EDITS MR. BRYANT'S POEMS IN LONDON. tales of the author of Don Quixote. If he had acted upon the hint, he would have added a few more volumes to the stock of English literature: for his style would, in a measure, have made them his own.* In July, 1829, Mr. Irving left Spain for England, having been appointed Secretary of Legation to the American Embassy at London, when Mr. M'Lane was minister. He retired on the arrival of Mr. Van Buren. The University of Oxford conferred on him, in 1831, the degree LL.D. Before leaving England on his return to America, he edited for a London publisher, in the beginning of 1832, an edition, the first in England, of the Poems of William Cullen Bryant. Though unacquainted with Mr. Bryant at the time, he was a warm admirer of his writings; and when a friend sent him a copy from home, with a desire that he might find a publisher in England, he cheerfully undertook the task. A publisher was found, who, however, made it a condition that Mr. Irving should "write something that might call public attention to it." In compliance with this demand for a gratuitous service, Mr. Irving prefixed the following dedicatory letter addressed to the poet Rogers: "TO SAMUEL ROGERS, ESQ. แ "My dear Sir,-During an intimacy of some years' standing, I have uniformly remarked a liberal interest on your part in the rising character and fortunes of my country, and a kind disposition to promote the success of American talent, whether engaged in literature or the arts. I am induced, therefore, as a tribute of gratitude, as well as a general testimonial of respect and friendship, to lay before you the present volume, in which, for the first time, are collected together the fugitive productions of one of our living poets, whose writings are deservedly popular throughout the United States. "Many of these poems have appeared at various times in periodical publications; and some of them, I am aware, have met your eye and received the stamp of your approbation. They could scarcely fail to do so, characterized as they are by a purity of moral, an elevation and refinement of thought, and a terseness and elegance of diction, congenial to the bent of your own genius and to your cultivated taste. They appear to me to belong to the best school of English poetry, and to be entitled to rank among the highest of their class. "The British public has already expressed its delight at the graphic descriptions of American scenery and wild woodland characters contained * Biographical Notice of Irving, in the European Magazine, March, 1525. in the works of our national novelist, Cooper. The same keen eye and fresh feeling for nature, the same indigenous style of thinking and local peculiarity of imagery, which give such novelty and interest to the pages of that gifted writer, will be found to characterize this volume, condensed into a narrower compass and sublimated into poetry. "The descriptive writings of Mr. Bryant are essentially American. They transport us into the depths of the solemn primeval-forest-to the shores of the lonely lake-the banks of the wild nameless stream, or the brow of the rocky upland, rising like a promontory from amidst a wide ocean of foliage; while they shed around us the glories of a climate, fierce in its extremes, but splendid in all its vicissitudes. His close observation of the phenomena of nature, and the graphic felicity of his details, prevent his descriptions from ever becoming general and commonplace; while he has the gift of shedding over them a pensive grace, that blends them all into harmony, and of clothing them with moral associations that make them speak to the heart. Neither, I am convinced, will it be the least of his merits in your eyes, that his writings are imbued with the independent spirit and the buoyant aspirations incident to a youthful, a free, and a rising country. "It is not my intention, however, to enter into any critical comments on these poems, but merely to introduce them, through your sanction, to the British public. They must then depend for success on their own merits; though I cannot help flattering myself that they will be received as pure gems, which, though produced in a foreign clime, are worthy of being carefully preserved in the common treasury of the language. I am, my dear sir, ever most faithfully yours, WASHINGTON IRVING. 