Memoir of Washington Irving

Front matter

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M E M O I R

Preface

THE " Life and Letters of Washington Irving," in four volumes, prepared by his nephew, Pierre M. Irving, and published since the death of his illustrious uncle, has been for several years before the public, and may be considered a model work of its kind. It seems quite certain, however, that a brief and direct history of Irving, such as would be comprised in a single volume of moderate size, and including slight specimens of some of his more popular compositions, would supply a positive desideratum, and be an acceptable service, especially to multitudes of our youth, and others besides, who would shrink from the expense of a much more voluminous biography.

Washington Irving was one of the distinguished fathers of American Literature, and his service in this field must ever be deemed of great and special importance to his country. Hence it has very seriously impressed the author of this little work that the history and many of the writings of Irving should be as widely known a.s the language itself, and to

6 Preface.

further such an object was a prominent purpose of these pages. Of course to the literati, professional men, and students of the country, the eminent author and his works are sufficiently familiar. At the same time, to thousands of both sexes, outside of these several classes, the author of the " Sketch Book" is still a stranger, and to this day the magical pen he wielded has brought no instruction or amusement.

If, therefore, to such this unpretending volume shall tend to bring the distinguished writer and his Works more prominently to notice, and entice to a still wider perusal and study of them, then will our humble effort not be in vain. And what was remarked by Edward Everett in the North American Review touching one of Mr. Irving's volumes may be well applied to the majority of his published writings : " The American father who can afford it and does not buy a copy ( of ' Tour on the Prairies ' ) does not deserve that his sons should prefer his fireside to the bar-room, the pure and chaste pleasures of a cultivated taste to the gross indulgences of sense. He does not deserve that his daughters should pass their leisure hours in maidenly seclusion, and the improvement of their minds, rather than to flaunt on the sidewalks by day, and pursue, by night, an eternal round of tasteless dissipation."

Chapter I

Irving's Birth — Name — General Washington's Blessing — Boyhood — Reading — Tendencies — Theater — Warning — His Limited Education — Literary Eminence Page 15

Chapter II

Irving commences the Study of Law — Incompatibility — Belles Lettres — Excursions — Deep Interest — First Movements of his Pen — "Jonathan Oldstyle" — Success — Interesting Excursion to Ogdensburgh — The Party — The Disasters — Fifty Years afterward — Affecting Memories 22

Chapter III

Irving at Twenty-one — Personal Appearance — Social Character — Popularity — Feeble Health — Embarks for Europe — Reflections on Shipboard — Arrival at Bordeaux 28

Chapter IV

French Language — Journal — French " Diligence " — The " Little Doctor " — Montpelier — Marseilles — Nice — Genoa — Delightful Times — Embarks for Sicily — Syracuse — Mount Etna — Palermo — Naples — Rome — Washington Allston — Painting — Fortunate Escape — Madame de Stael — Her Conversation — Writings — Irving reaches Paris — Residence there 32

Contents.

Chapter V

Irving leaves Paris for London — Brussels — Holland — Theater going — Mrs. Siddons — Irving enraptured — Brief Excursions — Embarks for New York — Established Health — Resumes Law- Studies — Admitted to the Bar — Declines Practicing — " Salmagundi" — Its Character and Influence — Discontinuance Page 41

Chapter VI

"Salmagundi"— Will Wizard— His Ball Dress— His Dancing — Charity Cockloft — Her Character — Piety — Curiosity 46

Chapter VII

" History of New York " — History of the " History " — The Work — Its Superabundant Humor — Contemporaneous Notices — Blackwood — North American — Walter Scott — Style of the "History" — Offense taken by certain Dutch Descendants — Laughable Instance at Albany 52

Chapter VIII

" History" — Wouter Von Twiller — His Prodigious Intellect — Personal Appearance — Wilhelmus Kieft — His Peculiar Temperament — Remarkable Countenance — A Fine Lady of the Dutch Dynasty — The Fashionable Dutch Gentleman — The New England Barbarians, or Yankees 57

Chapter IX

Irving's Apparent Indifference to the Success of his " History" — Temperament — Manners — Life Crisis — Matilda Hoffman — A Mutual Attachment — Her Sickness and Death — Stunning Influences upon Irving — "Cast down, but not destroyed" — Rallies and takes heart again 67

