is not ambitions to ‘ be seen of men.’ ‘ I am still busy with building and improving, and shall be at home for ioine time t, you please, without further invitation, come, excepting perhaps Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday next. So eomo when ‘I am much obliged to you for the loan of the periodicals, which I shall return to Yavy truly yours. He moves affects not your pointings-oiit in the street, and greetings in the market-places: these lie leaves to be struggled after with painful yearnings, ‘ by tlie flimsy fry wliioli injudicious friends would inflate to bis capacity and standard.’ ‘ It is a year ago, since I had the pleasure to meet this affectionate, noble, genial I am myself but little known: and my praise is very far removed from what I slioiild like Mr. Irving to know tliat in my iieart of iiearts I could find it in my soul to bestow upon him. My feeling for him is a feeling of Love. His veracious ‘History of New-Yorh’ has created more risibility under my waist-coat, than any other volumes from the Past or the Present. I read them regularly once a year. AVhiit a transparent flow of wit; what adroit satire; what simple ‘ happiness’ of ex pression ! As ‘ Geoffrey Crayon ’ I am charmed with him : as an historian, I honor him; as a Patriot and a Gentleman, I thoroughly revere him! A\' hat a style is his ! you in good order. ‘Sunnyside, July iSth, 1S47. AFe can affirm, with the entirest truth, that nothing in the whole course of our life ever afforded us more supreme pleasure than we enjoyed in our subsequent visits to Sunnyside. AFe always wallced up on the Croton Aqueduct, a level, dry, and charming path-way, commanding the loveliest reaches of the ever-glo- rious Hudson; stopping to rest sometimes amid the ‘ breezy call of incense- breathing morn,’ to read an article for, or a proof-sheet of the Knickerbocker, under the shadow of one of the marble ventilators of the aqueduct. WiffliXGTO* lavnic.’ man L Memorial of Washington Irving. [January,110 I860.] Memorial of Washington Irving. 117 few pleasant Seminiscences of Washington Irving atLet UK hero proKont SunnyMc, iiifraeting, ns wo hope, no privacy, nor embodying any thing wliioh, if living, ho liimscif would not be willing should appear in print. As wo httve said, what always struck us the most forcibly was the universal kimlness of his heart, and the unostentatious loveliness of his outward acts and his every-day demeanor. Ono morning we were taking a short before-breakfast stroll along the north bank of the little stream which throws itself into the Hudson at the foot of the gentle slope on which stands the pleasant niansion of Sunnyside. Passing by a tree, close to the water’s edge, wo ob.scrvcd a bird sitting upon her nest: she never moved ; but only winked her small, bright eyes as we pas.scd. ‘ That is very strange, Mr. Iiivixo,’ wo .said: ‘ is that a wild or a tame bird ? she seems to have no bird-like timidity.' ‘ No,’ Mr. liiviNo rejoined, ‘ she has no here. I jiass here sometimes a dozen times a day; but I never molest her, nor she me.’ At which wo remember to have mentioned the story told by oui- friend Mr. Esliott, the eminent portrait-painter, of a man caught in the act of killing a fat young sheep belonging to a neighbor : ‘ What are you doing that for ? ’ asked the owner. ‘ What am I ffoinp it for ?’was the echo of the culprit: ‘I’ll kill any man’s sheep, I do n’t care who he is, that tries to lite me ! ’ At which Mr. Irving laughed heartily; which fact alone makes us love to mention the anecdote. a “Yon murky cloud U fmd with ralu,’ llml, In re ul, I'i. rumiit WO see rolling slowly over the hilla that environ Hlccpy-HoUow. on the oll„ r irde of the river. Even while we watch it, it begins to shako iU »kirt», and i.. irb down upon the fading landscape its ‘ superHu.x of shower.’ Looking at (lii«, o memoi'able excursion which the writer hereof once iiiad.: will/ (. )../u ilKV Cbatos through the wizard region of Sleepy-Hollow, a Height,orlo had made world-wide famous. The morning had bei n thni.d. r., nor did it entirely brighten up until the removal of the firn elmmj hospitable table of ‘ Sunnysidealways a precursor, as thelimt ruoaik.- I, ■ f i-lens- nnt weather about this time.’ After dinner, preceded by the l»di. ● of il,. I.i,liold and another guest in the family-carriage, Mr. Chayon, in a liglit ‘ tooled’ the ‘ Old Kniok’ over the high eastern hills that inclose flu Icy where in their day lived and flourished old Baltcs Van Ta.ssel, and hn ing daughter Katrine. Tho sun came out between the pearl-colored opaque e)..u.i~ the birds began to sing in tho trees; a bobolink was ‘ rising and sinking flaunting weed ’ in an adjoining field; and everything in nature was bright ai.d smiling. Kow it came to pass, howbeit, that when, beguiling the way wilh much rememberable converse, wo came to the brow of the last hill that overlooks the turn of the road into the valley, one of the aforesaid ojiaqin cloud'i, at first no bigger than a man’s hand, but which had been gradually ●gatb i lng fotne ?,’ tmbh niy darkened, and presently ‘opened upon us;’ also there w. re tbumb rlngi ii.d light nings; and trees, singly and in ranks, tossed their pluirn's of gi ' / r the storm. Moreover, the rain now descended amain; ini-.mu'-Ii 'ir.t Mr. f i ri .v an uinl i.ig/ err'. ■ :,i:t ir-' 1. ,,,.1 ,.|)../rc but think of«: « a ti 1 Mill, b b' l own pen ,.l : bowery ; at tho I'm fr'i.' ■i.r'.'.n, »h< Id r. Ill- iu'-.ui occasion to be afraid of any one around on n Irllg . ni.'l i -i '.v!'h wheeled suddenly into an angle of a rail-fence that skirlrd dismounted, clambered over, and took shelter under an adjac his head meanwhile the cushioned wagon-scat, adown whi' h, m fr/ m a tj /.v.', U..- rain poured from his back. ‘Why don’t you come under hnv', aid h. r T/.f .rtably lioused, as 7am?’ asked the Sleepy-Hollow historian, with While wc were sitting beside a dam, ‘a profane improvement,’ as Mr. Irving called it, the construction of wliich his brother liad been overseeing, he men tioned tlio deposition of a rooster, by a sort of eovp I Stilt of a stronger bird, which deposed monarch he pointed out as an exile, walking silent and solitary on tho other side of tlic brook. ‘ llo conics over sometimes,’ said Mr. Irving, ‘ to look in upon his old harem; but the members have no respect for him: his de gradation is complete. I am sony for him: ho was a high old cockolorum in his daju’ ‘ Do you SCO that tree ? ’ asked Mr. Irving, one day after dinner, as we were That tree is now about . ■ r :r,;T ino.-k t’nnily: ‘ AVliereto tlms then’ ‘Old Knick:’ ‘Dare n’t do it, dear bir; ’fr.il i ■ f the ligl/tiiing. now playing about ua; had a near relation once struck with tl.. ■ / ,< *,rio kind always mentioned by country newspapers as the most fataiy vl.i! under a tree; came near dying — but did n’t.' Oil! ’ answered Mr. Crayon, ‘ that alters the case: ‘ it runt in the farni! i. rh !’ ‘Well, well; the idea of liglitning ‘running in a family;’ the odd appcaraii' /- of tlie speaker, with his inverted leathern cushion on his head, under which he ]',..k.:d like a Roman beneath his tortoise-shell shield; the after excursion through the valley, with all that we saw and heard by the way; the appearance of a saturated gue-t about the hearth of ‘ Sunnyside’ that night, clad in roomy habiliments of the liost; all these manifold recollections have arisen in about the space of a minute. “Cur’ons’ and very pleasant are tho matters lodged in the thousand cells of urn fluid’:the ' ,g.T:iding t t standing just before the south porch at Sunnyside. seventeen feet high, and growing taller and taller every day. I bought that of our friend Downing at Newburgh, for a flowering shrub, which was to bear an odorous blossom, and attain to its full growth at about four feet! The discrep ancy reminds me,’ continued Mr. Irving, ‘ of a lady whom I once knew in Eng land, wlio purchased of a dog-fancier a fine, soft, glossy King Charles spaniel He was made a great pet of, and fed and pampered, even beyond his desires; for after every meal he was in tho extremest pain; running round and moaning in tlie most piteous manner; and one day, after a more than usual hearty repast, he hurst his King Charles jacket, and came out in his true character of a stout English bull-dog! My flowering shrub has gone tiirough witii a similar meta morphosis.’ It was a most pleasant event, '■A Bide through Sleegyy-IIollov) with Washing ton Irving.’ Let us record it for our present readers: memory! This brief gossipry, short as it is, has exceeded our space: but it will be fol lowed by several similar sketches upon the same theme, covering and including the reminiscences of more than twenty years. The last tribute was paid to the ‘ Beloved Departed ’ at the rural cemetery near Tarry town, of which he speaks in the following characteristic, felicitous letter: Memorial of Washinfiton Ining. 1191800.] [Jainiaiy,rn-morial of Washington Irving.118 lie would carelessly foil usleop on Ihc ki'-.iiikI or on the settee in the piazza of Wolfert’s Roost. A severe catarrh, wliirU for a fain time afTcctcd hi.s voiec, was the consequence. Of this difflculty ho w.as t udd. i.ly i. Ilr v d, by the prescription of a good lady in the neighborhood, hut an a.^lluna iimu' I -d o,. -Mv I)i .in Mn. (Vaiik : to send mo tho two numbers of tho ICNicKEnnocKEii which containr will (li inh you thoMon oi' Moo'i'joy- . , . oiuto spoke to mo about some work, in print or manuscript, m the possession Oriental correspondent, relative to the lustory of Persia, wliich might be of I 4 ‘ Von of iiiilr - ● 1 4. r -.o ●orvice to "le.in writing the life of M.miomet. Can you procure mo a sigiitot it. 4 { „(.iid you a plan of a rural oometery, projected l.iy some of tho worthies of Tarry- the woody hills adjacent to the Sleepy Hollow church. I have no pecuniary ■ ement of , -hisflfth , ...rahloto - . ■ ; ■ l i-lU.S I 1,'ir the heart that developed itself about the time Mr. Iiti i-,., t, ; volume of the Life of WAsniNGTON, the proof-shoe I,, i.f u’,.' n correct. His great and laborious work had been town, O" . - , , , Interest in it, but I hope it may succeed, ns it will keep that beautiful and umbrageous nciglihorliood sacred from the anti-poetical ami ull-levciling axe. Beside, I trust I shall lay niy bones there. The projectors arc plain mattcr-of-faet men, but are already aware of tlie blunder they have committed in nuining it tlic Tnrrylown instead of the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. The latter name would have been enough of itself to secure the patronage of all desirous of sleeping quietly in their graves. I beg you to correct this oversight, should you, as I trust you will, think proper to notice this sepulchral enter- I ' -1 eiirn- ') -,i interruption, and as it drew to a close, Mr. Iiivr.u prM.,i ■ ious friends that ho would take a long holiday of r- ; he considered liimself sound. He had sufTereJ fever and ague, contracted by a tour to tho WesU he would fall into a lethargy that lasted Bcvuh) 1 could not be aroitscd by artificial means. Some of Mr. luvnjo’s friends also lx;!i<:vod that Ir- i-' v> r f utircU r< ; from tho effects of the foil from hi.s horse, alhidi d t-. I i Mr. M'lU.iIvtt' r. face was much bruised, but ho called tlio atteiitiou of ii; , j-liy i- imi < ; 'ci illy t ■ his chest, remarking jocosely that his skull was very : ( nnig ; that he h i ! ri*r had the head-acho in hLs life, or any unidcasant sensatimi in d.c hf.t-';, cxi ● ;v a few attacks of vertigo when m-iting the first volume of his Lif ' of \Va Mr. Inviso w'as informed of his actual condition through hfo ntph 'v. the next interview with his physician, he told him, in private, what he ha'l l.i-.ird, wished him to explain the nature of the disease, and remarked that he suppoi,o sofis loud breathing. , . , , ^ n i \bout the limo of the completion of hi.s last volume, Mr. Living called upon his pby.sii-ian, in the city, greatly depressed and agitated, saying that he had not slept for four'nights, and begged that something might be done for him. He re mained in the city a few weeks, for bettor treatment. The doctor found that in tho evening it w.as comparatively easy to procure hLs patient sleep, when a piano was pla.Wng or people were conversing in the room; but when he retired by himself, there would return tho same wakeful nervousness, sadness, and despond ency. His friends would read to him by tho hour, not that he wished or allowed himself to become interested, but to hear tho monotonous tones of the voice, lie had travelled so much, and w evi. .1 I< lif. d 1“ hil room Ht the 11 pilchiT lit I, I (..iriplaiiivd .'liked « . an e iiK'di. Ii ,f 'I Ii lull II II... HO l.u.1 ' ||. IW llpl, of low spirits, saying: ‘I never in my life f.U few stops, put his right hand on tho f>ot of Uie . licart, and a moment after began gradually to i-iiik. trying to seat him.self in a chair by his side, caught I fell back upon her shoulder, and with three litlle .fi-oan or struggle, life was extinct lll’l < . . ■ r lii.Hrolla;.»r 1,» 1 .\t ( I r ■ I. 'Hi a;● /;● l!IIM ‘ a‘ i.< l »»M , I ('».f.,i Ho was buried in plain citizen’s dress; and it liarity, that the rosewood coffin was marked by ihe natural wood. On his table, where he had plan | fiivorito books: the Bible and Prayer-Book, ‘I’ilpriiu', 1 pleasures of Hope,’ etc. Every anecdote or incident concerning Mr. Iiiviso | , tr, .-, ;ir. d I,, i.,.. fricnd.s. As an instance of his kindncps to animal-, l„. .,i.l. ... .1,y, t-, In- pl y gician, when they met in the road a team nhich l. i l f .ni.. rly h ' '.c d t.. h. * I can’t bear to see tho.se poor horses drawing dirt, 'I!.. y .w. r. riago-horses. I .shall never again sell any animal ii»at b. I horses, liowever, were well cared for, tho owner being very proud of tl Apdison Riciiards gives us the two following incidents. Wliilc ho thc pleasant picture seen through two beautiful elms, as you look up the i Acr ft the Sunny-Side lawn, and talking with IL. Irvixg, tho latter fell into allusions to his advancing age and declining strength, and added, with hi.