Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-12-03

HALF AN HOUR AT sUNNYsIDE,
4 VISIT TO WASHING7 ON IRVING.
tFrom lAs indepsHsisst, Socs,.Ss- "a


half hour ought to have beon of the pleasant
! est in ones lite; and 40 it was The ploasure be-
| gan before reaching the doorstep. or taking the
| old mans hand--in tho thousand associations of
| the place-ior visit to Sunnysido is equa, to II
! pilgrimage to Abbotsford.
| The quaint grotesqae old dwelling, with it's old
! fashioned gables. stood as solemn and sleepy a.
mong the trees if it had been built to persoI,ao
/ old RIP Van Winkle at his nap. The grounds
| were covered with brown and yellow leaves. with
| here and there d red squirrel running aud rust
ling among them, us if pretending TO DO the true
rcdbreast that laid the leaves over tho babes III
| the wood.
! The morning had been rainy, nnd tho afternoon
! showed only lew monentary openings Of clear
| sky; 30 that | saw Sunnysi without the sun
! But under the heavy clouds there something
) awe-inspring in the sombro view of those grand
! bills with their ny-coored forests, und o Hen
! dirk Hudsons ancient river still flowing at the
| feet Of the ancient palisades.
The mansion of Sunnyside has been standing
for twenty. hrec years; but when first its sharp
| angled roof wcdged it's way up among the branch
ot the old wouds, tho region far more sol
| itude than nov; tor ut that time busy author
had secluded himself from almost everybody but
o, near neighbo,; while he has since unwi,tngly
( gathered around him little community Of New
| York merchants whose elegant country seats
opening into ,n;h other by mutual INTERVENING
roads form what looks like one vast and free
tate, called On me tne-iaoies VI the railroad by
the honorary name Of lrvington. But even with
III the growing circle oi ms many nelghbers thc
genial old knckerb ecker still lives in true retire
me 1t. eit nlning bls guests within echo distance
! OF Sleepy Hollow. without thought, and almost
/ without knowledge,
, how the great world
p"''''s '''' '"' '''
/ lie withdrew year ago from ill li,orary labor
and is now spending the close Of his life in we'll
! earned md long needed rcpuRe,
Mr.. Irving is not so old looking one would
expect who knew his age. | fancied him nv in
the winter Of life found him only in his Indian
summer. lie came down stairs and walked
through the hall into the back parlor, with firm
and lively step that might well have made one
doubt whether he had 'ruly attained his seventy
! seventh year lie was suffering from asthma, and
! was mutiied against the damp air with Scotch
/ shawl. wrapped like great loose scarf around
his neck; but as lie took his sent in the old arm.
I chair, and, despite his h"arseness ant troubled
} 'hest, pegah nm unexpectedly \Naciuus c"h'elsa-
4 ,'on, he made me almost forget that was the
! guest OF an old man long past his three e-score
! years and ten.
But what should one Talk about who had only
! hall an hour with Washington irving! ven
! turei the question.
Now that yon have lnli aside your pen, which
., :" your DOCKS do you iook hack upon Win IN pst
/ rleasureF
lie imme lately repiled' - scarcely look with
inIl satisfaction upon any; Tor they do not seem
what they might have been; often wish that ]
| could nave twenty years more to take t'Iom down
: IRON the she'll, one by one AMI write them over
! lie spoke OF hi" daily habits OF writ'nS belore
! he had m"de the resolution to write no more ii'S
usual hour Tor Literary work were from m'rhinG
! TILL noon. But together he had generally found
! his mind most vigorous IN the early part OF the
| day, he had always been subject to moods ana
oaprces, and could nevertell, when he t'ok up the
! how hours would Dc!t re- he would
lay tdown.
I But said he, these capriclons periods, OF
the heat and glow of composition. have been TIE
! happest honrs OF my HE. have never found, in
| anything outside OF tho four walls OF my study
| any enjoyment equal tn sitting atmy writing desk
| with II clean pnge, new theme, and miud u
wake"
! Ills literary empoymcnts, hc remarked. had al
] ways been more like entertainments than tasks
| some writer's" said he, '.nppcar to have been
I Independent oi moods. Sir Walter Scott, for IN
stance had great power of writing AMI could work
| almost at any time; so could Crahbc-but with
I this difference Scott always and Crabbe seldom
I wrote well. Il remember, san no. taxing
! breakfast morning with Rogers. Moore and
| Cralbe the conversation lnrned m Lord byron :
| poetic moods; Craba said that, however 1t might
he with Lord Byron, "a for himself he could write
| ns well "nc time as at another. But" said lrv-
ing with twinkle of hunior at recalling the incl
| dent, "Crnhle has written grcut deal that nobo-
| dy can read.
He mentioned that while living in PARIS he
| went long period without being able to write
Il sat down repeniedly," snid he, with Ten and
ink. but could invent nothing worth putting on
the paper. AT length, told my lricnd Tom
| Moore. who dropped III "ne morning, that now,
| after long waiting, had the mood. and would
hold H. and work it out rs long as 1t would last.
] unit had wlunng my brain dry. 5 begun to
write shortly after breakfast aud continued, with
I ,n.v tha M mi