66 London, March, 1832." It is needless to say that the Poems met at once with a most cordial reception. Several of them had been much admired in England already; but the entire collection established at once the claims of the American poet. A few years after this the late Mr. Leggett, in his journal, The Plaindealer, made an incident connected with this publication the subject of an unmannerly attack. It seems that while the Poems were going through the press in London, the publisher strenuously objected to a line in the poem entitled "Marion's Men," as peculiarly offensive to English ears. It reads And the British foeman trembles and where the integrity of authorship is con- LETTER TO THE PLAINDEALER. cerned, should be firmly denied. Mr. Irving, we first appearance before the American public think unnecessarily and forgetful of an important literary principle, and that he had no authority in the matter, yielded to the publisher, conceding to an objection urged with a show of kindness, what he probably would not have granted under other circumstances. The obnoxious word "British" was removed, and the line was made to read The foeman trembles in his camp. since my return, I was induced, while the work was printing, to modify the introduction so as to express my sense of the unexpected warmth with which I had been welcomed to my native place, and my general feelings on finding myself once more at home, and among my friends. These feelings, sir, were genuine, and were not expressed with half the warmth with which they were entertained. Circumstances alluded to in that introduction had made the reception I met with from my countrymen, doubly dear and touching to me, and had filled my heart with affectionate gratitude for their unlooked-for kindness. In fact, misconstructions of my conduct and misconceptions of my character, somewhat similar to those I am at present endeavorand, as I erroneously supposed, had prejudiced the mind of my countrymen against me. The professions therefore to which you have alluded, were uttered, not to obviate such prejudices, or to win my way to the good will of my countrymen, but to express my feelings after their good will had been unequivocally manifested. While I thought they doubted me, I remained silent; when I found they believed in me, I spoke. I have never been in the habit of beguiling them by fulsome professions of patriotism, those cheap passports to public favor; and I think I might for once have been indulged in briefly touching a chord, on which others have harped to so much advantage. Mr. Irving was roughly handled in consequence by Mr. Leggett, who took occasion also, at the same time, to charge him with "preparing, in a book of his own, one preface for his countrymen full of amor patriæ and professions of American feeling, and another for the London market in which all such professions are studiously omit-ing to rebut, had appeared in the public press, ted." Mr. Irving sent to The Plaindealer a prompt reply. The change in the poem was seen to have grown out of a motive of kindness; while the malign charge in the matter of the prefaces was easily put out of the way. The indignant rebuke shows that the gentle pen of Geoffrey Crayon, when roused by insult, could cope even with the well-practised and somewhat reckless energy of The Plaindealer. We present this portion of Mr. Irving's letter entire: "Another part of your animadversions is of a much graver nature, for it implies a charge of hypocrisy and double dealing which I indignantly repel as incompatible with my nature. You intimate that 'in publishing a book of my own, I prepare one preface for my countrymen full of amor patriæ and professions of home feeling, and another for the London market in which such professions are studiously omitted.' Your inference is that these professions are hollow, and intended to gain favor with my countrymen, and that they are omitted in the London edition through fear of offending English readers. Were I indeed chargeable with such baseness, I should well merit the contempt you invoke upon my head. As I give you credit, sir, for probity, I was at a loss to think on what you could ground such an imputation, until it occurred to me that some circumstances attending the publication of my Tour on the Prairies, night have given rise to a misconception in your mind. "It may seem strange to those intimately acquainted with my character, that I should think it necessary to defend myself from a charge of duplicity; but as many of your readers may know me as little as you appear to do, I must again be excused in a detail of facts. "Now, sir, even granting I had 'studiously omitted' all those professions in the introduction intended for the London market, instead of giving utterance to them after that article had been sent off, where, I would ask, would have been the impropriety of the act? What had the British public to do with those home greetings and those assurances of gratitude and affection which related exclusively to my countrymen, and grew out of my actual position with regard to them? There was nothing in them at which the British reader could possibly take offence; the omitting of them, therefore, could not have argued 'timidity,' but would have been merely a matter of good taste; for they would have been as much out of place repeated to English readers, as would have been my greetings and salutations to my family circle, if repeated out of the window for the benefit of the passers-by in the street. "I have no intention, sir, of imputing to you any malevolent feeling in the unlooked-for attack you have made upon me: I can see no motive "When my Tour on the Prairies was ready you have for such hostility. I rather think you for the press, I sent a