The life and letters of Washington Irving

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Chapter I. Page

At Paris. — Out of Spirits for Literary Occupation. — Thinks of German Subjects. — Falls in with Payne, the American Dramatist. — Embarks with him in Dramatic Labors. — Busy on " Richelieu." — Visits Peter at Havre. — New Lodgings on his Return. — Payne Goes to London with " Richelieu," " Married and Single," and a Rough Copy of " Azendai." — Letter from Payne. — Representation of "Charles IL" — Payne's Opinion of it. — Copp's Song and Charles Lamb. — Results of the Joint Theatrical Speculations. — The Fate of " Richelieu." — Dedication by Payne i

CHAPTER n.

Revolving Literary Plans. — Extracts from Note-Book. — Talma. — Kenney's Anecdotes. — Captain Med win. — Byron. — Pasta. — Corrects "Salmagundi " for Galignani. — Letter to Leslie. — Proposition of Galignani for an Edition of British Authors. — Project of a Second " Sketch-Book." — Letter to Murray about " Tales of a Traveller." .... 9

CHAPTER HI.

Arrival in London. — Letter to Peter. — Interview with Murray. — Attends Representation of " Charles II." — Leslie. — Newton. — Moore. — William Spencer. — Rogers. — Lady Caroline Lamb. — The Man of Many Invitations. — Leaves London with Mills for Manor-House, Lyndhurst. — Goes to Bath to Meet Moore. — Elwyn's Dinner. — Extracts from Memorandum-Book. — Letter to Peter. — Dinner with Rogers. — His Good Story of a French Abb6. — Falls Short in Manuscript for " Tales of a Traveller." — Supplies the Deficiency. — Starts for France. — Letter to Moore on the Way. — Moore's Reply. — Kenney and Scroope Davies 18

CHAPTER IV.

Publication of the " Tales of a Traveller." — Interruptions of Society. — His Evil Genius. — Downhearted. — Letter to Pierre Paris Irving. — Letter to Leslie. — Letter to Brevoort. — Close of 1824 29 vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PACE

Letter to Pierre Paris Irving. — Overtures for a Life of Washington. — Unable to Apply Himself. — Paulding's Rebuke. — Determines to Go to Work. — Leaves Paris with Peter for Bordeaux. — The Vintage. — " American Essays." — An Ill-Boding Failure. — Extracts from Diary. — Close of 1825 37

CHAPTER VI.

Letter to Alexander H. Everett. — A Translation of Navarrete Suggested to him by Mr. Everett. — Letter Thereupon. — Arrival at Madrid. — The American Consul, O. Rich. — Determines upon a Regular " Life of Columbus." — Literary Activity. — Diverted from " Columbus " to " Conquest of Granada." — Lieutenant Alexander Slidell. — Close of 1826. — Passages from Letters to P. M. Irving. — Letter to Brevoort. — Cooper. — Halleck. — Bryant. — Paulding. — Offers "Columbus" to Murray. — Extracts from Note-Book. — Longfellow. — Arrangement with Murray for " Columbus." — Wilkie. — Close of the Year 1827 . . . .43

CHAPTER VII.

Publication of " Columbus " by Murray in London, by the Carvills in New York. — Letter to Brevoort. — Departure from Madrid on a Tour through the Southern Parts of Spain. — Letters to Mademoiselle BoUviller. — Description of the Journey from Cordova to Granada. — The Alhambra. — A Despatch from the Court of Lions. — Quest for the Portal by Which Boabdil Sallied Forth.— The Poor Devil Guide.— The Alpuj arras. — From Malaga to Seville. — Going to Work on the " Conquest of Granada " 57

CHAPTER VIII.

Extracts from Diary. — Wilkie and the Painting of " St. Thomas." — Letter to Alexander H. Everett. — Letter to Prince Dolgorouki. — Character of the Andalusians. — Letter to Mademoiselle Bollviller. — Bull-Fights, his Notion of. — San Juan de Alfarache. — Relics of Moorish Labor and Moorish Taste 68

CHAPTER IX.

Removes to a Cottage in the Vicinity of Seville. — Letter to Alexander H. Everett. — Letter to Mademoiselle Bollviller. — The Cathedral of Seville. — Letter to Prince Dolgorouki. — Wilkie. — Journey to Palos. — Letter to Alexander H. Everett, in Reply to One Announcing the King's Permission to him to Inspect the Archives of the Indias, and Giving him an Extract from his Critique on " Columbus " 76

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER X.

