The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-09-02

piooSns variety. And as various as the
gables and corners are tho vines of all
shades fromathe old English Ivy to the
washington bower. with it's purple
plossom, that olamb Der over it.
Alter his death, in 1859, in this house,
IL was occupied by his two ME ces, whom
ne mao taken care of and who liv ed with
MN slnoe they were children, the Misses
Catner1ne and Sarah Irving. 1t was by
MS request they occupied the plaoe in
iatuer years only in the summer, as the
winters were too severe for them. In his
Will irving requested that the house
always be occupied by some one of his
line, and last winter the two maiden
ladies', feeling the weight of eighty odd
years, and finding they could no longer
give the estate the care and management
IL deserved, sold 1t to Mr. Alexander
Durer Irving of New Fork city, grand
nephew of Irving. Mr.. Irving intended
to put the place in good repair, remodel
the back part Of it and make it his sum-
mer residence. Mr.. Irving's family. con-
sistlng of wife and four children, are
now summering at Martlehead, and it is
not very likely they will take possession
this fall.
After moments hesitation, supple
mented by the remark that they did not
usually show visitors the rooms in Sun
nyside, Mrs. Burfitt opened the blinds of
the parlor door and we stepped into the
bare parlor. All the furniture which
belonged to Irving, except that in his
study, had been packed away in antici-
patton of the alterations and we passed
many an empty little room(al the rooms
are very smalD whose faded walls
showed dark spots where mirror and
picture hung, before we were shown into
the gem room of the house-the writer's
study. 1t is on the outside angle Of this
room that the Melrose ivy runs while
the walls in the interior are lined with
shelves Of books-his dear books-and
where, in corner. with background Of
dark-covered books, his bust is enthroned
IRVING'S DESK AND PICTURES.
| In the centre Of the study is large
desk, which was presented to Irving by
bis publishers as a silver-inscribed plate
tells us) on February %, 1858. This desk,
though guaranty of good feelings in
the bosom of the publishers, is not the
most interesting feature Of the room. On
top Of 1t are temporarily piled framed
pictures sketches and personal KNOX
HACKS Of the writer. Everything In this
little study>is purely personal"
| With much amused interest we exam
ined the old engravings, about 12x14
inches. depicting scenes from the life Of
old friend Rip, and we wonder. Whether
Joseph Jefferson ever got any inspiration
from them, they are true to the story.
think there are six In all-Rip with
his exasperated wife scolding him, Rip
with the children clambering over his
bent back as he sits Oh bench Rip,
! oafing at Nicholas Veddar's; Rip COM
! ang back to q desolate home; Rip an
object of curiosity among the villagers
and, again, Rip relating his adventures
to the wondering villagers. Rip, every
bit old Rip, whose history charmed us
long ago; whose history shall always
Icharm us and be one Of the fairy tales
of this new world which has so very few
fairy tales.
And then we pick up odds and ends of
sketches. some of Irving. who at one
time, when sent abroad for his health,
fell in with an artist, and out OF the
companionship grew the desire to be an
artist-a desire that failed before better
thing, as did thas Of Thackeray, and,
may I modestly assume, Du Maurier.
| Apropose Of Du Maurier, we pick up a
little sketch and exolaim, "SvengaliP r.
But it is not he, though worthy of him
only poor Iohabod Crane, whose greedy
on the daughter of Mynheer Van Tassel,
cost him that awful ride with the head
less horseman through Sleepy Hollow.
And so it Is plain to be seen that the
writer had the characters sketohed on
paper as we'll as on the brain, before he
gave them to US in stories.
A large framed picture, OF the old steel
plate order, catches our eyes and provokes
our mirth--that of old Governor Stuy-
vesant's arm entering New Amsterdam.
1t Is from the drawing by Heath of Lon
don, presented by him to the writer, Irv
ing. And here is how the army divided
"First came the Van Bummels, the
ur6G inventors OIL SuppdWIt, OF iutiS1 anu
milk; second, tho Van Klotens of Kat s.
kill. horrible quarters Of new cider;
third, the Van Peits, nightly hunters of
} the mink and muskrats; fourth, fhe Van
Nests of Undertook. valiant robbers of
birds nests; fifth. the Van Hlgginbot-
toms, armed with ferrules and rods, be-
ing a race of school masters; sixth, the
Vanroes of Anthony's nose; seventh, the
Garudeniers. robbers of the water melons
and smokers of rabbits; eighth, the Van
Hoesens Of Sing Sing, great ohorister
players on the jew 's-harps; ninth, the
Conenhovens jolly race of publicans;
tenth, the Van Kortands, the vain, great
killers of ducks. etc.
And after we had amused our selves
with these quaint old Dutch sketc he's
aud taken in everything to be seen in the
study. we spoke about our train. But
our hostess insisted on giving us glass
of milk and some cake, SO we accept ed
her kind hospitality, and after some
more conversation, started for the station
We were given send-off by the two dogs
one of which boasts the. name OF
"Schneider. % named by one of Irving