The Advocate and news., 1898-01-05
-sS'SS'Rs-l-s-E-E-R-l-F'R'V-E"s-l-l-F-l-Ff-E-sS
COOPERATIVE READING CLUBS.
AMERICAN LITERATURE COURSE.
Outline Of the Early Period.
WASHINGTON IRVING.
part H.
ME BOOKS HR HAS WRITTRN

lnLO lrVl0B DIdlu, anu Julb Whb JO WTALS
a burlesQue or mock history Of New
York, describing its manners and Gus
toms when 1t was still New AmsteT-
dam and settled by the Dutch. When
a boy his observations had made mental
photographs of the Dutch part Of the
city; his memory had kept the pictures
unfaded, his fancy and imagination had
painted and enlarged these pictures. Ar.
ranged together they made one Of the
funniest volumes ever written. Repre-
senting himself as Deidrich Knicker-
booker, a Dutchman, he called the book
The History Of New York, by Deidrich
Knickerbocker.' The satire was so well
contrived, the fun sounded 80 earnest,
that a few actually believed 1t to be
true history. The world laughed-but the
Dutch themselves were not pleased; they
did not like jokes made on their ances-
tors. Irving inserted satisfactory apol-
ogy In the next edition. His kindness
kept him from ever giving an inten-
tional wound he ticlkled with the feather
OF playful wit, but never stabbed with
the dagger Of scornful hate His mod
esty made him consider the history only
merry, passing joke, It's success not
turning him to "life by literature
Watkins.
Sketch Book and Bracebridge Hall"
(1822).-"He was our first picturesque
tourist the first American in Europe
He redlscovered England, whose ancient
churches, quiet landscapes, memory
haunted cities, Christmas celebrations,
and rural festivities, had for him an
unfaillng attraction With pictures OF
these for the most part he filled the
pages of the Sketch Book and Brace
bridge Hail. Delightful as are these
English sketches, in which the author
conducts his readers to Windsor Castle,
or Stratford-on-Avon, or the Boar's
Head Tavern, or sits beside him on the
box Of the old English stage coach, or
shares with him the Yuletide cheer Of
the ancient country house, their interest
has somewhat faded.
"IrVing's gifts were sentiment and hui
NOR, with an imagination sufficiently
fertile and an observation sufficiently
acute to support those two main quail
ties, but inadequate to the service OF
strong passion or subtle thinking,
though his pathos, indeed, sometimes
reaches intensity Beers Outline Stud
les.
His first solid work was a Life Of
Columbus" which brought him $4,000;
and in Spanish history and legend Ir-
wing found a still newer and richer field
for his fancy to work upon, resulting in
the Conquest of Granada" Our gov
ernment recalled him from Spain to be
Secretary of legation In London, and
there many honors were heaped upon
him. The gold medal of the Royal So
ciety of Literature and the degree OF ID.
G. l.. from Oxford University were given
HIM In the midst of all this he longed
for home, gave up his appointment and
returned to New York after an absence
of seventeen years.
"Sunnyside. After trip to the West
over the prairles, he wrote two volumes
describing it,-he settled down at Sum
nyside, which Is described as "a little
old-fashloned stone mansion, all made
up of gable ends, and as full Of angles
and corners as an old cooked hat"
Sunnyside, near the Hudson river,
close to the place where Andre was cap
tured. was the sheltered nook where
Irving spent the last days Of his life,
with widowed sister and two niecea.
Ills last thirteen years were spent In
his own study, where he wrote the Life
Of Washington, accepted now as stand
ard authority, and the biography Of OIL
yer Goldsmith. Previous to this he mad
written "Mahomet and His Successors"
which was, comparatively speaking,
failure.
III health finally made him lay down
his pen. "He had the love Of the fore
most English authors OF his own genera
ton and OF the generation that followed
Scott, Byron, Colerldge, Thackeray
and Dickens, some Of whom had been
among his personal friends"
One night he asked of his niece, When
will 1t end?" and those were his last
words-November 20, 1859.