Chapter X

A Silent Partnership — A Pause of the Pen — A Visit to Washington — Resigns himself to the Gayeties of the Capital — Assumes Editorial Charge of the " Analectic Review" — Contributes many interesting Pieces — The Position distasteful — Embarks for Europe — His Brother Peter — His Sister, Mrs. Van Wart — Several Visits — Partnership Business — Embarrassments — Fraternal Affection — Chastened Views — "Fortune" and " Providence " — Bankruptcy Page 72

CHAPTER XL

The " Low Estate" — Remarkable Letter — James Ogilvie — Excursion to Scotland — Visit to Abbotsford — Other pleasant Visits and Acquaintances 80

Chapter XVII

Relaxation — Embarks for Holland — Up the Rhine — Aix La Chapelle — Other Cities — Baths of Baden — Charming Scenery- Black Forest — Saltzburg — Vienna — Prague — Dresden — A delightful Residence — The Fosters — Royal Family — Their ample Hospitality — Pen inactive — Weariness of " Fashionable Life" — An important Confession 120

Chapter XVIII

From Dresden to Paris — Temporary Engagement with Mr. Payne — Revision of "Salmagundi" for a French Publisher — Edition of English Authors, with Biographical Sketches — " Tales of a Traveler " — Goes to London — Poet Spencer — Rogers — Compton— Moore — Mrs. Van Wart — The Fosters — Publication of "Tales of a Traveler" — Moore's two Opinions — Extracts from " Buckthorne's Autobiography " 127

Chapter XIX

"Blackwood's" resume of Irving and his Publications — His Life and Personal Appearance — Newspaper Essays — Salmagundi — Knickerbocker — Naval Biography — Sketch-Book — Bracebridge Hall — Tales of a Traveler — The Reviewer's Farewell 135

Chapter XX

Irving's Return to Paris— Long Interval of Literary Inactivity — Depression of Spirits — Advice to Nephew — Remark upon it — Autumnal Excursion with Peter — Their Winter Establishment — A Pleasant Picture — Departure of the Brothers for Bordeaux 148

Chapter XXI

Correspondence with Minister Everett — Departure for Madrid — Irving commences a "Life of Columbus" — Writes his " Conquest of Granada " — A Diligent Year — Finishes " Columbus " — Highly Applauded — Extracts: The Man ; The Ships ; The Approach ; The Discovery ; The Landing ; The Natives Page 154

Chapter XXII

A Vacation — Irving sets out for the South — Interesting Scenery — Cordova — Granada — The Alhambra — Malaga — Picturesque Journey — Gibraltar — Cadiz — Seville — Spanish People 166

Chapter XXIII

A Year at Seville — His Companion — Suburban Cottage — Rational Sentiment and Rational Enjoyment — Letter to Prince Dolgorouki — Visit to Palos — Cerillo — Publication of " Conquest of Granada" — Extract : Kingdom and City of Granada before the Conquest — The People — Military Character — Political Position i 172

Chapter XXIV

An Editorship proposed to Irving — Declined — Prepares an Abridgment of "Columbus" — A Laborious and Tranquil [Year — A Diploma — Longing for Home — Reluctance to leave ; Spain — An Excursion with Prince Dolgorouki — Off for Grajnada — Lodgings in the Alhambra — Irving in his Element — 1 His Quarters — Sets to Work — Finishes " Legends of the Conquest of Spain " — Appointed " Secretary of Legation to London" — Accepts the Appointment — Regrets at leaving the ! " Alhambra " 183

Chapter XXV

Departure for England — Traveling Companion — The Route — Traveling Companion's Sickness and Death — Arrival at London — The Secretaryship — Pleasant Situation and Com fortable Circumstances — Receives a Royal Medal — Doctorate of Civil Law at Oxford — Laughable Demonstration — Irving and his new Title Page 191

Chapter XXVI

" Voyages of the Companions of Columbus " — Secretaryship Burdensome — Released after Two Years' Service — Various Visits — Publishes " Alhambra" — Embarks for New York Greeted with great cordiality — Public Dinners — Visits and Excursions — Full of Animation and Delight — Accompanies a Government Commission to the Far West — Winters at Washington — Resumes Literary Labors — Extract from "Companions of Columbus " 196

