New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-04-04

abound with agreeable pictures oil Engien NE, se1n
mr. der favorable lights and sketched with freddy
Mcneil Let me cay here, that 1t not to pay court
10 the English that be has thus described them and
their couptry il because be could no. descfioe
the m otherwise IL was the instinct OF his mnd 70
aacb tsef 10 the contemplation of the good and beau
tifu wherever he found them and 70 tarn away from
The sight of what was evil, msshapeD, and hatefa
His was not nature to pry for faults, or dsonse tne
mind of Qood-natured 1stakes he looked Tor VIRTUES
love mn truth among men, and thanh ed God tnat no
fnna them in such large Ii there are teaches
of satire in bis writings, he is the be.na'ured ana
mos, amiabe of satrists amlable beyond dorace ana
in his irony for there ia vein oil irony running
through many of his works, there is no thee Oh oor
neea -. =, II q
/ rejoice for my part, that we have had such a
writer "a Irving to bridge the chasm between ,hs
two ore at natiors-that ilustrious American iVeo
20 long in England and was 80 mucn 9eioseu she.o,
and sonoht go earnestly TO bring the people OF the two
countries 10 a better understanding with each otner,
and TO wean then from the animosities OF marrow
minds am sure that there Is not larSe-min1ed ana
lars hearted man In all our country W,o can Iead
over the Sketch-Book and the otner Writings ol
and di own one Of the magnanimous sentiments tney
expIess with regard to England desire TO aoae te
GLOW of one of his warm cheerful pictures oil En-
esh lie Occasions will arise, no doubt, Tor say
some things in less accommodating sprt, alq tneie
are men enough on both sides OF the Atlantic VINO eau
cav them; but Irving not sent into the world on
this enand. different work was assigned nm IN Lne
very structure of mind and the eDdOwmebts OF ms
heat, a work of peace and brotherhood, ana VIII
tas for him that be nobly performed 1t.
LET me panse here TO speak of what / believe TO
have been The influence Of the "Sketch Book upon
American literature At the time IL appeared the Pc
riodcal lists of new American publications were ex
tremely meaper aud consisted 10 q great extent, OF
occasional pamphlets aud dissertations on the ques-
tions of the day. The works OF greater pretension
were for the most part, crudely and laDgudly maoe
up and destined to be Little read. A work IKE the
0Sketch Book" welcomed on both sides of the Allan
~ III of an American
qurpg a fame bounded only by the limits OF his own
language, ard gave an example OF the qualities oy
which 1t might be WOO. Within two years a1ter~ard
we had Coopers "Spy" and Dana's Idle Mani
the presa of our country began by degrees to TEEN with
works composed with a literary skill and SPIRITED
activity of intellect until then little known among u.s.
Every ear the assertion that we had no literature OF
our own bSame less and less true; and now, when
we look over a list Of new works by native authors
we find with an astoDishmeDt amounting almost 70
alarm that the most yoracious devourer Oh DOCKS must
despair of being able 10 read half those winch make
fair claim upon his attention. III was SINCE loi3 sne
the great historians Of country whose praise Is IN
the months OF all the nations began TO w1e. zoe Oh
them but up the fabric Of his fame long after Irving
appeared as an auihor, and slept with Hero lotus
two wears before IrGlngs death; another OF tue
hand lives vet to be- the ornament Of the Associa-
tion before whom am called 10 speak, and Is iorm-
ing tie annals OF his country into work Tor iusure
aaes Within that period has arisen among US the
class Who hold vast mnltitudes in moonless attention
by public dis courses the most perfect OF their kind
sncb as make the fame OF Everett. Within that Pc
Rod our the oogans have learned TO write with the
ELEGANCE ard yiyacity Of the essayiss. we had but
one novelist before the era OF the g Sketch Book
tber number is now beyond enumera.ion by any but
profeste 0 catalogue maker, aud many OF them are
read in every cultivated form Of human speech Those
whom we acknowledge as our poets-one OF "hom Is
the specia favOrto OF our brothers IN language VINO
dw eli beyond the seaappeaIed III the world OF letters
and won its attention after Irving became iamooa
We have wts, and humorists, and ng essayists,
authors Of of the arrest and most graceful COM
posioDs Of the present century, and we owe tne 70
The new impulse given to our literature IN lSl9.
look abroad on iheee stars OF Que literary hr1na-
nent-sone crowded together, with their minute
points of light in galaxy, some standing apart IN
Orion, and Pereus, and the gittering jewels OF the
Southern Crown and the Pleiades, shedding sweet in
huences; but the Evening Star, the soft and serene
eht that elowed In their van, the precursor OF them
ALI hss sunk below the horizon. IIhe spheres, mean
time perform their appointed couIses the same me-
ton which lifted them up TO the mid-sky bears them
forward TO their setting; ADD they, too, like th If
bright leader, must soon be carried by IL oelo" Tie
earth.
remainder OF the ear and part OF the next and where
he became aequane Jed with the poet Moore, VINO fce-
ouently mentions him in his Diary. Moore aud he
were much in each others company, and the poet has
left on record expression OF his amazement at the
rapidity with which Bracebndge al was composed-
ois hundred and thirty pages IN ten days Inc Win
ter of 1922 found him in Dresden. In that year was
published BIacebridge Hail. the groundwork OF which
s charming description Of country life IN gland,
interpreted with narratives the scene OF which is
laid in other countries OF these the Norman tale Of
Annette Delarbre to the most beautiful an
affecting thing of its kind in all his works. so beautiful
indeed that can hardly zee how he who has once
read can resist the desire TO read again. In Brace
bridge Hall we have the Stout Gentleman, full OF
certain minute painting OF familiar objects, where
not single touch is thrown in that does not highten
the comic effect Of the narrative If am not greatly
mistaken, the most popular noyeiss of the day have
learned from this pattern the skill with which they
have wrought mp Of their most striking passages
both grave and gay In competing Bfaceoridge Hall,
Irving showed that he had not forgotten his native
couniIy ana in the pleasant tale Of Doph Heyleges
he went back 10 the banks of that glorious river besde
which he was born.
In 1898 Irving still wandeIer, returned to Paris,
and in the year following gave the world MS " Tales
of Traveller. Murray, in the meantime, had become
fully weaned from the notion that lrvmgs writings
lacked the quality which he called scope" for he
had paid thousand guineas for the copyright OF
Bracebridge Hall, and now offered fifteen huodred
hounds for the "Taes of q Traveller" which Irving
accepted. " He might have had two thousand, Gays
Moore but this assembly will not, hope, think the
wore of him If 1t be acknowledged that the world
contained who were sharper than he at driving
bargain. The Tales of Traveller" are m oct re.
markable for their second part, entitled Buckthoone
and his Friends in which the author introduces as TO
literary life in its vsrons aspects, as he had observed
it in London, and to the relations ia which authors at
that time stood to the booksellers. His sketches of the
different personages individual, characteristic, and
divertipg yet with what kindly pencil they all
drawn Hlis gooa nature oyerspreads and harmonizes
every thing like the warm atmosphere which 30 much
delights us in painting.
Irving still unsettled in his abode, passed theWn-
ter of 1925 in the South Of France When you in
that region, you see the snowy SUBMITS of the anish
Pyrepees looking down upon you; Spanish visitors
frequent the watering places Spanish pedders in their
handsome costumes offer you the fabrics of Barcelona
al Valencia; Spanish peasants come to the fairs; the
traveller feels himself almost in Spain already, and is
haunted by the desire Of visiting that remarkable