The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-12-30

corset. which I carried home In triumph:
and the next morning had II publicly dis
s and Lecture read on i in sur
ton find Il dangerous FOR a fine figure.
when fun dressed. 70 pronounce a word OF
more than three syilables. Fine Figure. IL
in love. may indulge In a gentle sigh. but
sob Is hazardous. Fine Figure may
smile with safety. may even venture as
far as giggle. but must never risk a loud
laugh. Figure must never play the part
fine evenings since a young lady. whose
unparalleled impaipability OF waist was
the envy OF the drawing room, burst with
an important secret, and had three ribs
of her corset--fractured on the spot"
There was nothing especially original in
the humor OF the "Salmagundt group.
Their work was but a survival OF the
and Addison, but in II there were germs
Of a really original humor. In "knicker-
bocker's History Irving broke away In
a large degree from his English model.
The style of the work is, on the whole,
finished and correct. fun of a dignifed
and leisurely seif-respect. very much In
contrast with that Of many later humor-
lists. but its humor is none the less truly
original. Nearly all OF the devices made
use of BY later American literary come
dams may be found In II. IL abounds, Tor
instance. in exaggeration:
THE lady OF wouter Van Twiller once
had occasion to empty her right pocket
in search OF a wooden ladle, and the
utensil was discovered lying among some
They then called a council OF safety
10 smoke over the state OF the province.
After six months more Of mature delioer-
alton. during which nearly go words were
smoked as would have served q certain
modern general through whole winters
campaign of hard drinking. It was de-
termined to Mt out an armament OF
canoes"
''The earth shook as II struck with a
paralytic stroke-trees shrunk aghast and
withered at the sisht.rocks nurrowed
Christian creek turned from It's course
and ran up mountain In GREATNESS ter
ror."
There are IN the History" ahuadant
germs OF what in later days deteriorated
into mere buffoonery and horse play. The
story of the old Dutchman who resisted
the, edict OF Peter ihe Headstrong which
forbade the wearing Of cues, and who,
dying at the moment OF victory, ordered
with his last breath that a hole be made
in his coffin so that the cue might hang
victory, might have been written by
Mark Twain. Whole chapters are full OF
delicious fun, never strained, never weak.
as spontaneous as the laughter of a
healthy child. 1t Is first of all a broad
burlesque, a mock heroic prose epic that
laughs with innocent glee at everything
which It touches. Its cnsrae Il Ia
treme. How could one Improve the pic
ture of Walter the Doubter,
He was a very wise Dutchman. for he
never said a foolish thing-and OF such
invincible gravity that he was never
known to laugh. or even TO smile through
the course, of a long and prosperous life.
was matter. proposed. however
simple. on which your common.
narrow minded mortals would rashly
%s the ns Tss s' pS on but
mighty mysterious, vacant kind OF look.
shook his capacious head, and. having
smoked for five minutes with redoubled
earnestness, sagely observed that he had
his doubts about the matter. His
face, that infallible Index OF the mind,
presented vast expanse. perfectly I'M
lines and angles which dishgure the hu-
man countenance with what IL termed
expression. Two small gray eyes twin
Killed. feebly in the midst like two stars of
lesser magnitude in the hazy armament.
and his fulfilled cheeks. which seemed 20
have taken toll OF everything that went
into his mouth. were curiously notified and
terg apple. His habits were ms regular
as his person. He daily took his four
stated meals, sppropriatins exactly an
eight hours and he slept the remaining
twelve of the four and twenty. In
his council no presided viii. great state
Grafton of extraordinary length and In
.ricacy YVES on the carpet the renowned
Wouter vasli absolutely shut his eyes
for full two hours at time, that he
might not be disturbed by external OBJ
jects-and at such times the internal
coirmotion of his mind was evinced by
certain regular cultural sounds. which
his admirers declared werc merely the
roise OF conflict made by his contending
doubts and opinions"
With all its exaggerations and bur-
lesaues and broad fun, there is at the
basis OF this humorous book Arm sub
structure OF shrewd common sense and
wide observation. The work Is full of gen.
tie satire ON men and manners and poll
ties Of Irving's own day:
Treaties al best are but complied with
so long as interest requires their full
fllment Consequently they are virtually
binding on the weaker party only. or. in
plain truth. they are not binding at all"
Let II suffice. then to say that In
little while the blessing OF innumerahle
laws became VIGOROUSLY apparent II was
found necessary to have a certain class
OF men to expound and confound them.
Divers pettifoggers accordingly made their
appearance, under whose protecting care
the community was soon set together by
the ears"
But In all the book-fndeed, In all of
Irving's books-there Is not trace OF ma