The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-14 00:00:00

DE..1.771 OF IVA.SIIIY G TON IRVING.

The mail steamer Canada, which reached Queens-
town on Monday afternoon, brings the mournful
intelligence of the death of Washington Irving,
justly acknowledged to be " one of the most grace-
ful writers America ever produced." He was born
in New York, April 3d, 1783. His father, a respect-
able merchant, originally from Scotland, died while
Washington was yet young, and his education was
superintended by his elder brothers, three of whom
had, without relinquishing active professional pur-
suits, gained considerable reputation for literary
abilities. MiS Irving's first essays in literature were
made in the New York Morning Chronicle, in which ,
he published his "Letters of Jonathan Oldstvle,
Gent.'' These letters were concluded in 1802; and as
symptoms of pulmonary disease now betrayed them-
selves,
it was resolved that in the following year he
should visit the south of Furope. lie accord-
ingly sailed for Bordeaux, and travelled through
the south of France to Nice, where he took a
felucca to Genoa, in which city he remained some
two months. He then went by sea to Sicily, made
the tour of the island, crossed from Palermo to Na-
ples, passed through Italy, meeting Allston at Rome,
who strongly recommended him to devote himself
to art ; thence over the St Gothard, through Swit-
zerland to Paris, where he remained several months.
He next went to Holland, whence he embarked
for England, and passing there a part of the au-
tumn, he returned to New York in March, 1806;
completely restored to health. He resumed the
study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in
November of that year, but never practised. Shortly
afterwards he took the chief part in "Salmagundi,"
the first number of which appeared January, 1807,
and the last in January, 1808. In December the
follo wine year he published his Knickerbocker's
Ilistoryc.of New York. In 1810, two of his brothers,
who were engaged in commercial business, one
being at the head of the establishment in America,
and the other in Liverpool, gave him an interest in
the concern, with the understanding that he was
not to enter into the duties and details of the busi-
ness, but pursue his literary avocations.
During the war with Great Britain in 1813-14
he edited the 4naleetic Magazine, and in the fall
of the latter year joined the military staff of the
governor of the state of New York, as aide-de-camp
and military secretary, with the title of colonel. At
the clOse of the war, May, 1815,-he embarked for Li-
verpool, with the intention of making a second tour
of Europe, but was prevented by the sudden and
great reverses which followed the return of
peace, overwhelming, after a struggle of two or
three years, in which Mr. Irving took an active
part to avert the catastrophe, the house in which
his brothers had given him an interest, and in-
volving himself in its ruin. In 1818 he deter-
mined to employ his pen as a means of support, and
commenced the series of papers entitled " Sketch
Book," which were transmitted piecemeal from
London, where he resided, to NeW York for_publi-
cation. Three or four numbers were thus produced,
when, finding that 'they attracted notice in Eng-
land, he had them published in one volume, Feb.,
1820, by Mi. John Miller. On his failure shortly
afterwards the work was transferred to Mr. Mur-
ray, with a second volume, published in July of
that year. Mr. Murray had bought this copyright
for £2OO, but its success far surpassing his expec-
tations,she sent Mr. Irving, of his own accord, first
£lOO, and, the sale still increasing, an additional
£lOO. After a residence of five years in England,
Mr. Irving removed to Paris in August, 1820, and
remained there until July of the following year,
when he returned to England and published his
" Braeebridge Hall," in London and New York, in
May, 1822. The following winter lie passed in
Dresden ; returned to Paris in 1823, and crossed to
London in May, 1824, to publish his " Tales of a
Traveller," which appeared in August of that year
in two volumes, and in four parts in New York. In.
August he returned to Paris, and in the autumn of
1825 visited the south of France, passing part of
the winter in Bordeaux. In February, 1826, he
left that city for Madrid, where he remained two
years. There he wrote the " Life of Columbus,"
which appeared in 1828.
In the spring of 1828 he left Madrid on a tour to
the south of Spain, visiting Granada and the main
points mentioned in the " Chronicles of the' Con-
quest of Grenada, by Fra Agapida," of which he
had made a rough sketch. '1 his he prepared for
the press at Seville, and transmitted to London and
New York for publication ; it appeared in 1829. In
the spring of this year he again visited Granada,
and resided some three months in the Alhambra,
where he collected materials for the work published
under that name in 1832. In July he came to
England, having been appointed Secretaryof Lega-
tion to the American Embassy, which office he
held until the return of Mr. M'Lane in 1831,
when, after remaining a few months as chargé, he
resigned, on the arrival of Mr. Van Buren.' While in
England, in 1830, Mr. Irving received one of the
fifty-guinea gola medals, provided by George IV.
for eminence in historical composition, the other
having been awarded to Mr. Hallam, the historian,
and in the following year the University of Ox-
ford conferred on him the degree of LL.D. In the
spring of 1832 he returned to New York, after an
absence of seventeen years. His appearance was
greeted on all hands with the warmest enthusiasm;
a public dinner was given to him, at which Chan-
cellor Kent presided ; and similar testimonials
were-offered in other cities, which he declined. In
the summer of that year he accompanied Mr. EllS-
worth, one of the commissioners for removing the
Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, and whom he
had met on a tour to the west, on his expedition.
The most interesting portion of this journey has
appeared in the " Tour on the Prairies," published
in 1835. This was followed in the same year by
" Abbotsford and Newsteacl Abbey,"and " Legends
'
of the Conquest of • Spain." In 1836 he published
" Astoria,' and in the following year " The Adven-
tures of Captain Bonneville." In 1839 he entered
into an engagement, which lasted two years, with
the proprietor of the Knickerbocker Magazine to
furnish articles for that periodical. In February,
1842, he received, unsolicited, the appointment of
Minister to Spain. He left for Madrid on the 10th
of April of that year. His official duties termi-
nating, in the summer of 1846, he returned to
America, and in 1848 commenced the publication
a revised edition of his works, most of which h
been long out of print. In 1849 he published
"Oliver Goldsmilk, a Biography;" "Mehemet and
'his Successors," IM9-50; and "Life of Wrshing-
ton," 1855.
Washington Irving resided up to the time of his
death at his country seat, " Sunnyside," on the
banks of the lludson, 25 miles from the city of
New York.

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