PAGE

Change of Quarters to Port St. Mary. — Extracts from Diary. — Removal from the Cerillo to the Caracol. — Murray's Offer to him to Conduct a Magazine, and to Write for the Quarterly. — Letter to Alexander H. Everett, Noticing Murray's Offer. — Repugnance to the Proposal. — " Conquest of Granada." — Sale of American Copyright. — Return to Seville. — Abridgment of " Columbus." — Given Gratuitously to Murray. — Bargain with the Carvills for " Columbus " and Abridgment. — Death of Hall. — Anecdote of Invocation. — Bargain with Murray for " Conquest of Granada." — Close of 1828 84

CHAPTER XI.

Still at Seville. — Literary Plans and Pursuits. — Letter to Peter. — Letter to Prince Dolgorouki. — Receives Diploma of the Royal Academy of History. — Letter to Alexander H. Everett. — The Presidential Election. — His Impressions of Andrew Jackson. — Reasons for Adopting a Nomde Guerre for the " Conquest of Granada."- — Letters to Peter. — Publication of " Chronicles of Granada." — Letters to Alexander H. Everett. — Extracts from Diary 93

CHAPTER XIL

The Governor's Quarters. — An Unexpected Visitor. — Passages of Letters. — The " Conquest of Granada " Published in London. — Finishes the " Legends of the Conquest of Spain." — Letters to Peter on the Subject. — Duke de Gor. — Letter to Dolgorouki. — Hears of his Appointment as Secretary of Legation to London. — Letter Thereupon to Mr. Wetherell at Seville. — Indifference to Official Honor. — Letter to Louis Mc- Lane. — Letter to Mr. Everett. — His Plan of Return Broken Up. — Reply to the Objection that the Appointment was Below his Talents and Position 100

CHAPTER XIIL

Departure from Granada. — Last Look of the Alhambra. — Journey in a Tartana. — Unexpected Civility of the Duke de Gor. — Robber Mementos. — Spanish Travelling. — Mournful Fate of his Travelling Companion. — Bargain in America for Moore's " Life of Byron." — Two Letters from Moore on the Subject. — Newton. — William E. West. — Resolves upon a Life of Washington 113

CHAPTER XIV.

Letter to Gouverneur Kemble. — Award of a Gold Medal by the Royal Society of Literature. — The Oxford Honor. — Sketch of William IV. — Letters to Peter Irving. — Article in the London Quarterly. — Letter viii CONTENTS.

to Louis McLane from Paris after the Elevation of Louis Philippe. — Extract from a Letter to the Same. — Talleyrand. — Literary Concerns. — Brevoort. — Dolgorouki. — Peter Powell. — John Randolph. — The " Voyages of the Companions of Columbus " in the Press. — Newton. — Leslie. — Kenney. — Payne. — Receives Notes from Murray for the " Voyages " 121

CHAPTER XV.

Slidell's " Year in Spain," and the Review in the London Quarterly. — Bargain with Carey & Lea for the " Voyages of Columbus." — Letter to Brevoort. — A Change in the Embassy. — The Author Charge. — Letter to Louis McLane. — Relieved from the Legation. — Last Meeting with Sir Walter Scott. — Newton's Second Likeness. — Derangement of Literary Plans. — Reform and Cholera 133

CHAPTER XVL

Letter from Newstead Abbey. — Journeyings with Mr. Van Buren. — Letter from William C. Bryant, Transmitting Volume of his Poems for English Publication. — Letter from Gulian C. Verplanck. — Dedicatory Epistle to Samuel Rogers. — Rejection of Mr. Van Buren as Minister. — Letter to Peter Irving. — Mills. — Matthews. — Bargain with Colburn Bentley for the " Alhambra." — Embarkation. — Lands at New York. — Reception. — Public Dinner. — Speech 139

CHAPTER XVII.

Peter Irving in Paris. — Publication of the "Alhambra." — Its Reception. — Excursion to Washington. — The Old General. — Henry Clay. — Visit to the Haunts of Rip Van Winkle. — Tour to the White Mountains. — At Tarrytown. — The Bramin. — Saratoga Springs. — Trenton Falls

CHAPTER XVIII.