manuscript copy to Eng-|have acted from honest feelings, hastily excited land for publication, and at the same time, put a by a misapprehension of facts; and that you copy in the press at New York. As this was my have been a little too eager to give an instance THE IRVING DINNER. of that 'plaindealing' which you have recently never found a heartier eulogist. "In the present instance I have only to ask that you will give this article an insertion in your paper, being intended not so much for yourself, as for those of your readers who may have been prejudiced against me by your animadversions. Your editorial position of course gives you an opportunity of commenting upon it according to the current of your feelings; and, whatever may be your comments, it is not probable that they will draw any further reply from Recrimination is a miserable kind of redress in which I never indulge, and I have no relish for the warfare of the pen." me. The venerable Chancellor compared it with Rabelais and Swift, and brought it off creditably; admiring its laughter, its pointed satire, its wit and humor, and, above all, its good-nature. Mr. Irving replied with a touching allusion to rumors and suggestions which had reached him abroad, to the effect that absence had impaired the kind feelings of his countrymen, and that they had considered him alienated in heart from his native land. He had, he said, been fully disabused of this impression, by the universal kindness which greeted him on his arrival. He then turned to the prosperity of the city. "Never, certainly," said he, “did a man return to his native place after so long an absence, under happier auspices. As to my native city, from the time I approached the coast I had indications of its growing greatness. We had scarce descried the land, when a thousand sails of all descriptions gleaming along the horizon, and all standing to or from one point, showed that we were in the neighborhood of a vast commercial emporium. As I sailed up our beautiful bay, with a heart swelling with old recollections and delightful associations, I was astonished to see its once wild features brightening with populous villages and noble piles, and a seeming city extending itself over heights I had left covered with green forests.* But how shall I describe my emotions when our city rose to sight, seated in the midst of its watery domain, stretching away to a vast extent; when I beheld a glorious sunshine lighting up the spires and domes, some familiar to memory, others new and unknown, and beaming upon a forest of masts of every nation, exIt took place at the City Hotel on the 30th tending as far as the eye could reach? I have May. Mr. Irving had his old friend and literary gazed with admiration upon many a fair city and associate, Mr. Paulding, on one side, and Chan-stately harbor, but my admiration was cold and cellor Kent on the other. Bishop Onderdonk ineffectual, for I was a stranger, and had no said grace, and Dr. Wainwright returned thanks. property in the soil. Here, however, my heart Mr. Gallatin was present, with many foreign throbbed with pride and joy as I admired. I and native celebrities.* Mr. Verplanck was ab-had a birthright in the brilliant scene before me: sent at the session of Congress. The President of the meeting, Chancellor Kent, welcomed the illustrious guest to his native land, in a speech of good taste and feeling. His appreciation of Irving's early American productions, and not less, of his later, was warm and enthusiastic. The History of Diedrich Knickerbocker has With all the gentleness of Geoffrey Crayon, Mr. Irving was a high-spirited man where honor, duty, or the proprieties were at stake. We have anticipated, however, the course of our narrative; for this correspondence took place in 1837. Mr. Irving arrived in America, at New York, on his return, May 21, 1832, after an absence of seventeen years. A public dinner was at once projected by his friends and the most eminent persons of the city. We may add the names of others present at this dinner, who offered toasts: Philip Hone, William Turner, Charles King, Judge Irving, General Santander, Lt.-Gov. Livingston, Chancellor Walworth, General Scott, Commodore Chauncey, William A. Duer, M. M. Noah, Prosper M. Wetmore, James Lawson, Charles De Behr, Jesse Hoyt, Henry Wheaton, Judge Hoffman, Le Ray de Chaumont, Vice Chancellor M'Coun, Ogden Hoffman, J. W. Francis, Mr. Gener, C. W. Sanford, W. A. Mercein, W. P. Hawes, Captain De Peyster, William Leggett, William H. Maxwell, J. Watson Webb, Professor Renwick, Samuel Swartwout, John Duer. This was my own, my native land!' "It has been asked can I be content to live in this country? Whoever asks that question must have but an inadequate idea of its blessings and delights. What sacrifice of enjoyments have I to reconcile myself to? I come from gloomier climes to one of brilliant sunshine and inspiring purity. I come from countries lowering with doubt and danger, where the rich man trembles, and the poor man frowns-where all repine at the present, and