-, cW ractcristic sly humor: ‘ Some twenty years ago, I carried both those tree.s on 0iy shoulder ; but, bless you, I couldn’t do it now! ’ He had planted the trees liimself. Speaking one day of the pretty gardener’s cottage, he said that he had been forced to build it; that Robert, after basking in the smiles of Fortune .as a jolly, contented bachelor for many years, had been overtaken by calamity, and got married; that it was a sad affair, a very sad affair, although Robert did not to think so, hut on the conL-ary, deemed himself a more lucky boy than Still, the thing was done, and could not be undone; and it only remained to make the best of a bad bargain. He had foreseen the consequences at once, (pointing to the youngsters playing in the cottage park,) and so set forward to plan and erect a new edifice. It was Mr. Irving’s custom to buy Chri.stmas toys for the children of his gardener and coachman, and prc.sont them himself. Last Christmas tho unpleasant weather kept him in-doors, but he was ii'ji.i I -I a nuii.iwhich were very soothing to liis excited nerves, known so many distinguished individuals, however, that in reading there was danger of exciting him, by toucldng some chord of association or sympathj’-. Mr. Irving suffered greatly from these attacks of despondency during the re maining months of his life, consequent, no doubt, upon his failing ho.alth. He did not allow them, however, to interfere with his long established habits. Down to the day of his death, he was regularly in his chair at the head of the table, carved and waited upon all who were seated, in that unstudied but graceful man ner that was characteristic of all his acts. When suffering the most, he would sometimes cheer up suddenly, his eyes sparl-dc and his fiice flush, so as to give him the appearance of being years younger, exhibiting in a remarkable degree the power of a strong will over his weak body, and leading visitors, especially, to At such times he would I .,r I I ' I I ' , I'..- Ill: II; V .-ar- ( , 1,1. 'I II.; Ml T. V, a . fit. iiii!.' II111.- .1.1 hclievo that the reports of his illness were exaggerated, utter, in a quaint way, some of those bright and humorous sayings for which he was so remarkable. When, for the first time, he found liimself too weak to carve, or to cut up the piece given him, ho remarked sadly that he would go and lie Ho rose with tottering steps, and one end of his shawl happening to dragdown, upon tho floor, he looked back and said playfully: ‘ I must look like a bird of Paradise, with my fine long tail’ talking about a woman who had ascended in a balloon and never been heard from, and wondering what had become of her, Mr. Irving, suddenly brightening, said: ‘AVhy, she’s up above; handed out by Exocn and Elijah!’ Mr. Irving, as we have already said, was remarkably abstemious. He could endure nothing gross, was fond of delicate bits, and seemed not to eat half so much as an ordinary person of his size. He drank tea and coffee, and had wine on the dinner-table, using it himself, however, most sparingly. Mr. Irving al ways offered his arm to one of the ladies present, to conduct her to table in the olden style; said grace liimself; usually attended the morning and evening pray ers, while his parting from tho members of the family in the evening, and his greeting of them in the morning were as affectionate as if he had been about to leave, or had been separated from them a long time. Rarely or never has there been seen in an American family one so kind, so considerate, so gentle, and yet so noble, uniting in himself all home virtues and courtly manners. Such was the delightful place Mr. Irving filled at 'Wolfort’s Roost, and from When a number of people in the room were .■^ecm ever. was uneasy all day about the children, who received tho presents, but, he knew, would miss Ills visit. Tho next day he called upon them, to enjoy their bright smiles. In the cars one day from New-York an Irish woman in the next seat could not keep her two noisy children quiet. Mr. Irving took one of them in his arms, caressed it, and when the woman got out she thanlvcd him, saying: good father. Sir.’ The children at Tariytown would often put flowers in his church pew. Mr. Irving cherished tenderly the memory of his excellent mother. On meet- You must be a kind, No,’ said Mr. Irving, ‘ I am, unfortunately, an old bachelor.’ [January,Memorial of Washington Irving. ■ . 1,0 was so struck with her resemblance to his .parent, then dead mg Min. i ' j. ji, g overpowered him, and he was obliged to apologize '- u ( o emotions her presence excited. It is well known that Mr. Invixo ' -1" I to the sister of a distinguished lawyer, and that she died of consump- T ;'"K >e expiration of the time fixed for their marriage. lYe have heard of a 1'”'' t 7°. 'Tu-' onimo upon the precious relic repaired so far as possible. Ml- RiiNo an is ni-iiiccd with two friends situated like themselves, once visited a wa ermg-p ace near the city. Many years later, Mr. Iiivixu called upon the same nen , sui- undod by a happy family, and was so overcome by the associations sugges o , that he burst into a flood of tears. Memorial of Washington Twlng. lli:t IfiOO.]122 , Ilia troubled life,’ he cominercil for II r.r, I i>l ' " i"' ppoken. ‘ It was at this period of his life tl.at, il„ Ihot relation of friendly intimaty »hi, h iiieaaure ellaced the relative dilh r. i„ i- of [. As we roamed together t,v. i ilo le i,[ iiud encouraging word fell from hi,,, i„, I - i ● ( „f hi.s own occupations. How ho i, I ■ . that whore ho gave expreasion to {, r hng, h, were at one gush all he intended to gi hours together, he took mo to his r,,, , ting, without pause, under one in j.ii.,ll.ir. 11 remember it to this day j it iilonc in my chamber,’ to the end. fessions of Irtixg’s own inward > xp, ‘As an historian, Iuving etande in thi li-m’ g{ merit —research, critical judgment and golden stylo; exquisite in the meh„h of jlis life of Wasiiixgto.v, which is Mill d has so painted the Father of his Conntry to u .■ lif ; m-id-. ■’ 1 i : of original research, he lias yet ndde-l m.all that ».i‘ n .t ki.'-wn h,i i ' tinguishos him is the grace and facility of his iiiovi ni‘nt. He wriu i ,13 it were, by the aid of special endowments; he tal., s with him s < :'h.r i. fails; a clear, impartial judgment, and an unrivalled ktr-uucis of ins „ ii.^ ■ ■ ^ lie may err in minor details, but never in the general effect. No i.,-,.; hue disw r, ;> and touching, and vivid a picture of 'WAsniSGTOs in his retiremu-t m Isvixc. oh lished it while suffering from prostration of the nerves, a depression of spirit., at,.', li.ai attack of asthma which harassed him to the last. ‘ Nor let it be forgotten that Ievixg is a native of our own Kew-York. Like Cuaitsu, and Miltox, and Pope, and Gkat, his birth-place was in the heart of a city. Among the Greeks, when a victor returned from the Olj-mpian games, the citizens of liis own home esteemed his prizes their own, went out to welcome his return, and would even break down the walls to receive him in greater triumph. Our Ieviso has wrestled in the gsuic of life and come off the conqueror; ho has gone to his long home; on the mildc.u of win ter days we have surrounded him with flowers and laid him among Lis kindred, and hi.s spirit in its flight has been borne upward on the affections of countless multitudes. Now, what shall wo do hero to mark for him our veneration and love? He gave to this city of merchants fame throughout the world of letters. Mill not, then, the merchants of Xtw- York raise to his memory a statue of purest marble ? It would be tbe payment of a debt to his fame, a just tribute to bis virtues, a lesson to the irsing generations. Fathers might then take their sous to gaze on his lineaments, and say: ‘ There is the man who during more than flfty years employed his pen as none other could have done, and in all that time never wrote one word that was tainted by skepticism, nor one line that wu not aa chaste and pure as the violets of spring.’ ’ to I ] . i! n ifli 'i t, < H - ■ ● iri I r4 >Mii.j tii > iiifitj til ' . i 111 4Mr )● gi¬ ll run-,AH Ml. 1 . ● -I ■ > i|ig, lifliir ”i i (till ' s of oanirai 1,1b lore of animals, his deliglits in snrvoyiug Ilia garU,# ,,, |,,, ,,.»1 to bohohUhe anomaliesof the vcgctuhlo world, hia grallfcal.u,, i„ .«„,p„|„nd.na lie lalvira „ftho naturalist, and point out how the defect, of th. wins,I. of iha, ,Ur by Ins reading and lus minute observation. Ho l.a. more ||.«, omu. d«.|i wni, u,uui tbc odd characters ho has encountered in the .trecls of our niy „ ,h,,„ a,.. .„o ^eins to have inado a stronger impression on him iJiMn ii.. ^ "i singularly constructed man finds u place in any of lavi^,/ * * iTou ally gentlemen, have dwelt J800.][January,Memorial of Washington Truing. I2r. 124 ,, „ , . -jyuf the renowned Johii-street Theatre. There were some si-v years ,.^1^^'*'**.*" '* rtifcg nnd Irvixq occupied a jdiice in the school among the older youth dillcrence in K master had his desk and exercised his ferule. The '*■’ '"y joholiir the nearer the cntriuiee or door seemed to be the disposition of the yoimgor mo » dreary teaching in our academies, young Irving was asso- m’r 'rLl'tli hoys of about the same age witli himself, and their studies blended in classes in\i fu-(linnry way so common in school arrangements. I remember well the elementary I t gcattcred about so characteristic of a common English school. The ‘ Columbian Or.tnr’of BiNonAM, and Hamilton Mooub's ‘Monitor;’ the ‘School-master’s Assistant’ of Dilwobtii, and the ‘Arithmetic’ of Pike, with hero and there a copy of Dvren s Eng lish Dictionary. In those days ballads, on printed slips or folded in octavo half-sheets, were widely sold in the streets, and many found their way in the school-house. Watty ond Meo was of the number, supposed generally to ho an offspring of lluiiNS, but after- ●d known as an cai’ly production of tlio celebrated Alexaniieb IVilson, the great Amo- rionn ornithologist, and many of tho songs of tho funious Dibdin. Young Ibting was, I think, more of a reader than a student, so far as prescribed duties enjoined. I take it that even at tliis juvenile period he had already adopted his own peculiar method of ob taining knowledge. That quick forcsightedness, that apt soiziiro of a principle or a fact, tliat quick coniprcliousion rendered it comparatively any easy matter for him to master Ids rule of tlirco, and as to grammar, wm may infer from the ever dominant beauty and gracefulness of his diction in all his writings, that he was etymological from the beginning. Tlio leading teacher of the institution was ever insisting on the importance of rhetoric, and struggled liard to make every boy a Cicero. Ho assigned pieces for memory, to be rehearsed at the public exhibitions of his scholars and such was his ethnological science, that ho assigned to Irving the heroic linos: ● W| Hii.gii ever apparent. That his nmid was fructified by „f j think a safe mferonce. That fountain of knowUdg. yi.id, . la ,„g .41 .u delineate human character, and who lias excelled him in (h.i hr.,,, h „f loiilcu ,ion? Ho had a marvellous tendency to tho curiou.. I11T..0, ),c w.dkvJ Ihr.m^l, . lunatic asylum, would seem to have been quullf) d tv> write W'tU' u on iti.ountv’ , bod bn Ijecu bred to physic, could bis aensibilitic* hu\c endured iim.b »er>itudr, b-; become famous for his descriptive powers in diagno.tic patl,.,l„gy Th. r-- singular and peculiar excellence in Mr. Irvino. His courteoii. and henignuot ...t. r. .mr« ^itli others, whether m the humbler or tho higher walk, of life, „„ eapia.iiog . jliaractcr as never to create a rebellious feeling, hut ever awaken emotion, of fn. o.l.hip, Unobtrusive with his vast merits, he won esteem from all beholders. lU tK,s.c..eJ ■ .imck discernment in the analysis of character. Of all mortals he was freest of envy, and intrit of every order he was ready to recognize. A literary man,yiar exctllcnct, he could .diuirc (be arts and look upon mcchauical skill and the artisan with the feelings of the occomplislied in scientific pursuits; he knew that intellect presided in mechanics os w.U gs in the Homeric song. Posterity, to whom he may most safely be confided, will forgot neither the man nor his writings ; these unfold the treasures of a commanding genius laden with the excellencies of an unparalleled diction, while of the author himself we may emphatically affirm that his literary- products are a faithful transcript of his peculiar mind. He enjoys a glorious triumph; he need not plead in extenualion of s line that he has penned. Let us console ourselves at his loss that he was native and ‘ to the manor born,’ that his life was immaculate and without reproach, and that in death he tri- umpked over its terrors. Let it be our pride that the patriarch of American literature i. indissolubly connected, in his mighty fame, with the Father of his Country. ‘ The lateness of the hour forbids a longer trespass on your indulgence.’ ■ gUt ),t,r WA* a trail of ‘ My voice is still for war,’ while I, nearly seven years y-ounger, was given for rhetorical display, ‘ rity the sorrows of a poor old man.* ‘ Tlicrc was a curious conflict existing in the school between the principal and his assist ant—the former a legitimate burgher of the city, the latter a New-England pedagogue. So far as I can roraomber, something depended on the will of the boy’s parents ; but if not expressed otherwise, the principal stuck earnestly to Dilworth, and tho assistant, for his section of instruction, to Noah Webster: the same system was adopted with the school ill unfolding tho intricacies of arithmetic. Dilworth was all in all with the princi pal, while NicnoLAS Pike, with his amended federal currency, was imparted by tho assistant. mo.t ‘ It is a remark, well founded, that realities are but dimly to he traced in the twilight of the imagination, and the first impulses of genius are often to be illustrated by the sub sequent career of the individual. Young Irving at school was a quiet boy*. I can narrate no wild freaks or sports originating from liis conduct. It is true, that except from tho general good order of his section of tlio room and Ids devotion to reading, 1 had little chance to do more than look at him as at otlier scliolars, witness his moveraeiits in tlio street, and observe his rather taciturn and sequestered way. He seemed to have a habit of loneliuess or abstraction; but he was early a reader, and I might say an observer from the beginning to the end of Ids life. These qualities, it is not to bo supposed, were so prominent as to induce special notice at that period of life; y-ct, as his teacher seemed to bestow particular attention to his pupil, his maturer wisdom may- have found in his scho lar a temperament of peculiar indications, and thus tolerated the impulses of a y-outh who gave promise of character. Among the incidents of young Irving’s life, we know him to have been remarkable for his pedestrian excursions, at times alone; sometimes accompanied with his intimate friends, Bhevoort, Paulding, and Blaovelt, an unfledged FROM MR. WILLIS’ ‘IDLEWILD’ LETTER. ‘During tho ten minutes before Mr. Irving came in, (for ho was out upon hi- morning drive when we arrived,) his nieces very kindly gratified our interest in the ‘workshop of genius’ by taking us into the library —the little curtain-window ed sanctuary where hi.s mind had found both its labor and its repose, though, by the open ncwspopcni scatiercd carelessly over the large writing-table in the centre, and the inviting readiness of the well-cushioned lounge in the recess, it now serves more the purpose of the repos* needed. It was a labyrinth of books; as it was a labyrinth of lender associations, in which, as the eye roved over its consecrated nooks and corners, the fanev, in all rever ence, rambled lovingly ! The tear at the heart kissed the threshold as we left it. ‘I was looking admiringly-, once more, at Jarvis’s record of him at the Sketch-Book period more [January,Memorial of Washinfjton Inimj. Memorial of Washinfon Irving.