Chapter Washington Irving of Index by Simonds History of American Literature

had been longing for his native land, returned to America, distinguished and admired abroad, to find himself honored and beloved by his countrymen at home.

Third Period, 1832-42.

The home-coming was signalized by a spontaneous outburst of hearty welcome which partly expressed itself in a public banquet tendered by the city of New York to her own humorous historian, "the Dutch Herodotus, Diedrich Knickerbocker" -- as the recipient was facetiously named in a toast. Greatly impressed by the development of his country during the years of his absence, Irving made an extended tour in the South and the West, pushing out into the wild regions of the Pawnee country, on the waters of the Arkansas. In his Tour on the Prairies (1835), the author describes the life of the ranger and the trapper as he saw it on this excursion. But the characteristic feature of this period in Irving's life is his establishment at Sunnyside, near Tarrytown, on the Hudson.

Sunnyside.

This comfortable little farm of earlier Dutch possession has, through its associations with our first conspicuous man of letters, acquired a fame almost as general as that attaching to the home of Scott. This American Abbotsford, as it is often called, was an ideal location for the residence of "Knickerbocker." It was the old estate of the Van Tassels. Its comfortable stone cottage was humorously said to have been modeled after the cocked hat of Peter the Headstrong; at all events, a whimsical weather-cock brought over from Rotterdam perched above its pretentious little tower, and ivy grown from a slip secured at Melrose Abbey clustered thickly over its walls. It was and is a charming place. Sleepy Hollow itself was hard by, and Sunnyside, in its owner's lifetime at least, had an atmosphere of retirement and seclusion delightfully congenial to the world-weary traveler. Here, surrounded by a bevy of nieces whose youth and spirits made the old Dutch cottage bright with laughter, Irving felt himself finally at home. So general and widespread was his popularity, however, that many attempts were made to induce Irving's entrance upon a public career. He was urged to accept nominations for the office of Mayor of New York, and for a seat in Congress; he was even obliged to decline the portfolio of the Secretary of the Navy in President Van Buren's cabinet. The charms of Sunnyside and of his vivacious household held him fast.

Literary Product.

The literary work of these ten years is comparatively unimportant: A Tour on the Prairies (1835), Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey (1835), Legends of the Conquest of Spain (1836), Astoria (1836),Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837), and sketches contributed to the Knickerbocker Magazine complete the record. A life-long project -- to write the history of the conquest of Mexico -- was during this period generously abandoned by Irving, when he learned that Prescott was contemplating such a plan, -- and this after long preparation, and while actually engaged upon the early chapters of the work.

Minister to Spain, 1842-46.

In 1842, Washington Irving was named by Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State under President Tyler, for the post of Minister to Spain. This honor Irving accepted; although with the regret of departure before him, he was overheard murmuring to himself -- "It is hard, -- very hard; yet I must try to bear it. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb."

Last Years, 1846-59.

After four years' residence at Madrid, Irving returned, once more eager for the quiet retirement of Sunnyside. In the congenial environment of his home it was now his pleasant lot to pass in comfort and in quiet the thirteen years remaining to him. His Life of Goldsmith (1849), Mahomet and his Successors (1850), and his noteworthy Life of Washington (1855-59) occupied these last years. In 1855, the sketches contributed some years before to the Knickerbocker Magazine were published under the title of Wolfert's Roost. Irving's Washington represents the most serious labor of his entire career. Depreciated by many critics