Change of Travelling Plans. — Letters to Mrs. Paris. — Tour through Ohio. — Voyage on the Ohio and Mississippi. — Black Hawk. — A Launch into Savage Life. — Letter to Peter. — New Orleans. — William C. Preston. — Sojourn at Washington. — Letter to James K. Paulding. — Letters to Gouverneur Kemble from Washington. — Return to New York. — Again at Baltimore. — Letter thence to Peter Irving. — General Jackson and Lieutenant Randolph. — Herman Knickerbocker. — Visit to Old Dutch Villages in the Neighborhood of the Catskill Mountains. — A Knickerbocker Excursion with Mr. Van Buren. — Abridgment of " Columbus " Recommended as a Class-Book for the Common Schools . . . 164

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER XIX.

PAGE

The Author's First Notion of "Astoria." — A Nomination to Congress Offered and Declined,— His Distaste for Politics.— The " Crayon Miscellanies." — Publication and Reception of the " Tour on the Prairies." — American and English Preface. — Farms Out his Prior Works to Carey, Lea & Co., for a Term of Seven Years. — No. II. of the " Crayon Miscellany."— " Abbotsford " and "Newstead." — Sunnyside in Embryo. —No. III. of the "Crayon Miscellany."— The "Legends of the Conquest of Spain." — Its Publication. — The Workmen Busy upon his Cottage 179

CHAPTER XX.

John Jacob Astor. — Return of Peter. — Completion of the Cottage. — Commences House-keeping. — Publication of " Astoria." — Peter an Inmate of the Cottage.— Letter from " The Roost."— The New Pig . .193

CHAPTER XXI.

Newspaper Attacks on Mr. Irving. — Joseph Seawell Jones. — William Leggett. — Letter to Ebenezer Irving. — Publication of the " Adventures of Captain Bonneville." — The Booksellers' Festival. — Halleckand Rogers. — Louis Napoleon at " The Roost." — Peter no Longer an Inmate. — Letter to Edward Everett. — Letters to Gouverneur Kemble. — Death of John. — The Tammany People Propose to Run him for Mayor. — Declines. — President Van Buren Offers him the Secretaryship of the Navy. — Declines i99

CHAPTER XXII.

Death of Peter. — Gossipings about the Cottage. — His Investments in Land Unproductive of Revenue. — Engages upon the " Conquest of Mexico." — Surrenders the Theme to Prescott. — Correspondence on the Subject. — Receipt of Prescott's " History of the Conquest of Mexico." — Letter Thereupon 218

CHAPTER XXIII.

Engages to Contribute Monthly to the Knickerbocker Magazine. — His Position Respecting an International Copyright Law, in a Letter to the Editor. — Prescott's View. — Old and New Tarrytown. — Picture of his Neighborhood. — Biographical Sketch of Goldsmith for Harper's Family Library. — Ebenezer Irving. — Biography of Margaret Davidson. — Anecdote of Clark and Geoffrey Crayon 229

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIV.

PAGE

Letter from Dickens.— Albert Gallatin.— Visits in the Highlands.— The "Life of Washington " Begun. — Appointed Minister to Spain. — Secretaries of Legation. — The Dickens Dinner. — Letter from Boz. — Embarkation and Farewell 237

CHAPTER XXV.

Mr. Irving in London. — Levee. — Reception at Court. — Meeting of Old Acquaintances. — Rogers. — Leslie. — James Bandinel. — Monastic Seclusion in Westminster Abbey. — Anniversary Dinner of the Literary Fund. — The Queen's Grand Fancy Ball. — At Paris. — Letter to Mrs. Paris. — Presentment to Louis Philippe and Other Members of the Royal Family at Neuilly 247

CHAPTER XXVL

Arrival at Madrid. — His New Home. — Duke de Gor. — Audience of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. — Interview with the Regent. — Audience of the Queen 255

CHAPTER XXVII.

Letter to Mrs. Paris. — Sketch of Spanish Politics and Spanish Characters. — The Insurrection in October, 1841. — Attempt to Get Possession of the Person of the Queen. — The Royal Palace. — Its Situation. — Details of his First Audience with the Queen. — His Sympathy in her Position. — Diplomatic Themes. — Curiosity about the Delivery of his Credentials. — Louis Philippe 260

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

IRVING BY HUGHES

SAMUEL ROGERS

CHARLES LAMB

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW

GRANADA

IRVING BY WILKIE

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

TOWER OF THE COMARES

TALLEYRAND

MARTIN VAN BUREN .

