lic; the pater patriæ had laid his hand on the child's head. He bore Washington's name; he came among us bringing the kindest sympathy, the most artless, smiling good-will. 2. His new country (which some people here might be disposed to regard rather superciliously) could send us, as he showed in his own person, a gentleman who, though himself born in no very high sphere, was most finished, polished, easy, witty, quiet, and socially the equal of the most refined Europeans. If Irving's welcome in England was a kind one, was it not also gratefully remembered? If he ate our salt, did he not pay us with a thankful heart? 3. In America the love and regard for Irving was a national sentiment. It seemed to me, during a year's travel in the country, as if no one ever aimed a blow at Irving. All men held their hands from that harmless, friendly peace-maker. I had the good fortune to see him at New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, and remarked how in every place he was honored and welcomed. Every large city has its "Irving House." The country takes pride in the fame of its men of letters. 4. The gate of his own charming little domain on the beautiful Hudson River was forever swinging before visitors who came to him. He shut no one out. I had seen many pictures of his house, and read descriptions of it, in both of which it was treated with a not unusual American exaggeration. It was but a pretty little cabin of a place; the gentleman of the press who took notes of it, while his kind old host was sleeping, might have visited the house in a couple of minutes. 5. And how came it that this house was so small, when Mr. Whittier, Hawthorne, Holmes, and the rest. Two great writers, and two only, appeared during the colonial period-Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards; but the one was a philosopher, the other a theologian, and neither belonged to the literary guild in the strict sense of the term. Irving was a year younger than Daniel Webster. 1 Born April 3, 1783; on the 19th of the same month Washington proclaimed the news of peace in his camp at Newburgh, N. Y. 2 "The father of his country." 3 That is, in England. "Sunnyside :" the railroad station is called Irvington, about twenty-five miles from New York city. Irving's books were sold by hundreds of thousands-nay, millions; when his profits were known to be large, and the habits of life of the good old bachelor were notoriously modest and simple? He had loved once in his life. The lady he loved died; and he, whom all the world loved, never sought to replace her. 6. I can't say how much the thought of that fidelity has touched me. Does not the very cheerfulness of his after-life add to the pathos of that untold story? To grieve always was not in his nature; or, when he had his sorrow, to bring all the world in to condole with him and bemoan it. Deep and quiet he lays the love of his heart, and buries it, and grass and flowers grow over the scarred ground in due time. He had 7. Irving had such a small house and such narrow rooms because there was a great number of people to occupy them. He could only live very modestly because the wifeless, childless man had a number of children to whom he was as a father. as many as nine nieces, I am told-I saw two of these ladies at his house with all of whom the dear old man had shared the produce of his labor and genius. Be a good man, my dear." One can't but think of these last words of the veteran Chief of Letters, who had tasted and tested the value of worldly success, admiration, prosperity. Was Irving not good? and of his works, was not his life the best part? 66 8. In his family, gentle, generous, good-humored, affectionate, self-denying; in society, a delightful example of complete gentlemanhood; quite unspoiled by prosperity; never obsequious to the great (or, worse still, to the base and mean, as some pub lic men are forced to be in his and other countries); eager to acknowledge every contemporary's merit; always kind and affable with the young members of his calling; in his professional bargains and mercantile dealings delicately honest and grateful. He was, at the same time, one of the most charming masters of our lighter language; the constant friend to us and our nation; to men of letters doubly dear, not for his wit and genius merely, but as an exemplar of goodness, probity, and a pure life. 350 WESTMINSTER ABBEY. [INTRODUCTION.—The paper here given is from the Sketch Book, a collec tion of essays written in England during Irving's second visit to that country (1815). These were sent home, and, during 1818-19, were published in parts in New York.] 1. On one of those sober and rather melancholy days in the latter part of autumn, when the shadows of morning and evening almost mingle together, and throw a gloom over the decline of the year, I passed several hours in rambling about Westminster Abbey. There was something congenial to the season in the 5 mournful magnificence of the old pile; and as I passed its threshold, it seemed like stepping back into the regions of antiquity, and losing myself among the shades of former ages. * 2. I entered from the inner court of Westminster School, through a long, low, vaulted passage, that had an almost sub- 18 terranean look, being dimly lighted in one part by circular perforations in the massive walls. NOTES.-Lines 4, 5. Westminster Abbey. See Addison's paper, page 138, note 2. (For "minster" and "abbey," see Glossary.) 