Chapter XXVII

Cordial Reception of the "Alhambra" — Everett — Prescott — Extracts : Journey to Granada — Spain — Aspect of the Country — Birds — Traveling — Dangers — Muleteers — Robbers — Author's Lodgings at the Alhambra — First Night .... 205

Chapter XXVIII

"Miscellanies" — "Tour on the Prairies" — North American — Extracts : The Prairie Indian ; Wild Horses of the Prairie ; One Captured ; His Subjugation ; Reflections of Irving ; Buffalo Hunt ; Success ; Prairie Dogs ; Their Villages and Associates — Succeeding Volumes of the " Miscellanies " 217

Chapter XXIX

" Astoria" — History of the Work — Various approving Notices — Extracts : Climate of the Far West — Desperate Circumstances — " Adventures of Captain Bonneville" — The Trappers of the Far West— The Trapper's Indian Wife— Curious Use of the Lasso — Bear and Bull Fight Page 229

Chapter XXX

Purchase of " Sunnyside " — Original Property — Erection Df the New Cottage — Irving's Plans — Letter to Peter — Peter arrives at New York — Sunny Picture of Irving at Fifty-three V"ears of Age 243

Chapter XXXI

Tammany Nomination for Mayor of New York — Declined — [nvitation to a Seat in President Van Buren's Cabinet — Also declined — Death of Judge Irving — Death of Peter — The latter specially afflictive — Affecting Letter of Irving to his Sister — Commences a new work, " Conquest of Mexico " — Forestalled by Mr. Prescott — Abandons the Enterprise 250

Chapter XXXII

Engagement with the Knickerbocker Magazine — Continues Two Years — His Articles of the Magazine collected into a Volume — " Wolfert's Roost" — Unprecedented Amount of Commendations — Extracts : Chronicle I. of the " Roost ; " £ Wolfert Acker ; " English and French Character 256

Chapter XXXIII

Biography of Goldsmith — Of Margaret Davidson — Picture Df the Sunnyside Neighborhood 265

Chapter XXXIV

Irving appointed Minister to Spain— Appointment highly kpproved by the Public — Proceeds to Spain via England and prance— Pleasant Quarters — Presentation at Court — Bright Anticipations — Disappointment — Return of 111 Health — Writng prohibited— Visit to France — Longing for Home — Visits France and England — Gayety of the Spanish Court — The 'oung Queen Isabella 269

Chapter XXXV

Restored Health — Pen resumed — Resignation and Return- Great Joy — Enlarges the Cottage — Pleasant Picture — At work on " Life of Washington " — Uniform Edition of his Works " Life of Mahomet and his Successors " — Return of 111 Health — Visits Saratoga and Washington — Receives great attention —Returns to " Sunnyside " Page 278

Chapter XXXVI

Declining Hedth — Cheerful Spirits — First Volume of " Washington " — Misgivings — Note from Bancroft — Second and Third Volumes issued — Notes of Approval from Prescott, Bancroft, Tuckerman, and others — "Life of Washington" finished — Edward Everett's general view of Irving's Writings 285

Chapter XXXVII

Financial Exhibit — Avails of English Copyrights — Avails of American Leases — Avails of the Uniform Edition — Entire Amount in the Author's Life-time — Entire Amount to 1864 — Inference 295

Chapter Xxxviii

Mr. Irving's Religious Character — Remarks concerning his Brother Ebenezer — Connection with the Episcopal Church- State of Mind in his last Illness — Rapid Decline — Decease — Burial 297

MEMOIR

OF

WASHINGTON IKVING.

Chapter I

IT was a deeply interesting point in our history when Washington Irving was born. The war of the Revolution was just closing, peace was dawning upon the land, the independence for which " the fathers " had struggled so long and so manfully was about to be recognized by the mother country, and the United States of America was now to commence as a nation its great and eventful career.