|H!0.] 127 120 the fui’ collar, which all who have aeen it will so well remem- We had heard so much, recently, of hisiilrnit withofhislilh, .lliii I'l FROM TIlEODtlUK TW/rON .-I ‘ (I‘J C IIM (( AT r T s ■. VHIini-’.. ■i„v,s-u came infrom his drive. " ''V .3V«rnriscd to sec withhow livelyand firm a step he entered-removing rt (a comfortable departure from the old-school covering, which I had "'‘''''1 to see on so proper a head!) with as easy elegance as over sitting down '."Tr iy shawl left carelessly over his shoulders, and entering upon kmd inquiries hanco of courtesies with no hindrance of debility that I could see He is thinner 'vi rUi both form and features -owing to the asthma, which interferes somewhat '";.‘;;;"hL repose when lying down-hut the genial expression of his » nud bis eye as kiiJcUy and bright. As to sprigbtUnesa of a ^ ^ I could sec little difference from the Washington Iuving of other days. T e repor illness must have been exaggerated, f thought. 'cIu“ r.^tion falling upon oxereise, Mr. lavixo remarked that he daily took his drive in the carrio^o —less from any desire to go abroad than from finding, since he ac np haliTts rffabor, that time hung heavy tii his hands. If ho walks out, it is only in ho uronuds IVe spoke of horseback-riding, and ho gave us a most amusing e“Ount of is two £ eipeidenees in that way-a favorite horse called ‘ Gentleman Diek' hav ng .^ivn hhii over his head into a laurel bush, which kindly broke his fall; and another hid "ome nag, given him by his brother, having proved to be opmionative as to vorj a certain bridge, which it was very necessary to pass in choice of ro ^ any reasonable persuasion be got over. W-n^tlf^ling of this horse-dogmatist to town, to be sold to meaner service for his obstinacy, had ended the experiments in the saddle. ‘The honored invalid complaining a little of hoarseness in his voice, I mentioned to him an nlleviative I had lately elmneed upon myself for a similar trouble - asking accident, lly for some help to my ho.arscncs3 in an apothecary’s shop, and getting a " j “ mos iiiystorioiis nal, which I had since found an invariable throat deepenoi tor three Ites in Z Iniut. I contrived to call to memory the Osawatamystic inesnption on the box (‘Brown’s Pectoral Trochees,’) and I was amused with the affectionate plajfii ness with Ihich Mr InviNG called on one of his nieces, (explaining, aside, ‘ this is my doctor,) Jo lemoulr the name of the medicine. This same charming honsehold physician, observed followed him to the door, as he came out afterward to see us off, and guarded hhn amiinst the cool air by tenderly drawing the shawl about his neck and placing his hat caressing affections ivhich he evidently submitted to as a habit, the thus his constant ministers being like a portion of his own personal I fnm ii ,|‘●Mr. Tnvixo is not so old-looking ),iin IIS 'll the winter of life; 1 found him m ly ;>, y.' |,.,i ituir.s, and walked tlirough the hall into Uie l,„. V. j ml. i, « ,,light well liavo made one doubt wliuther ho hud (l uly Hn;,n ,i lli. was suffering from usilinm, and was mullled «p»m T i|,,- |, wrapped like a great loose scarf around his m rk ; hiil iw lot.., ihaii') “"‘'i ‘lespito his hoarseness and troubled chc-t, hr ■. conversation, he made me nlniost forget that X was ih« g i. -t , | , ■ tlirce-score years and ten.’ ‘ But what should one talk about who had only half an I lured the question ; ,1; I I ; V, I..S ago, , ill came diiwo :, , !y step lliut os om HIM,III ( I I II ● , i,lh year I w , I, '. liawl, I id orm-I I'U I i.:,-i ■iVfi' . V. I ven ‘ ‘ Now that yon have laid aside your pen, which of vi u with most plcasuro?’ ‘ He immediately replied; ‘ I .scarcely look with full ‘■aii f 11 , i not seem what they might have been; I often wish that I <. ■d l i , take tliein down from the shelf, one by one, and write tin ‘ Ho spoke of his daily habits of writing, before he had n His usual hours for literary work were from Dmr;,ii g v, ; ’■ I ■ r i |i. . 1.1 ,1 I ■ m I. I IIto ■ ill" II 111'., ii I « rr I . i: ■more. Iiad gciierally found his mind idost vigorous in the early I :ut i,f i' '■ d:i . in 1 heen subject to moods and caprices, and could never t.-ll, wl” u le 1‘ ■ l. many hours would pass before he would lay it down. ‘ ‘ But,’ said he, ‘ these capricious periods of the heat and glow i f Cfiirq e- pcen the liappiest hours of my life. I have never found, in any thing r u'-i'" walls of my study, any enjoyment equal to sitting at my writing-de.-k with ,y i i a new theme, and a mind awake.’ ‘ His literary employments, he remarked, had always been more Utc ■' 11. I ■ . I w f -● I entuta:i,. ■ than tasks. ‘ ‘ Some writers,’ said he, ‘ appear to have been independent of moods. Sir Walti i; Scott, for instance, had great power of writing, and could work almost at any tim*; .-o could CnABUE —but with this difference: Scott always, and Cbabde seldom, wroU- wili. I remernher,’ said he, ‘taking breakfast one morning witli Eogebs, Mooue, and rn.iDim; the conversation turned on Bybon’s poetic moods; Ce.s.bbe said that, however it might be with Lord Bvuox, as for himself, he could write as well at one time as at an.,*!; said Iiivi.s-G, with a twinkle of humor at roc.alling the incident, ‘Cbabb* has w great deal that nobody can read 1 ’ ‘ Ho meutioned, that while living in Paris, he went a long period without being it,!,. write. ‘I sat down repeatedly,’ said he, ‘with pen and ink, but could invent .r-.'i.:; .- worth putting on paper. At length I told my friend Ton Moobe, who dropptd morning, that now, after long waiting, I had the mood, and would hold it,; work it out as long as it would last, until I had wrung my brain dry. So I beg -, shortly after breakfast, and continued, without noticing how the time was j Moohb came in again at four in the afternoon —when I had completely cct. r : with froslily-writton sheets. I kept the mood almost without interruption for ‘I asked which of his books was the result of this frenzy: he replied, ‘ Br:..r bri: Hall-’ ‘ ‘ None of your works,’ I remarked, ‘ are more charming than the Biography ef Gonn- sniTn.’ But/upon his head — gentle troop who are Attributable, perhaps, to a rallying of his animal spirits with cessation from work, I could not but wonder at the effortless play of‘DiediucuKxickerbo ckeb humor, which ran through all his conversation. Wasuington Ibvixg, in his best days, I am very sure, was never more socially ‘ agreetrble ’ than with us for that brief visit. n ^ stance was mentioned in tlie course of this pleasant gossip. There was some passing dis cussion of the wearing of beards — his friend, Mr. Kexxedy, Imving mac e la a e in his physiognomy since they had mot-and Mr. liivixo closed a playful comment or two upon the habit by saying that be could scarce afford the luxury ’ invo it would do, the loss of the most effectual quietus of bis nerves. when tired of lying awake, sure of going to sleep immediately after, a ^ of bis. Tbeve was an amusing exchange of sorrows, also, between him an . . i as to persecution by autograph-hunters; though the cx-Sccretary gave la ler c stronn-est instance, mentioning an unknown man who had written tohim w en a e head of the Xavy Department, requesting, as one of his constituents, to be farms c wi autographs of all the Presidents, of himself and the rest of the Cabinet, and of any other distinguished men with whom he might be in correspondence! :-r :tcn » in » ; ● w* 'j 'w.t : w ' V V! ‘ ‘ Yet that was written,’ said he, ‘ even more rapidly than the other.’ He then added: * When I have been engaged on a continuous work, I have often been obliged to rite in the middle of the night, light my lamp, and write an hour or two, to relieve my mind; and now that I write no more, I am sometimes compelled to get up in the same way to read.’ * Sometimes, also, as the last Idlewild letter mentions, he gets up to shave. I > L. Manorial of Washingtot^ Irobuj.128 \n in Spnin,’ ho remarked, ‘ searching the old chronicles, and engaged oq 11 I 1'^r*Mm'S I often wrote fourteen or fifteen hours out of the twenty-four.’ ino J.ileorti^^ ,vl,enerer ho had forced his mind unwillingly to work, the product waa tni and ho invariably throw it away and began again ; ‘for,’ as he observed, worthlvai, hamvieretl out, is seldom good for any thing. An author’s '“*rf 'rmo to 'vork is when his mind is aglow : when his imagination is kindled-these Ire Iho precious moments; let him wait until they come, but when they have come, lot 1 ● iiioko the most of them.’ "I'r referred to his last and greatest work, the ‘Life of 'W'AsniSGTOJr,’ and asked if he , ,, iinishing it, any such sensation as Gidbon is said to have experienced over the last I'lcot of tile ‘ Decline and Fall.’ Ho replied that the whole work had engrossed his mind to such a degree, that, before ho was aware, ho had written himself into feebleness of health; that he feared, in the midst of his labor, that it would break him dow'n before Iiq could end it; that when at last the final pages wore written, ho gave the manuscript to his nephew to bo conducted through tlie press, and threw himself back upon his red. cushioned lounge with an indescribable feeling of relief! He added that the groat fatigue of mind, throughout the whole task, had resulted from the care and pains required in the construction and arrangement of materials, and not in the mere literary composition of tlio successive clieptcrs* ‘ On tho parlor wall hung the engraving of Faed’s picture of ‘Soott and his Contempo- raries ■ ’ I al'lndod to it as presenting a group of his former friends. ‘ ‘ Yes ’ said he, ‘ I know every man of them but three; and now they are all gone! ’ ‘ ‘ Arc’tho portraits good ? ’ I inquired. Scott’s head,’ he replied, ‘ is well drawn, though the e.xpression lacks something of Scott’s force; Campbell’s is tolerable; Lookhabt’s is the worst. Lockdakt,’ said he, of very delicate organization, but he had a more manly look than in the « i ■//‘aji ( / * was a mau picture.’ You should write one more book,’ I hinted. What is that?’ ‘ ‘ Your remiuisccnces of those literary friends.’ < ‘ Ah' ’ he exclaimed, ‘ it is too late now ! I shall never take the pen again; I have so up writing, that even my best friends’ letters lie unanswered. 1 must have t < entirely given rest No more books now ! * referred to the visit the week before, from Mr. Willis, whose letter he had just been reading in the Jlotne Journal. “I am most glad,’ said he, ‘that Mr. Willis remembered my nieces; they are ary housekeepers and nurses; they take such good care of me, that really I am the most for- tuu.ato old bachelor in the world! Yes,’ he repeated, with a merry emphasis, ‘ the most fortunate old bachelor in all tho world! ’ delightful to witness the animation of his manner, and the heartiness of his gratitude, as he continued to relate how they supplied all his wants — gave him his medi cine at the right time, without troubling him to look at tho clock for himself; called him down to breakfast; cloaked and shawled liim for his morning ride; brought him his hat for his flue weather walks; and in every possible way, humored him in every possible ‘Ho ‘ It was whim. I call them sometimes my nieces,’ he said, ‘ but oftencr my daughters! ‘As I rose to go, he brought from a corner of the room a photograph of a little girl, ex hibiting it with great cntliusiasra. It was a gift from a little child who had come to see him every day during his sickness. Tho picture was accompanied with a note printed in large letters with a lead pencil, by the little correspondent, who said she was too young to write. He spoke with great vivacity of his childish visitor. ‘ Children,’ said the old man, ‘ are great pets; I am very fond of the little creatures.’ ’ V .Editor'‘s Table. [January, read to ‘ mother ’ and ‘ the girls ’ something touching that species of eommcrco, pricked up his ever-opon and not over-prolonged ears ‘ for a boy of his size ’ — by sending to our sanctum, for his benefit and behoof, a certain carved wooden operative specimen of mechanical animal ‘movement’? IIo wants a wooden monkc3’’, climbing a small white-wood pole, to which he (the monkej', not our ‘little boy’) is very much attached by his arms. The higher ho climbs the ho shows his agility, but at the same time his inability to reach tlio top; until, his lucky stars favoring him, over ho goes, head first, down the other side 1 We want one of those. 94 I860.] 06Hilitnr'n Table. upon the superb edition of t'oor.K’. wmia, m,w in coor^.. of publiftation by Messrs. Townsend .tsu Comi-aht, ..four oAy ; and lU prtU ./tlm cliaraMcr of the enter prise, and especially of Daiu.ev’, esqukAU Alr-ig «ml rordial, to a degree somewhat out of the uauul ord*r of Ibl. oht. ■ui.l ri dive Quarterly. Deigning to refer again to this article, whan w. to ,1, ,o tiMi ‘ Narnitivc- History of the KmcKEimocaEr.,’ of Mr. Coorw-, ««„„ ^ ,«,r Magazi'’®. we content ourselves for the preaent witli lh«more liri,./ r (tract ‘ To bo thoroughly appreciated, the American nov.l. .4 i . . „ rv. ii hs his countrymen, abroad. HU fresh and »t,irlt«-l ni . _ infinitely, as regards vividness end clfect br tba w, i* pean stand-point. It is when surrounded hr lb, ’ ' when the effigies of national maturity ,ad tioualities which centuries have made life and the virgin nature of tbs world and win the heart. Our ideaof of his scenic limning and elaboration nf" ' fully communed with his dcei-i I- ""U* rbarnr Ur waa the fertile and hist ● i , ●"U'< lbs k,s.