The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-09-11

wAsHrSGToS IRVING AT suNNYsDE


Mr. Irving came out while we were exchanging salu-
tations with the group under the porch his true and
easy STEP plant motion admirable spontneousness OF
good spirits and quiet simplicity Of address giving him
the presence Of OF half his age. This impression
was somewhat coroborated, doubt, by the
arness of his Dress and certain juvenescence that there
will always be about light walking shoes and low
crowned straw hat somewhat, too perhaps by the
changed erectness and compactness of his wellpropor
toned lgurebut did not realize then afterwards
during the day. that there anything in his mien
appearance but the heathulness of middle nythng
but the uncompeled prompmess and elasticity OF vgo
undated
Our conversation for the half hour that sat in that
little library turned rst upon the habits Of literary la
Dor. Mr. Irving. In reply to my inquiry whether, like
Rip Van Wrinkle he had arriyed at that happy age when
can be idle with impunity," said ''No, that he
had sometimes worked fourteen hours day, but
that he usually sits in his study occupied from breakfast
till dinner both of agreeing that in literary vegeta
ton the 'do is in the monngl and that he should
be sorry to have much leisure He thought, in
deed that he should ie in the harness He never had
headache that is, his workshop gave him any
trouble but among the changes which time has wrought
one says very decided desire of travel is dead
within him The days past when he could sleep or
cat anywhere with equal pleasure and he goes to town
seldom possible.
Motley's "Dutch Republic lay open the table
and Irving said he had been employing little vacation
from his abos in the reading OF it, 1t had interest,"
ed him exceedingly How surprising he exclaimed
quite energetcally, 'that young should jump
at once full grown to fame, with big book, so well
studied and completed! This turned the conversation
upon the experiences Of authorship and he said that he
always afraid to open the first copy that reached him
of new book of his He sat and tremblcd and re-
membered all the weak points where he had been enbar-
raised and perplexed and where he felt hcmght have
done hating to think of the book indeed until
the reviewers had praised It, Indifference to praise or
censure he thought not reasonable naturalist
least it impossible to him. He remembered how he
had suffered from the opinion Of Phiadelpha critic,
Who in reviewing the sketch Book at its first appear
ance, said that Grip Van Wrinkle silly attempt at
hunor, quite unworthy Of the authors genius.
My mention of Rogers the poet and other friends
of Mr. Irvings who had asked about him in England,
opened vein of his London rccollecons. He never
more astonished he said, than at the of the
.Skctch- Book" His writing of those stories
like inspiration SO entirely without any feeling OF
confidence which could be prophetic of their popularity
Walking with his brother dull foggy Sunday, over
Westminster Bridge, he got to telling the old Dutch so
res which he had heard at Taytown in his YOUTH when
the thought suddenly struck him. II have it II 60
leaving his brother go church, he went back to his
lodgings and jotted down all the data and the next
day the dullcs and darkest of London fosshe sat in
his room and wrote out Seepy Hollow by the light o.
| a candle.