NEWSTEAD ABBEY

WILLIAM C. BRYANT

CHANCELLOR KENT

ASTORIA

EDWARD EVERETT

SUNNYSIDE

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK

LOUIS NAPOLEON

CHARLES DICKENS

QUEEN VICTORIA

PRINCE ALBERT

DANIEL WEBSTER

PAGE

Frontispiece 20 28

• 52 60

. 68 94

• 134 140

. 146

152 . 180

184 . 188

190 . 210

238 . 248

252 . 272

LIFE AND LETTERS

OF

WASHINGTON IRVING.

CHAPTER I.

At Parts. — Out of Spirits for Literary Occupation. — Thinks of German Subjects. — Falls in with Payne, the American Dramatist. — Embarks with him in Dramatic Labors. — Busy on " Richelieu." — Visits Peter at Havre. — New Lodgings o?i his Return. — Payne goes to London with "Richelieu," " Married and Single" and a Rough Copy of " Azendai." — Letter from Payne. — Representation of "Charles LI." — Payne's Opinion of it. — Copp's Song and Charles Lamb. — Results of the Joint Theatrical Speculations. — The Fate of "Richelieu." — Dedication by Payne.

R. IRVING had been so long idle with his pen that on his arrival at Paris he began to feel strongly the necessity of exertion. " When I once get going again with my pen," he writes to Peter, " I mean to keep on steadily, until I can scrape together enough from all my literary property to produce a regular income, however moderate.

We shall then be independent of the world and its chances." The getting under way, however, was the great difficulty. The most likely thing for him to prepare speedily for the press was his

Pride of the Village.

unfinished story of " Buckthorne and his Friends," which, as we have seen, he had laid aside, at the suggestion of Leslie, as the groundwork of a novel ; but it had remained untouched, and he had never been able to resume it.

On the 4th of September, recurring to some hints of Peter about Germany, he writes : —

I have been thinking over the German subjects. It will take me a little time to get hold of them properly, as I must read a little and digest the plan and nature of them in my mind. There are such quantities of these legendary and romantic tales now littering from the press both in England and Germany, that one must take care not to fall into the commonplace of the day. Scott's manner must likewise be widely avoided. In short, I must strike out some way of my own, suited to my own way of thinking and writing. I wish, in every thing I do, to write in such a manner that my productions may have something more than the mere interest of narrative to recommend them, which is very evanescent ; something, if I dare to use the phrase, of classic merit, i. e., depending upon style, etc., which gives a production some chance for duration beyond the mere whim and fashion of the day. I have my mind tolerably well supplied with German localities, manners, characters, etc., and when I once get to work, I trust I shall be able to spin them out very fluently. I have some ideas and subjects that I think will take if properly executed. At present I am busy on a slight literary job which I hope will put some money in my pocket without costing much time or trouble, or committing my name. When that is done, and the inventing fit comes over me again, I will strike at something else.

The slight literary job here alluded to was an alteration of " La Jeunesse de Richelieu," a French play by M. Duval, which had been acted in Paris about thirty years before. It was one that Payne had already done in the rough, and he was now engaged in retouching and heightening a very ill-chosen plot, which he hoped, if thoroughly cast, to make effective in representation. He had been tempted at this time, while he could not get going in any leading occupation of the pen, which he could hope to make available for the London market, to accept the proposition of Payne to assist him in his pursuits and divide the profits of their joint dramatic manufacture, with the understanding that his agency was to be kept secret. Payne at this time had fitted up a cottage at

Versailles in handsome style, which he did not occupy, but was living, as Mr. Irving found him on the 1 3th of August, " in a sky parlor at the Palais Royal," where he employed himself in remodelling pieces from the French stage, and adapting them to English representation.

Soon after this dramatic agreement, Mr. Irving made a visit to his brother Peter, upon which he had long set his heart. During this absence, Payne rented some apartments in Paris, and having transferred to them his furniture from Versailles, relet them to Mr. Irving on his return, reserving a small room for himself. In a letter to Peter, dated the day of his return, October 3d, Mr. Irving thus speaks of lodgings he was to occupy for an almost unbroken period of more than a year : —

I am just about moving to my new quarters, No. 89 Rue Richelieu. I am greatly pleased with them. It is one of the best private hotels in Paris; every thing about the establishment is particularly genteel and well-regulated. My apartments consist of bedroom, sitting-room, and dining-room, with use of kitchen and appurtenances and a cellar. Payne has furnished them very handsomely. They have a warm southern exposure, and look into a very spacious and handsome court, and, being newly finished and fitted up, are veiy complete. You would be quite charmed with them. I shall have a bed for you whenever you choose to pay Paris a visit. I shall live very much at home, having an excellent femme de minage to cook, etc., etc. The hotel is near the Rue Feydeau, between the old opera-house and the Boulevards, one of the most central spots in Paris. As my room is pretty high up and separated by the court from the street, I am not incommoded by noise, and have plenty of daylight and sunshine.

