The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-04-03
WASHINGTON IRVING.

The one-hundreth anniversary of the birth
of Washington Irving should have been made
holiday in all the schools of America A
fitting observance of the day should have
claimed the attention of every literary organ
ization in the land, and the pulpit might
we'll have honored the occasion in remem-
brance of one who did 50 much for humor-
Gus, pathetic, pure literature. The advent of
Washington Irving was the dawn of dis
tinctly American style of literature, and
while never aspiring to the unattainable, or
attempting lofty flights, it has held its place
in the hearts of the people, The works OF
Irving are as fresh, crisp and enjoy
able to-day as they were when first given to
to the public. In love with the natural
beauties around him, he caught their spirit,
and with marvellous simplicity he so tran
scribed them to paper that they ali live
again. The Hudson is better known to-day
on account of the Zuyder Zee, the Sleepy
Hollow and the haunted Katskills of Irvings
sketch Book" than for any of the modern
bhdb uOW ChNllOho ~ liz S4OWH-
ing delight of a visit to that region is the
recollection of the mythical beings with
whom Irving peopled it-creatures of fancy
SO instinct with life that one feels impelled
to believe them real. The stranger who
hears the thunder rumbling through
the Katskiils recalls the quaint and
jolly Rip and his strange adventure
with the still stranger retainers of the bluff
and doughty Hendrick Hudson. The au-
tumn-tinted leaves are stained by wine
spilled from the mystic f1agon from which
Rip drank twenty years of forgetfulness.
Sleepy Hollow still holds within its bosom
thousand suggestions of the generous Van
Tassel, his beautiful daughter Katrina, her
eccentric wooer, Ichabod Crane, and the
terrible Brom Bones The headless horse
man still rides in moonless nights, and all
the myriad eerie fances conjured up by this
delightful story-teller are almost tangbly
real even now. 1t is doubtful if Irving real
lied the extent to which his writings would
reach, for had he done so it is not lmprob-
able that he would have spoiled them by es-
saying an unnatural manner. His works are
as limpd and pure as were the springs that
dubbed up among the hills made familiar to
the world through his pen.
But Irving shone as historian as well as
from the Beginning of the World to the End
of the Dutch dynasty" and ''The Chronicles
of the Conquest of Grenada, from the MSS.
of Fra Antonio Azaplda" are to be regarded
as histories, despite the rollicking humor of
the one and the exuberant legendary fancy
of the other. Beneath all their quaintness
and romance, the real annals of the times
of which they treat are there, and their facts
will survive the dry, methodical statements
of the more pretentious historian. His
His Life of Columbus" is written with
ence, while his Life of Washington" must
be regarded-as he himself regarded 1.-THE
browning effort of his literary career. The
character of Washington Irving, like
that OF the great w washington, Stahus
out on the pages of American history-the
latter as the father of his county, the former
as the father of American legendary history.
To Washington Irving the whole world is
debtor. The simplicity of his style has made
his works plain to all, the purity of his
thought has commended them universally,
and the elegance of diction has won for them
the consideration of the most cultured.
While many of his contemporaries in the
literary field have passed into oblivion, his
name and fame are still bright, and so long
as the love Of the good, true and beautiful
shall endure will humanity turn with pleas
ure to the writings of Americas favorte
author.
IT has come to be a notorious fact that