dread the future. I come from these to a country where all is life and animation; where I hear on every side the sound of exultation; where every one speaks of the past *The allusion probably was to Brooklyn. PERSONAL HISTORY OF "ASTORIA." with triumph, the present with delight, the future with glowing and confident anticipation. Is not this a community in which we may rejoice to live? Is not this a city by which one may be proud to be received as the son? Is this not a land in which one may be happy to fix his destiny and ambition-if possible, to found a name? "I am asked, how long I mean to remain here? They know but little of my heart or my feelings who can ask me this question. I answer, as long as I live." It was some time before the plaudits ceased sufficiently for him to utter his toast: "Our City-May God continue to prosper it." "To Henry R. Schoolcraft, Esq. "SUNNYSIDE, Nov. 10, 1851. "DEAR SIR-In your Personal Memoirs, recently published, you give a conversation with the late Albert Gallatin, Esq., in the course of which he made to you the following statement: "Several years ago John Jacob Astor put into my hands the journal of his traders on the Columbia, desiring me to use it. I put it into the hands of Malte-Brun, at Paris, who employed the geographical facts in his work, but paid but little respect to Mr. Astor, whom he regarded merely as a merchant seeking his own profit, and not a discoverer. He had not even sent a man to observe the facts in the natural history. Astor did not like it. He was restive several years, and then gave Washington Irving $5000 to take up the MSS. This is the History of Astoria.' A few months later, in the summer, Mr. Irving accompanied Mr. Ellsworth, one of the commissioners for removing the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, in his journey, which he has described in his Tour on the Prairies, published "Now, sir, I beg to inform you that this is in the Crayon Miscellany in 1835. His Abbots- not the History of Astoria. Mr. Gallatin was ford and Newstead Abbey formed another volume misinformed as to the part he has assigned me of the series. In 1886 he published his Astoria, in it. The work was undertaken by me through or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky a real relish of the subject. In the course of Mountains, undertaken by the late Mr. John visits in early life to Canada, I had seen much Jacob Astor, between the years 1810 and the of the magnates of the Northwest Company, and war with England of 1812. He was attracted to of the hardy trappers and fur-traders in their the subject not less by an early fondness for the employ, and had been excited by their stories of character of the trappers and voyageurs of the adventurous expeditions into the Indian counWest, into whose company he had been thrown try.' I was sure, therefore, that a narrative, in his youth, in Canada, than by his subsequent treating of them and their doings, could not fail acquaintance with the projector of the enter to be full of stirring interest, and to lay open prise. He was assisted in the preparation of regions and races of our country as yet but little this work by his nephew, Mr. Pierre Munro known. I never asked nor received of Mr. Astor Irving. Many years after this publication was a farthing on account of the work. He paid my issued a statement was made, under circum- nephew, who was then absent practising law in stances which seemed to challenge the attention Illinois, for coming on, examining, and collating of Mr. Irving, imputing the glorification of Mr. manuscript journals, accounts, and other docuAstor as a motive for the work, with the ac- ments, and preparing what lawyers would call a companying stimulus of a large sum of money brief, for me. Mr. Fitzgreene Halleck, who was paid by the millionaire. Mr. Irving availed him- with Mr. Astor at the time, determined what the self of the opportunity to give the history of the compensation of my nephew ought to be. When book. The letter is of sufficient interest, involv- the brief was finished, I paid my nephew an ading as it does several honorable personal traits of ditional consideration on my own account, and character, no less than a detail of literary his-out of my own purse. It was the compensation tory, to be presented entire. We give it as it appeared in the Literary World of Nov. 22, 1851. paid by Mr. Astor to my nephew which Mr. Gallatin may have heard of, and supposed it was paid to myself; but even in that case, the amount, as reported to him, was greatly exaggerated. "Mr. Astor signified a wish to have the work brought out in a superior style, supposing that it was to be done at his expense. I replied that it must be produced in the style of my other works, and at my expense and risk; and that whatever profit I was to derive from it must be from its sale and my bargain with the publishers. This is the true History of Astoria, as far as I was concerned in it. "During my long intimacy with Mr. Astor, COMPLIMENT FROM DANIEL WEBSTER. commencing when I was a