A more important advantage is specified in a later description of his bachelor "nest" to his sister, Mrs. Paris: "The great national library, one of the very best in the world, is within five minutes' walk of my lodgings, and I have the privilege of having any books from it I please."

Soon after his occupation of his new lodgings he sends Peter this picture of himself and Payne at their joint labor :

Payne is busy upon " Azendai," making a literal translation. I am looking over it as he translates, and making notes where there must be

LIFE AND LETTERS OF WASHINGTON IRVING.

alterations, songs, choruses, etc. It will have to be quite rewritten, as the dialogue is flimsy and pointless; still the construction will answer, and that is the main point.

Ten days later he writes to Peter : " Payne sets oii privately for London on Wednesday, to treat with Kemble about ' Richelieu,' and ' Belles and Bailiffs '" ; another adaptation from the French, in which, under the title of " Married and Single," he had altered some scenes. He adds : " I shall send with him the rough copy of ' Azendai,' that it may be shown to Bishop, and the proper directions procured for the music.''

It was to avoid arrest for his theatrical entanglements in London that Payne left " privately." The author of " Home, Sweet Home " had made handsomely by the success of some of his pieces, yet it was seldom that he was long free from pecuniary perplexity. He speaks with bitter jocularity, in one of his letters, of the hard tug he had had with life since he grew too portly for the stage and began " to fatten on trouble and starvation." His first letter does not disclose a very auspicious beginning to the dramatic speculation.

London, November 7, 1823.

My Dear Irving: —

I was detained at Dieppe ten days waiting for a boat. At last I got out in the storm which made so many wrecks, and was in a gale all Monday night and part of Tuesday, sixteen hours and a half. The same night I went to the play at Brighton, and had the happiness of finding I had just missed " Clari," which had had a very considerable run some nights before. I got here on Wednesday, day before last, too late to do any thing, and having rode all the way outside in a terrible rain, was stiff, and stupid, and tired. However, I packed off my things [" Richelieu " and " Married and Single "] instantly to Charles Kemble. Yesterday I delivered all your letters, inquired for your music, got my passport signed by Smith, dined with Leslie and Newton, got a lodging under the name of Hayward (which I am every minute forgetting), and, heartily weary, found my bed was over a livery-stable, where the hackney-coaches entered every hour, and in which every horse had a violent cough. I feel as if I had not slept for a month.

Now for business. I saw Charles to-day and was very well received by the Committee,' but when I asked what they had to say about my

' The Committee of Management.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF WASHINGTON IRVING. S

pieces, they had not seen them ! I caused a hunt, and at last the parcel was found unopened. So much for the necessity of having come over. Charles took them home. My description of "Azendai," and my disclosure of your confidential communication, seemed to excite him. He asked me to his box to-night and to dinner either to-day or to-morrow ; but there will be no chance of specific arrangements till after Monday, I fear. I shall hand him "Azendai" to-night. If I had the " Roulier," I could make a market of it. Pray send it to me immediately. I mean the printed copy. Nothing answers now but the horses. I could not speak terms at a first interview. No news of your music at Birchell's and they have no room for "Abul Hassan"' this season, unless, as some one observed, horses could be put in it ! . . . .

I think I shall dine with Miller to-day and Charles to-morrow. I am to go to a private box this evening to see the Horses. If you can think of any opportunity for a grand equestrian spectacle, it might do. I am almost afraid they will insist on bringing Richelieu in on horseback. Charles says he thinks you ought to produce better comic pieces than any one he knows, judging from the story of "The Unknown Gentleman" whose other half only is seen.

. . . . Newton and Leslie are very anxious to see you. They

talk of you with a sort of affectionate idolatry I have just

received my passport to return, from the French ambassador, so " all 's right." YoVi will hear from me again on Monday.

About eighteen days after the date of this letter, Mr. Irving transmitted to Payne the manuscript of " Charles II. or the Merry Monarch," a piece in three acts altered from " La Jeunesse de Henry V.," and of w^hich he speaks to Peter as being rather of a light kind and dependent on good genteel acting. Payne writes on its receipt : " I consider it one of the best pieces of the kind I ever read ; there is a never-diminishing vein of wit running through it, which, coming in aid of situations eminently dramatic, gives it a claim to rank with the best works in the language."