|i,..i a,r|,„^tsr. floK-nra, Md <■* Southern nature trem forest isles, the era-llkan ' ‘ *" the inartificial babh. “ ^ " that the mind take, ' - purity. Aboriginal sp ere a lowed by iculptured drlliaa aud a liiiug raca Diauldad by tba buhaat atviliaw- ion, le n ilderncss baa a tingular charm wbro cunlamplaud froai an aid Kampaan ally; an rank, natural ebaracUr* br«elield with Iho eatreme t)pt i n(artificial huinanllr U'llilf and around m. e seem, m gucli circumatance-. tfi inhate the halinj fra^rancr t f the prifncral woc»da, of duiky frjnna in llie and nestle to fhc Trrv heart of ?fatore in er verdant solitudea or ocean haunta, aa wc f-illoir the firui alep and piercing i ro of a iT 1 h ^ the iDif pirmtion of tiDhacknrjrd i»ccn«« and freeh. free, inth'pid, iao- ^ ° ) nt mo3t characteriitic life, which, comjfarrd with that aruund and within oa, seems in eed born in another bemtaphere, and fraught with hi|hrr ieeuta than caa t»er resii rom the effete ciriliiatmn of Ibp Old World. C j' i «« llito b«x)ni»« to u, wb»t RIOSTO 13 to the Italian axile, (.'eavASTn to the Spaniard, Scripture to the Hebrew — tba 1 crary representative of our nationality -the aoebanter ibroogfa who,*c spella wa ar, transported, at will, to the bogt and maadow,, the Indian trail, the hn-iltr’a lodge, th« irontier bulwark, the rocky coaat, Ibe patriotic acrifa, tba aacrat conncil, the anibuth, tb# s-irmis , the pure domestic altar, and (bt ●impte human aympalbica, which make up the a venturous ordeal through which our anccaPira paaaed to win the baritage that is tbair children s vast and vaunted home. For many yeara the only two native aothora ever found in the American artist’s meagrt library abroad, on the diplomat'i tabic, and in the banker s salon, were Cooper and Betakt — because through the novels of the one and the poems^ of the other, the history and the aoenciy of home could be so authentically re vived. . . . ‘ European readers, satiated with the worn-out romance of ItuUan amours, German mysticism, and French intrigue, turned with avidity to the grand natural panorama, the novel Indian warfare, the simple colonial life, the magnifleent ecenciy and heroic endurance in the wild and on the billow, unfolded in the pages of Cooper. The American traveller found in the remotest provinces of Europe, that next to Wasbukoton and Franklin, the household word of his nationality was Cooper.’ h, eivlbaaitou■ r, M' tba arU. )!.● p t'lr tba awilal ainii’n' mtllaw, ara vialUa m I a.id.U.' that Iba laid ojiaB b, I oil RSI., ,i.i|.ia» plM.ri Washinoton Irvinq cpon the late Fenimohe Cooper. — The subjoined note from Mr. ^Vasiiineton Iuvino, written to u.s soon after the publication of Mr. Cooper’s '■Pathfinder,' and which we find mis-filed among tlio letters of the ‘loved and lamented’ 'Willis Gaylord Clark, will form an appropriate opening to a few remarks which we had intended to make upon an able article in the last number of the ‘ North-American Review,’ upon James Fenimoro Cooper and his Writings: ‘ Mr DEAR Clark : ‘ I hope you have performed your promise, and that wo shall see an extended critique on Cooper’s new work in your next number, in wliicli tlio author will receive ample justice. I have just read the ‘ ratlifmdor,’ luui it has given me a still higher opinion than ever both of Cooper’s head and heart. It is an admirable production ; full of noble pictures of exalted virtue in the humbler paths of life. The characters of the ‘Pathfinder’ and ‘Mabel Hcnium’ are noble conceptions, and capitally sustained, the old salt-water atr captain, also, is a niastcr-pieec, with his nautical wisdom, his con tempt for fresh water, and his ‘ point no point ’ logic. Let no one s,ay, after reading ‘ Mabel Du.miam,’ that Cooper cannot draw a female ch.aractcr. It is a beautiful illus tration of the female virtues under curious trials, some of the most terrific, others of the most delic.ato and touching nature. The death-bed scene, where she prays beside her father, is one of the most affecting things I have ever read ; and yet how completely free from any overwrought sentiment or pathos I ‘ The proof to me of the great genius displayed in this work, is the few and simiilo elements with which the author has wrought out his effects. The story has nothing complicated ; it is a mere straightforward narrative ; the characters are few. ‘ I am interrupted by a call to breakfast; my brother is about to set off, so I must Very truly yours, The promise to which Mr. Irving alhtdos toas perfonned; and if wo remember rightly, by the late Mr. IIenrv Brevooiit, who translated for our pages, in that connection, the appreciative and eloquent critique of Balzac upon the great cha racteristics of Cooper’s writings, article to which we have alluded, in the present number of the ‘ North-Amorican Picview.’ It has been ascribed, and wo have no doubt correctly, to the pen of Mr. H. T. Tuckerman ; for it boars all the marks of that gentleman’s fine critical atste, true American feeling, and chaste and scholarly manner. The review is based *ap* . . Mf ● IB tU fikta mort dUilnot Uj Hit farii ?, «Imii I««irki4 m we break off. * WAsmsoTOX Inviso.’ But wc desire to call especial attention to the ■^r Editor's Table. [.Tanuavy, I860.]98 00Editode TaUt. naturalness of sentiment, deligbtful in those days of thtMocadonooatrlo ^ of wliat may be called the Georgian prose. Tlioy brought back the charm of Stbbse without his pruriency and his personal conceit; the grace of Adbison ni.ido w'arm with the generous gentleness of BicnARD Steklb. Their author became the fashion, but he was not spoiled. ‘ lie bent himself with each new success more earnestly to the tost of achiev ing better things. Alternating his residence between London and I’ans, and seeing in each capital the best thinkers and the moat inspiring society of each, he eventually decided to aim at tho highpriica of history, which had then begun to assume the magnificent place since accorded to it in tho hierarchy of nioc ern literature. He sojourned three years at Madrid, and brought away from ^acu rial Libraries and Jesuit Collegea, in 1628, his ‘ Life of ConuaBii, which became at once an authority, and secured for him the honor of sharing with Ualoam >c first award of tho gold medals conferred by Ocoaoa 1V. for the encouragement ot historic composition. If all history bo ns EHSasos calls it, the biography of emi nent men, the prise was fairly won. Tho - Conquest of Granada and the ‘ Talcs of the Alhambra ’ followed tho ‘ Coldmdus,’ while IiiviNO was filliug at London the posts of Secretary of Legation and Chargd d' Affaires of the United States to his own credit and tho honor of our country. The diplomatic inspirations of our Presidents have not materially improved since those times 1 ‘ In 1832 Mr. laviNG came back, bringing with him as a farewell from old Eng land the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws won from the fastidious Senate of Oxford University. How his life has since been led, with true laborious days, eludes those passagu* until mimboni. Wo content our«cKes for the present with citing tho *uhjoi„o why iliould tho world grieve that Ihviko baa left it? i “ vaiiced beyond tbs ordinary limit of man'a healthful life, and was bs- rea"h°th ° ' ***’®'' *“'* *orrow,’ without which few indeed arc they who ore TT boundary of tlm decade wliicli be had more than half passed after ” '-**** oonipl»s,d his labors, and bad voluntarily laid down bis pen, exon * work of ustiuiiil iorpi.tlamf which, in its plan and bplf,r«i°*i’ ’vorthy of his best years. He had liinl a I',eg life, horored and name n "i*'° *"d admired by milliuns h. wliom he was but a the l nusp\ hi. P.n h«t mad,. lu ?ears oTpraciflit^^^ ●“<> ●“ —years of placid literary case alternated with the geoUa aseltaasyl of Llerarr ij bor, amid scenes in which ho delighted, and aurrounded by \ by the ties of blood, and closest love, after an ovoninfof ment, in which he bore the part that he so well could bear ha a«.k Uk "t almost unconsciously, without even tho pang of parting. 