young man, and ending only with his death, I never came under a pecuniary obligation to him of any kind. At a time of public pressure, when, having invested a part of my very moderate means in wild lands, I was straitened and obliged to seek accommodations from moneyed institutions, he repeatedly urged me to accept loans from him, but I always declined. He was too proverbially rich a man for me to permit the shadow of a pecuniary favor to rest on our intercourse. land and sea. The facts, however, will prove to be linked and banded together by one great scheme, devised and conducted by a masterspirit; one set of characters, also, continues throughout, appearing occasionally, though sometimes at long intervals, and the whole enterprise winds up by a regular catastrophe; so that the work, without any labored attempt at artificial construction, actually possesses much of that variety so much sought after in works of fiction, and considered so important to the interest of every history." Another undertaking of a similar character was the Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West, prepared from the MSS. of that traveller, but made an original work by the observation and style of the writer. Commencing with 1839, for the two following years, Mr. Irving contributed a series of papers monthly to the Knickerbocker Magazine. Among these tales and sketches are two narratives of some length, The Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood, and Mountjoy, or some Passages out of the Life of a Castle Builder. A number of these papers, with some others from the English Annuals and other sources, were collected in 1855 in a volume, with the title of Wolfert's Roost. "The only moneyed transaction between us was my purchase of a share in a town he was founding at Green Bay; for that I paid cash, though he wished the amount to stand on mortgage. The land fell in value; and some years afterwards, when I was in Spain, Mr. Astor, of his own free-will, took back the share from my agent, and repaid the original purchase-money. This, I repeat, was the only moneyed transaction that ever took place between us; and by this I lost four or five years' interest of my investment. "My intimacy with Mr. A. was perfectly independent and disinterested. It was sought originally on his part, and grew up, on mine, out of the friendship he spontaneously manifested for me, and the confidence he seemed to repose in me. It was drawn closer when, in the prosecution of my literary task, I became acquainted, from his papers and his confidential conversa- In February, 1842, Mr. Irving was appointed tions, with the scope and power of his mind, Minister to Spain, an office which he occupied and the grandeur of his enterprises. His noble for the next four years. The nomination was project of the ASTOR LIBRARY, conceived about entirely unsought for, and was a compliment the same time, and which I was solicitous he paid him by Daniel Webster, who announced it should carry into execution during his lifetime, to him in a dispatch bearing his honorary title. was a still stronger link of intimacy between us. It was the first notice he received of it. On his "He was altogether one of the most remark- return to America he took up his permanent able men I have ever known: of penetrating residence at his cottage, “Sunnyside," near Tarsagacity, massive intellect, and possessing ele- rytown, on the banks of the Hudson, the very ments of greatness of which the busy world spot which he had described years before in the around him was little aware; who, like Malte-" Legend of Sleepy Hollow," as the castle of the Brun, regarded him merely as a merchant seeking his own profit.' Though made up from the most unpromising material of a commercial correspondence frequently carried on under great disadvantages, with gaps and deficiences which had to be supplied from the scanty stock of published travels in the West, the skill of the writer overcame all difficulties. His own conception of the artistical requirements of the subject, happily fulfilled by his adroit pen, is expressed in the concluding paragraph of the Introduction:-"The work I here present to the public is necessarily of a rambling and somewhat disjointed nature, comprising various expeditions and adventures by Herr van Tassel, and of the neighborhood of which he had said:-"If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remainder of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley." At this retreat, looking out upon the river which he loved so well, he continued to live, in the midst of a family circle composed of his brother and his nieces, hospitably entertaining his friends, occasionally visiting different portions of the country, and employing his pen in the composition of his Life of Washington, the last volume of which passed through the press the present year. The preparation of this great work, the publication of Oliver Goldsmith, a Biography, an enlargement of a life which he had prefixed to an edition in Paris of that author's works, |