Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-12-08
9nyntttsttins sktttb.
Half ali Hour at Sunnyside.-A
-. Visit to Washington Irving.

Half ai1 Hour at Sunnyside.-A
Visit to Washington Irving.
We mske the following extracts from a
letter Of Theodore Tiiton's to the lndepen-
dent. for this week. describing 4 visit he
'hsde TO Washington Irving. Theylwill be
tssd With extreme interest.
suHHYstfs.
The morning had been rainy, and the
Afternoon showed only few momentary
spenings Of clear sky; that saw Sunny
vide without the sun. But under the heavy
e:ouds there was something swe-inspiring
II the somber view of those grand hills with
Hair many eolored forests, and of Heneriek
Hudsen's ancient river still flowing at the
teet Of the ancient palisades.
The msnsion of Sunnyside has been
btanding for twenty-three years; but when
hfst its shsrp-sngled ro,f, weJged it's way
bb hlhobe the branches OF the old woods,
lie region was fer MORE solitude than now;
fsr st that time o6f busy author had secluded
himself from aluiost everybody but our near
heighbor; while be has since unwittingly
Rafhered srovnd him q little community of
New York merchants, whose elegant coun:
~ seats, opening into each other BY
nstusl lintertwining roads, form what looks
like one vast and free estate, called OF the
time tables of the railroad by the honorary
name Of frvineton.
,s4 Nh. IRSrHu's arPxatAxcE.
aahlGf. Irving Is not 30 oid-Iooking as ons
would expect who knew his age. fsncied
Aim % insthe winter Of life, found him
saly in ito Indian summer. He came down
stsirs. end wicked through the hall into the
bsck.psrlor, with firm and lisely step that
1isht well have made one doubt whether
- had truly attained bis setenty-segenth
year! He wss suffering from asthma, and
wss nufied sgsihst the damp air with a
Seoseh shawl, wrapped like great loose
scarf around his neck; bot as he took his
seat in the old armchair, and, despite his
hosfseness and troubled cheat, began an
unexpectedly vivacious conversation, he
tnade ne almost forget that was the guest
'ot an old man long past his "threescore
Years and ten "
WHAT HE THINKS oF HIS WORKS.
But what should one talk ebout who had
phly half an hour with Washington Irvingi
] fysntured the question.
"Now that you have laid aside your pen,
which Of your books Go you look back upon
with mort pisssurei'' l.--.----
He immediately replied, Il scssceIy look
with full satisfaction upon snt: for they do
hot eeem what they might have been;
often wish that could have twenty years
more, to take them down from the shelf, one
By one, ond write them over.''
his HABITS OF LITERARY LABOR.
He spoke of his daily habit of wiring,
b, fofe he had made the reso luton to write
ho more. His usual hours for literary work
were from morning to noon. But. although
he he'd generally found his mind most Wig
broas in the early part of the day, be had
always been subJect to moods and ca aprices,
Ind could NEVER tell. ehrn he took up the
PEE, bow many hours would pass before he
woela ssy it du@h.
abtt,:s saii he, .ffhese capricious perioGs,
Of the heat and glow of composition. have
been the happiest hours of my ife have
hever found. in anything outside of the four
wells of my study. any enjoyment equal to
sitting st my vritiDg-dssk with a alean
page, = rev theme, and mind awake"
His literary employmen:s, he remarked,
bad ll~ays been more like entertainmentsl
than tasks.
...Soms WRITER'S" said he. "appesr to have
feen independent Of moods Sir Walter
Bcott, for instance, had great power of
writing. and could work almost at any tine;
70 could Cfsbte-but with this difference
Scott always. and Crabbe seldom, wfote
1elk remember" said he, ataking bfeak-
fast Utse morning with Rogers. Moore and
Cftbbt3 The CONVERSATION turned on Byron's
poetic moods; Crabbe said that, however it
might be with Lord Byron, as for Himself
hs could write as well at one ltime as at
another" But said Irving. with twinkle
Of humor At recsliing the incident. .'Crabbe
+. hss written = grcs, deal that noboey can
fssa!n
He mentioned that while living in Paris, ),
~ Wsus 'ohs Pettoo Wituous ucfuB duIc "
write, II sat down repeatedly - said he with
~pen shd ink, but could invent nothing
weefh putting on paper. At length. I told
ny friend Tom Moores who dropped in one
morning, thst row, after long wsiting,
: had me mood, and would hold II, and sould
&orh il out as lohg as It would last, Until
had wrung my brain dry. So began to
wfite shortly after breakfast; and continued,
without noticing how the time was passing.
until Moore came in again at four in the
afterhoon-w when had completely covered
The table with freshlv-wtitten sheets |
kept the mood almost without interruption
for six weeks"
Iasked which of his books was the result
Of this frenzy; he replied. Bracebridge
HALL"
.Nohe Of your works." remarked, care
more charming than the Biography of Gold
smith,"
"fe: that was written " said he, seven
more rspidlt than the other" He then
tdded,
"Wheh hate been engaged on a con-
tinuous work. have often been obliged to
rise in the middle ofthe night, light my
lamp. end write On hour or two, to relieve
my mind; and now tba, write no more, |
In sometimes compelled to get up in the
same way to read"
Sometimes, also, as the last ldlewild let