9. Westminster School. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Westmin Through this dark avenue I ster Abbey was made a "collegiate church." Westminster School is a part of the colle giate establishment, and is endowed out of the revenues of the former abbey. LITERARY ANALYSIS.1-8. The student will observe the beautiful sim. plicity with which the introduction to this paper is made in two sentences. 1-5. On one... Abbey. Grammatically, what kind of sentence? Rhetorically, period or loose sentence?-What two epithets are applied to "days?" Is this a literal or a figurative use of these words?—What fault may be found with the expression "mingle together?" 5-8. There was... ages. Point out an instance of alliteration in this sentence.-Point out a simile. 9-27. I entered... decay. Notice the admirable variety of sentences (as to kind and length) in paragraph 2.-How many sentences? How many simple? Complex? Compound? - What kind of sentence (and that of how many members) rounds off the paragraph?-Which sentence brings before the mind a vivid picture, and hence is picturesque? 11, 12. Substitute Anglo-Saxon words for the italicized words of Latin origin in the phrase "by circular perforations in the massive walls." had a distant view of the cloisters,* with the figure of an old verger,* in his black gown, moving along their shadowy vaults, and seeming like a spectre * from one of the neighboring tombs. 15 The approach to the abbey through these gloomy monastic remains prepares the mind for its solemn contemplation. The cloisters still retain something of the quiet and seclusion of former days. The gray walls are discolored by damps and crumbling with age; a coat of hoary moss has gathered over 20 the inscriptions of the mural * monuments, and obscured the death's-heads and other funereal emblems. The sharp touches of the chisel are gone from the rich tracery of the arches; the roses which adorned the keystones have lost their leafy beauty; everything bears marks of the gradual dilapidations* of time, 25 which yet has something touching and pleasing in its very decay. 3. The sun was pouring down a yellow autumnal ray into the square of the cloisters, beaming upon a scanty plot of grass in the centre, and lighting up an angle of the vaulted passage with 30 a kind of dusky splendor. From between the arcades the eye glanced up to a bit of blue sky or a passing cloud, and beheld the sun-gilt pinnacles* of the abbey towering into the azure heaven. 13. cloisters. A cloister is a covered | 14. verger, beadle, or attendant. 24. keystones. A keystone is the stone on the top or middle of an arch or vault which binds the work. dows looking into the quadran- 29. square of the cloisters, the inner gle. quadrangular area. See note 13. LITERARY ANALYSIS.-13. cloisters. Etymology? 22. funereal. (Glossary.) Distinguish between the adjectives funereal and funeral. 22-27. A vigorous mode of statement is first to specify and then to generalize. Show how the principle is exemplified in this sentence. 25. dilapidations. What is the primary signification of dilapidation? Is there a peculiar felicity in its use here? * 4. As I paced the cloisters, sometimes contemplating this min- 35 gled picture of glory and decay, and sometimes endeavoring to decipher the inscriptions on the tombstones which formed the pavement beneath my feet, my eye was attracted to three figures, rudely carved in relief, but nearly worn away by the footsteps of many generations. They were the effigies* of three of the early 40 abbots; the epitaphs were entirely effaced; the names alone. remained, having no doubt been renewed in later times (Vitalis. Abbas. 1082, and Gislebertus. Crispinus. Abbas. 1114, and Laurentius. Abbas. 1176). I remained some little while musing over these casual relics of antiquity, thus left like wrecks 45 upon this distant shore of time, telling no tale but that such beings had been and had perished; teaching no moral but the futility of that pride which hopes still to exact homage in its ashes, and to live in an inscription. A little longer, and even these faint records will be obliterated, and the monument will cease to 5o be a memorial. * 5. While I was yet looking down upon these gravestones, I was roused by the sound of the abbey clock, reverberating from buttress to buttress, and echoing among the cloisters. It is al * 39. in relief. A figure in relief is one that projects above or beyond the ground or plane on which it is formed. Relief is of three or representation of a person, whether a full figure or a picture of the whole or a part, in sculpture, bass-relief, etc. kinds-high, demi, and low re- 41. abbots, superiors or governors of abbeys. 43. Abbas = abbot. 54. buttress, a projecting support to the exterior of a wall, most commonly applied to churches in the Gothic style. LITERARY ANALYSIS.-35-40. As I passed... generations. sentence rhetorically? Change into the direct order. What kind of 35, 36. mingled picture of glory and decay. What were the points of glory in the "mingled picture?" What the features of "decay?" 45. casual relics of antiquity. Explain.-left like wrecks, etc. What is the figure?-What fact in the inscription authorizes the phrase "distant shore of time?" 48. pride which hopes, etc. What is the figure? (See Def. 22.) 51. memorial. What is a memorial? Why will the monument "cease to be a memorial?" |