January 2'jth. — Payne writes to Mr. Irving that he had at length finished " the long-pending negotiation respecting this piece and ' Richelieu,' and sold them to Covent Garden for two hundred guineas down," which he considered " a good sum," and, he adds, " the copyrights may double it."

' A German opera which Mr. Irving had translated at Dresden.

LIFE AND LETTERS OF WASHINGTON IRVING.

As Mr. Irving's letters to Payne are missing, I cannot say how far he was satisfied with this result of his theatrical speculations, but perhaps it may not be without interest to trace the further fortunes of the pieces thus bargained for, which went to their ordeal at different dates.

"Charles II." was produced May 27, 1824, and met with the most decided success. " The piece will grow upon the public on representation," writes Payne to Mr. Irving, " and I am convinced become a stock piece. The points all told amazingly. My notion about Copp's always trying a song, and never being able to get it out, was very effective in representation." ' The conception and execution of this song, which Payne jestingly speaks of as my notion, were his coadjutor's, done, as he once told me, to hit the English taste for broad fun. Some time later, after a series of successful representations, Payne writes in regard to this song : " Charles Lamb tells me he can't get Copp's song out of his head, and is very anxious for the rest of it. He says the hiatus keeps him awake o' nights."

Payne disposed of the copyright for fifty guineas, after Mr, Irving had assisted him in pruning the piece, and reducing it to two acts. As the latter had stipulated for the concealment of his name, the only allusion Payne could permit himself in the preface was an intimation that the manuscript had been revised by a literary friend, to whom he was " indebted for invaluable touches."

" Richelieu " was not brought out until February, 1826 ; its appearance having been delayed under various pretexts. First, nothing could be done until after the Christmas holidays ; then there

' The following brief extract from the play presents the racy old Captain in his first abortive effort at being delivered of " the only song " he " ever knew."

" In the time of the Rump, As old Admiral Trump With his broom, swept the chops of the Channel ; And his crew of Big Breeches, Those Dutch sons of ''

Mary. — {Putting her hand on his mouth.'\ " Uncle, Uncle, don't sing that horrible rough song."

arose a difficulty about the cast, Charles Kemble inclining to one character, and Payne insisting it would be the ruin of the piece if he did not take another ; then he wished that part, which was Richelieu, to be written up, and Dubois, Richelieu's secretary, who was too prominent, to be written down ; and so, from one cause or another, it was not produced until the commencement of the year 1826, when Mr. Irving was at Madrid. The note of preparation began to be sounded in December, 1825. It was read in the greenroom by Charles Kemble about the middle of this month, and one of the persons who was to act in it wrote Mr. Payne that all present were deeply affected, and that it was considered as one of the best plays which had been heard for some years. It was played a few nights and then withdrawn, exception being taken to the plot. " I went to see it last night," writes a literary friend to Mr. Irving. " It is very well got up ; the dresses are beautiful, and the effect is more that produced by a piece at the Frangais than any thing I have seen. The dialogue is particularly well done, and the laughter all in the dress circle. It is thought highly of, and only wants a little correction to be the best thing we have seen of the age." It was put to press in New York, by a Mr. Murden, a publisher of plays, at the close of 1826, with the following dedication by Payne.

TO WASHINGTON IRVING.

My Dear Irving: —

It is about twenty years since I first had the pleasure of knowing you ; and it is not very often that people are found better friends at the later part of so long an acquaintance than at the beginning. Such, however, has been the case with us ; and the admiration which I felt for you when I was a boy, has been succeeded by gratitude for steady and intrepid kindness now that I am no longer one.

Although I have had better opportunities to know you than the world, by whom you are valued so highly, I should not have ventured to make a public display of our acquaintanceship under any other circumstances than those by which it is drawn forth at present. I am under obligations to you beyond the common kindnesses between friends of long standing, which it is fitting I should acknowledge. In the little comedy of "Charles the Second " I have referred to the assistance you gave me, without venturing to violate your injunction with regard to the concealment of your name.

But that aid has been repeated to such an extent in the present work, as to render it imperative upon me to offer you my thanks publicly, and to beg you will suffer me to dedicate it to one from whose pen it has received its highest value. I only regret it is not in my power to make a more adequate return for the many encouragements amid discomfort, which you have so frequently and so spontaneously bestowed upon,