6o«ld b, cju 11*, one for him, in his brightest youth have looked forward to a liannisr’ cl f life as happy? . He seems to have been born to show that whom il.. JJT. .I do not always die young, and that vicissitude and care are not ih. ‘.tilllc heritage of literature, liut let no aspirant for literary fame be (ampUd to hone that a like fortune may be his; for WashIaVGtox Iuvisq prob«Llr L*n- piest man of letters that ever li^ed. ^ ‘An American by birtli, and the pride as well as tho patriarch of American literature, IVASniNOTOH InviNO was yet not distinctively American In lha ilvle of bis writiog or the tone of his thought. Happily for himself and for Ida country, he was one of those minds which are recognized simply as Engliab, irrespactive of the place of‘their nativity. ‘ Kniceebbockeb’s History of New-York ’ hu morous as it is, would never have achieved more than such a local re’puU- tion as would-hardly have balanced the local acrimony that it excited ● but in the ‘Sketch Book,’ and‘Bracebridge Hall,’ and‘The Alhambra,’ the’author handled themes of universal interest, in a manner that awoke univereal sympa thy wherever the English tongue was spoken. And having thui won the coy world’s ear by the magic of his words, she listened ever after to each new tale ha found to tell her. His style, how clear it was; and how bright, and genial, and serene, and loving was the nature that shone through it! What kindlineu’ in its satire, what decorum in its humor, and in its pathos what hope and cheer! Happiness was its inspiration, happiness its aim; happy the life and the fame that it won for its author: and happiness go with him; wc would not call him back.’ we all know. . . ‘ He was not the man to vegetate upon a reputation. Ho scoured tho prairies of the West and ransacked the annals of the past for topics congenial to his maturing mind. In 1842 he was most wisely selected for the post of Minister to gp^jn there being no season then for our insulting the monarchy to which our fathers owed so much — and remained at the Spanish court for four years. When the fulness of his time at last had come, Irvi.vq remembered the great name that he bore, a name conferred upon him by his parents in the very dawn of all our national greatness, and gave the final fruits of his thought and feeling and skill in style to the memory of Wasuington. He was granted the privilege of completing this latest of his works ; and closing then, forever, the portfolio out of which so many sweet and kindly and beneficent creations had passed into the world, and with them not one evil thing, one false spirit, one impure, the old man quietly folded his hands in his well-named home of Siinnyside, the goal of a life sunlit by goodness and beauty; and there awaited the summons which has come to him now as gently as we could have asked it should. He died al most in the arms of his niece, without any visible sign of suffering, and after an evening passed in the society of friends whom ho loved, and in the indulgence of all those genial and pleasant emotions which he loved especially to clierish in himself, and in all with whom ho was brought into contact. It was our purpose, in tho present notice, to exhibit Washingtos Irving’s kindness and goodness of lieart, as he exhibited these traits himself, in a familiar correspondence with us, which extended over a period of more than twenty years. The length of the sketch, however, which we have quoted from 'The Times' daily journal, and wliich as a matter of biographical and historical record could not be omitted, pre- lU. erea tJtJ JEditor's Table. [Jnmiai'y,100 . ■ >■1 ■■ '-i ■ a S Gossir wmi Readers and Correspondents.—Wo heartily welcome to our pages our California con’cspondcnt. He has written before for the Kxicker- BOcKia:: and the Press of the country has shown that his communications were received with marked favor. He cannot ‘ drop us a few lines’ too frequently, ^yiiat may strike him. as worthy of record wm are quite certain will so impress our readers: ‘ Friend Clark : Are you very busy ’ If so, just lay this by till another time. I want to ‘ Corel ’ you for a little chat. I am a stranger, but no matter ; the best of friends --only known by their names, ‘like letters sealed up, "-c but read c.acli other’s super- scriptious ’ — . , . - are and I of-writo Posting and now,^ for a quiet talk with 111} , - you — will von have a segar. ^ ^ those rocky lulU-and loiw stretch of barren pl.ain that is supposed to nitervone, and proffer you the social wood thus —a li'dit. Sir? tluis; ab ! now we’ll tell .stories wliiie ■ we smoko. ^Vo have some good things in our golden State beside our gold, as aU should know; ,vehave Brobdi-nartan vegetables, four pound pears and app.es that weU might hinder the speed of a fleeing maiden, and grapes-such glonoms grapes, old Bacchus’s eyes nmuld sparkle with Idight at the sight of their rich purple clusters, girls, too - California will one day be famous for its beautiful girls. ^ , Pbto, strong air the human form develops in such perfect healthful sym¬ metry, am the human face divine takes such bowitehing graces, that it seems the Very Paradise Regained for Eve’s delichtod daughters. But this is not wliat I was to tell "p iu the mountains, among the cold white tops of the Sierras, wo have a "Uter-lall, soiuetliing over half-a-mile in length, I believe it is, and not long since I made a little trip that way; crossing the rich valley of the San Joaquin, and the brown, b,ire nils that roll along by its sido° we came at last among the deep moiint.ain caverns auu uic locky, tree-crowned cliffs farther up. These trees are a sight; long, straight, sugar piucs, with tlieir green cones gracefully pendent, cedars and red-wood, such timber for the whole of Solosson’s Temple; would not a tree one do vou thinl circumference and four hundred and fifty feet higlr do that, tho’niglit, bffl r '"■® ‘“'Sbt Here wo slept for fallen Mmkal' a couch of the fragrant hemlock boughs, and a fire of their ’ bn grizzlies disturbed us Unit night, but the hollow hoot of the owl, mingled '.’nd Murmur in the tall tree-tops mingled and echoed in the silent woods, sounds to the ° night just as they had for ages before, whispering the same sad 'were buildin„^'^l',"^ ‘^’’eos that might have listened to tlieir tales wlicn'thc pyramids from the gates’ whose parents of an equal ago were rocked by breezes think of all the qJj hearing perfume from the flowers Eve tended. Strange to tie sp.asm of each ° and wo have 1 Rere in thisr as would furnish the lumdred and and the low I ea tliut the wmld has seen — its revolutions, struggles, and tlic lit- 'Pbtan life, while all the time these living monsters have been silently it: here a the earth and air their needed particles. Just think of gro'vn while p;,,' and uuheediur- was broken off when'Jesos died; here a shaving th,at by breezes that perhaps was nourished in its e.arlier “=nl fanned the cheek of either Brutus. And then Was prime lay beneath |||^^' we ,t: * I >1 iS’ '*●> y/J s. i± f ■ -\\ \- ^:; f1 |T' LV u i -*0& x*>' I r y , I '●. i: .. :-4 ‘ H ■.;1 I, '■j'. ●'('●’ |t ! ^1 f| '“'I f.''L t* ■ *1 '► K ' 'Si\

Memorial of Washington Irving

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Historic Hudson Valley

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