Washington was born in April, 1783, and grew to be very much such a boy as might be supposed from a contemplation of his developed manhood. He was a sprightly, buoyant, witty, somewhat mischievous, yet not a vicious child, deeply affectionate toward his parents, especially his mother, who, as is natural, felt a mother's pride in her son. " But it grieved her that he did not take more kindly to religion ; and at times, in the midst of one of his effusions of wit and drollery, she would look at him with a halfmournful admiration, and exclaim, ' O Washington, if you were only good ! ' "

The meaning of this wish doubtless was that her beloved child were religiously good — that, amid all his sprightliness and all his promising traits, he were cherishing in his heart the fear of God, and a joyful trust in his mercy through Christ the Saviour. And as with a thoughtful and Christian eye we trace the career of this child along his youth and riper years, we cannot forbear the earnest regret that his mother's pious wish for her child had not been realized. Happy had it been, as well for the world as for himself, if God's Holy Spirit had been invited to enkindle right early that eminent genius, and inspire for the highest good of the race that brilliant pen !

Born, as Irving was, just as the war ended, it was eminently fit that a child so beautiful and promising should receive a name that had become so celebrated. " Washington's work is ended," said the mother, " and the child shall be named after him." And very pleasant and noteworthy is the incident that, when the great Washington returned to New York as President of the United States, a Scotch maid, servant of the Irving family, accosted him one morning, and pointing to the lad scarcely yet emerged from his virgin trowsers, exclaimed, " Please your honor, here's a bairn was named for you." And Washington placed his hand on the head of the little boy and gave him his blessing. All this can hardly fail to remind us of a similar transaction when One infinitely greater than Washington took little children up in his arms and blessed them.

The anecdotes told us of Irving's early boyhood are highly characteristic, and indicate to a considerable extent the genius and character of the forthcoming man. At eleven years old we find him becoming much interested in certain kinds of reading, among which books of voyages and travels held a conspicuous place. By constant perusal of works of this character he became inflamed with a passion for going abroad to see the world for himself. " How wistfully," said he, " would I wander about the pier heads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships bound to distant climes ; with what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails, and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth ! "

A more damaging tendency and passion soon affected this ardent and talented boy. Having, on one occasion, attended a theater, he is represented as being so delighted with the acting that henceforward he felt and cherished a special fondness for theatrical entertainments. Hence, as we trace him through all his youthful years, and in maturer life, and amid his sojournings in one and another city, at home or abroad, we cannot help discerning that the theater was one of the very prominent amusements in which he indulged. It is painful, too, to notice that his early indulgence and pleasure in this species of amusement was the " sweetness of stolen waters." His attendance at the theater being under parental interdict, it is represented as his habit that he would go early and see the play, then hurry home to prayers at the hour of nine, retire afterward to his room as if for the night, pass slyly out of his window, and steal back to the theater to witness the afterpiece ; after which he would return by the same way to his room.

Let all boys remember that examples like this should never be imitated ; and that while the amusement itself, with the usual accompaniments, is more than doubtful, his means of securing it. and the disobedience prompting those means, were a positive wrong, and could never be reviewed with an approving conscience.

A very important lesson for parents is also here. It is likely that for young and imaginative people few amusements present a stronger or more dangerous fascination than the theater. Such youth, having once tasted this pleasure, long for its repetition, while the dangerous appetite " grows by what it feeds on " until many

strong tie, not excepting that of integrity itself, often yields to the fatal fascination of the siren. That young Irving was ever so sadly drawn into this vortex does not appear, save in the instance specified. But that the theater formed one of the capital charms of his youthful vears is painfully evident. How far this kind of indulgence and recreation operated to prevent him from early following his parents in the way of piety cannot be estimated ; but that an important influence was thus exerted in the direction alluded to seems morally certain.

Young Irving was not liberally educated ; and we trace him as a school-boy, and in one and another school, until he reached the age of fifteen. At the last school which he attended, where he remained about eighteen months, he studied the Latin language, which seems to have been his nearest approach to a classical education. Mathematical studies appear not to have been pursued beyond common arithmetic ; while this was, with him, one of the most irksome of his studies. In composition, as may well be supposed, he was far more interested and successful ; a circumstance which seems to have often led him to " exchange work " with one and another of his mates — they working out his sums, and he writing out their compositions.

