Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1860-01-27

tue atier lie oil 'ne haPPy enlld, ana passed
into tie fabric of his destiny, as the warp
interlaces with the woofl-Wbo, but He whose
Almighty blessing, was invoked upon the hoy,
can tell bow that blessing ike guardian
angel, all unseen, led the career Of the future
man career, glorious in the world Of letters
lin the universe of high and noble thought,
as tho career of the great man for whom he was
named, was sublime and glorious, in the world
of arms--in the universe Of great and mighty
deeds Who, but He WI o sees the end from
the beginning, could have iorescen how those
great stars. in their country's ornament, would,
though set in different fields of glory, shine,
the Blessed, with lustre, so much the couu-
iterpart of the Blessing How gloriousy pure
their light - Washington, the hero of many
battles uustained with one drop of blood in
wantonuess split Washington, the statesman,
the ruler yet gui;less of tho statesman's aud
the rulers ambitions and crimes and intrigues.
Well might the bard of Britain aud of Greece.
hinisclf alas, mighty meteor, flashing, but
with balefu light excam,
ssWhere may The weaued eye repose
When gazing on the great,
Where neither guilty glory glows,
Nor despSeable state,
Yes, one the first, the last. the best,
The Cincinnatus of the west,
Whom envy dared not hate,
Bequeathed the name of Washington,
TO make man blush, there was but ones
Well meEitsd was tue tribute, aud how ap-
propriatcly could ii be psraphrased 70 apply to
Irving, the authoy Of many books. Who, that
has gathered garaDds from the fields of secular
literature for more than a half century, can
produce record so unstaiDed By aoy anShole-
some thought, as is his. Pure as his Own life
were his writings; not one thought did either
of bis many volumes contain, that dying, he
could have wished unwritten. No covertapo!ogy
for vice; no cavil ut truth; no seof at virtue;
90 dangerous opinion; DO perDioious, demoral-
iziDg sentiment, found authorship in him. 9th
ers have penned great thoughts; but how often
| are their great lhoughts coupled With the basel
Others have written beautiful things, bat how
often their beautiful things, stained and
Swallowed by conceptions of hiieous deformity!
Full many there are who have written, and the
world in frenzy of adnira ton, has fallen down
10 worship at tbs shrine Of their transcendent
genius; but of how few of them It be said,
'Sthe pearls they gathered from the deeps of the
unbouuded ocean food of mind, were pure, as
brilliautl From the 'sBurd of Avon's" pen,
not always flowed au uneorrupted stream. The
muse of Ayr, not always brought IN purify, her
strains to him, who struck immortal notes on
Scotia's Tyre. The harp OF him, who walked
the plantive melody of Erin, snd sang the
impassioned lays of Persia aud of Araby the
Blest, was not always tuned to virtue; and even
the King of minstrelsy aud of romauce-the
sage of Abbotsford. regretted, dying, that some
things be had written could not be recalled. 2
Not so with the author of the 'Sketch
! Book" He aDas great 10 genius; but it was
the simplicity and purity Of bis character,
more than bis genius, that drew around him at
ali times a host of ioviag friends. 1t was the
impartation cf that pure and simple character,
that gave to bis writings their greatest charm.
How appropriate that he should be compared
TO Washington; How deserving of bis aame;
How worthy of his blessing; and how beauti-
full, and still how wonderful, that after long
career Of honor, TO which he was, providen-
tally, by early reverses directsdl honor not
only IN k:s own land, but worldwide; he
should close that career, by linking their two
immortal names together, and crown his own
fame by recording that of the iliusfrious man,
whose uane he bore; and as if 10 carry the
analogy beyond the limit of time, like Wash
ington he laid ali his trophies upon the altar
of living faith, and died as he had lived, .
''Christian gentleman"
But have digrcssed from the intention Of
this paper. Personal recolleetions are apt to
SAVIOR too much of the irst person singular:-
The Ego and meus, are generally Extensively
predominant; yet how otherwise can they be
written I'll make the venture, for have
seen; have talked with Washington Irving.
| need not tell, how the generous aumor OF
Diedrick Kn,ckerbocker charmed me; tthey who
have read him appreciatiyely will understand
me, nor how pored over the sfSketch Book,
until its author had woa my boy heart; tfor
boy | first read it, and I'm boy again when
read it now, and loved him for his fun first
lfun's the bIg gate 10 boys beari) aud then
for his pathos) uor how dreamed 10 the dream
land of ''Sleepy HoitOaO,'' synpa,hized with,
and laughed at ichabod CrdHs- i.nagined each
thunder shower, that cold Hendricks Hudson and
his jolly crew." were again at their game of
nine pins: Rejoiced at the escape, poor, hen
pecked Reps Fan R,nkie'S long nap, gave him,
from the tongue of his termagant wife.--Wept
at The heart melting story of the .tWidow aud
her son. nor bow my mirthful and my martial
spirit ran mad races with each other, at the re-
oital Of the yslarous deeds of Hard K0opig
E>eIel Euu AtstHD Ete O0tds az the "Datfle OF the
Manhattoes: how | wandered in imagina-
tion amid the enchantments Of the .ALhambrQ
EaougA to say, | felt as every one feels, wac
can read his genial, noble heart, mirrored in his
books;-l know him 10 spirit, but long wish
ed to see the man, and my wish was graft
ned.
During few days, 10 the carly part of July,
eighteen hundred and fifIy-eight, was the guest
Of kind New York friend, whose country sea,