Thus, before attaining his sixteenth year, was the school education of Washington Irving finished. It is certainly an interesting fact in the history of American literature that he who i is recognized as one of its chief pioneers and fathers was himself but a self-educated man. For half a century have the thousands of undergraduates in our colleges seized eagerly upon the works of this man as their favorite author in the department of belles Icttrcs ; and he who, among the numerous college and public libraries, would light upon the books the most handled and worn of all others, must not overlook the fascinating volumes of Irving. Nor is the charm attendant upon his pen that which affects merely the tyro in literature. The ripe and mature scholar roams with equal and even superior pleasure amid these gardens of beauty ; and the " Great Wizard of the North," with as much enthusiasm as the ardent youth amid his varied classic exercises, was wont to discuss, with no ordinary relish, the pleasant viands supplied by this extraordinary caterer of literary delights. How is all this ? We may pause only to respond that it is not in colleges or college training ; it is not in education ; not in surroundings ; not in smiles or sorrows, riches or poverty ; not in travel, observation, or all learning and knowledge. It is in the man himself; and in something there which, like the century plant, blooms not every year nor every generation.

22 Mem Ttvmg.

A

CHAPTER II. T si:: :refore, his school

studies being finished, young Irving commenced the study of the law, or, rather, he entered a law office, sojourning there during two . which the study of bcL

seems to have been far more diligently and successfully pursued than that of law. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of a youth less adapted to the studies and practice of law than he.

:.v more congenial with his temperament and tastes was it to be reveling amid the wild and beautiful scenery which stretched away in various directions from the city- of his birth. Hence we see him gladly escaping from the law office, with its arid studies and rough and thorny associations, to commit himself, with a friend or two, to a long excursion up the Hudson, and among the then wild regions beyond. Far away above Albany, where at the begining of the century was the frontier of civilization, dwelt an elder sister, who, at a tender age, had gone, with her youthful husband, to dwell amid those northern outskirts. Thither Irving was bound. It was the year 1 800, when steamboats and railroads were unknown ; and this was his first voyage up that noble stream whose shores were in after time to be made classic by the witchery- of his pen, and on whose banks would one day repose the lovely villa where, after long and weary sojournings in foreign lands, he would make his earthly resting-place.

Long afterward he wrote of this early age and its pleasant experience. There was the boy-like eagerness to embark, the final floating away of the sloop from the wharf into the broad stream, the exchange of adieus with friends ashore, the grand of the Palisades, the

" intense delight " of that first sail through the Highlands, the overhanging forests the u witching effect" of the Kaatskiil Mountains — now seeming to approach the shore, then receding and melting away into the hazy distance. It

his lot in subsequent years to tra some of the rivers of the old world, and such as are renowned in history and son_ he remarks, were never able to efface or dim the pictures of his native stream, so early stamped upon his memory. He would always revert to them with a filial feeling, and with a recurrence of the joyous associations of his boyhood.

A year or two afterward we find him, in company with a friend, on another excursion up the Hudson — at the Springs, and elsewhere. At this time he is an invalid, with consumptive symptoms and tendencies, and he returns home with health still drooping and uncertain.

Now it is when, at nineteen years of age, we trace the first movements of Irving's pen with a view to publication. They consist in a series of humorous contributions under the signature of " Jonathan Oldstyle," and were published in the " Morning Chronicle." Even these earliest attempts of his pen were popular, and were extensively copied in the prints of the time ; and twenty years afterward, when their author was abroad in Europe and had now became famous, they were, without his consent or approbation, collected and republished.

In the following summer Irving was one of a very interesting party made up for an excursion to Ogdensburg, Montreal, and Quebec. This company comprised, besides the subject of this sketch, two highly respectable families, consisting each of husband, wife, and daughter, and the expedition must have promised, of course, no small amount of pleasure to the several parties, and not the least to the young gentleman himself. It proved a scene of much and varied adventure. As usual, their voyage up the river was by sloop. Arriving at Albany, we soon track them to Saratoga and Ballston, whence they make a flying visit to Utica, then in the wilderness. Then we see them, in wagons, struggling through thick woods, and muddy roads, and blackened stumps, and fallen trees. Matters wax worse and worse. The travelers are now out walking in the mud ; then, launched in a scow on Beach River, they are overwhelmed with torrents of rain ; then, going ashore, they lodge in a log-hut on beds spread upon the floor. In the morning they are off again upon the muddy stream ; anon, in wagons, once more blundering amid stumps and roots ; again stuck fast, and the whole party taking to their feet, the rain meanwhile descending in torrents, young Irving frequently up to his "middle in mud and water." Amid the woods and mud and rain they seek to shelter the ladies in a little bark shed of capacity sufficient to hold three but half of it falls down as they attempt t creep under it, and the rain falls in floods, fall as they never have seen it fall before ; the wind blows a hurricane ; the trees shake, and bend, and crack, and threaten every moment to fall and crush the frightened company. They flee as from destruction, dragging themselves along with painful difficulty, until they again reach hut, their only lodging-place. Suffice it to add, that after other similar and hideous mishaps, to their great joy they came in sight of Oswegatchie, whose present name is Ogdensburg.

Fifty years afterward, and when Irving was seventy years of age, he went and looked again upon this interesting locality. There for a long time he sat, his thoughts running back through the long vista of departed years, and lighting upon the happy beings who, fifty years before, were with him there. Every one of them was now passed away, and himself was the sole survivor of all that joyous company. Quietly and safely at home they had lived — at home they had died while he still lived, though amid these intervening years he had traversed seas, and wandered over distant lands, and encountered so many dangers and hardships. It seemed wonderful to him as he sat there pensive and lonely, and doubtless he wept amid those interesting and somber memories. And why, in such a connection, must there be no recognition of that kind and favoring Providence that had accompanied him, and watched him, and shielded him at every step of his long and various wanderings ? There sat that man of seventy years. A long and prosperous life had been his. His name had become world-renowned, his fame world-wide. Few mortals had been so extensively honored, loved, and caressed as he. Every circumstance was adapted to point him to the divine hand. How graceful would have been an ascription of praise ! and how graceful, too, as well as tasteful, would have been its public record !

Chapter III

AT twenty-one years of age Washington Irving was a young gentleman of more than ordinary interest. His portrait of about this period of his life, while a slightly boyish aspect seems still to linger with him, presents a countenance singularly well-formed and comely. His forehead was full, high, expansive, and partially and gracefully shaded by flowing locks of I hair carelessly curling around, it ; his calm and expressive eyes were overarched by eyebrows of perfect regularity ; his nose nearly straight, and formed with classic and faultless gracefulness ; his mouth rather small, with lips full, and slightly elevated at their extremities, and thus hinting at that rich vein of humor for which he was so remarkable ; chin long, yet finely turned ; the head lofty, and clothed with abundant hair carelessly worn ; the entire tout ensemble conveying to us the impression that this must have been a youth of rare personal beauty and attractiveness.

Harmonious with his fine personal appearance were his mental accomplishments, and the kindly and genial elements of his social character. His talents as a writer had already began to be apparent, while his conversational powers were similar to what he ascribed to one of his brothers, being characterized by " rich, mellow humor, range of anecdote, quick sensibility, and fine colloquial flow."

No wonder that such a youth was the idol of the family circle, or that he began to attract the attention and interest of a constantly widening circle of friends. But, alas ! this beautiful youth came up to his majority smitten with disease. His consumptive tendencies have already been alluded to, and evident alarm on his account was now beginning to be felt by his numerous friends, and especially those of his own father's family. How could such a son and brother as this be given up to disease, decline, and death ! Must such a star of beauty set so soon ? and shall a luminary rising so brilliantly be quenched in quick and cold eclipse ? It must not be. This child of promise must be rescued from the destroyer, and for a boon so precious as his health and life he must be given up for a season and sent abroad to a foreign land. " It is with delight," wrote his eldest brother to him after his departure for Europe, " that we share the world with you ; and one of our greatest sources of happiness is that fortune is daily putting it in our power thus to add to the comfort and enjoyment of one so very near to us all." No wonder that he was " heavy-hearted " as he sailed away, and as he saw the spires of the city sink from his' view. That day was melancholy and lonesome, and as at night he turned into his berth he was sick at heart.

Such is sometimes the " low estate " befalling frail and helpless man — abroad upon the dark and heaving ocean, reclining that night in his lowly berth, an invalid youth — his life hanging as if by a thread — wafted each moment farther from the friends and home he loves, bound to a land of strangers, unknown, unheeded, sick, faint, and sad. Will he ever rally ? and will brighter and more prosperous days ever rise on his vision to gladden his sinking, sorrowing heart ?